Not Tired, Just Disconnected.
Burnout isn’t just being tired.
It’s not “I need a break” in a casual way.
It’s when you’re still doing everything you’re supposed to do — but something inside quietly stops responding.
You wake up, you function, you do what you’re supposed to do… but there’s no spark behind it. Things that used to feel natural start feeling a bit distant. Even rest doesn’t really feel like rest anymore — just a pause before you go back to something that doesn’t feel like yours.
Not exhaustion.
But losing emotional connection with your own life.
And somewhere in trying to understand that, I came across Alysa Liu.
I didn’t even come to her because I cared about figure skating.
I knew nothing about it — no scoring system, no jumps, no context. I wouldn’t have paid attention at all if her interviews hadn’t shown up on my feed.
But I kept watching anyway.
Not because I understood the sport — but because something in her felt familiar.
Alysa Liu is a US figure skater who became the youngest US national champion at 13. She won multiple national titles early on and was seen as someone with a very clear path ahead.
And then she stepped away.
At 16, she retired from competitive figure skating.
Not because she failed.
Not because she couldn’t do it anymore.
But because she was burnt out.
What I Took From Alysa after watching so many of her interviews:
1. You don’t need motivation if you’re actually aligned.
When someone loves doing a thing, like they are happy to get back on the ice and spin and fall over and over again. There’s absolutely no way to beat them because they have joy in the work itself. Alysa Liu herself doesn’t need motivation. She has her determination up high, and that’s what you feel when you do something or a craft that you are passionate about. And the foundation for that in the first place is choosing what you genuinely like doing.
2. Presence changes pressure.
Many interviewers have asked Alysa why she isn’t nervous, simply because she focuses only on what’s in front of her.
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If she hadn’t gone through difficult phases earlier in her career, she might not have developed that perspective over time.
You don’t need to question your entire existence based on one thing.
What I love about Alysa is how she is detached from everything and loving and passionate at the same time. She loves working hard and pushing herself to the limit, but at the same time she knows winning isn’t everything, and losing isn’t everything either. What matters is the outcome, and what matters more is the input and the journey.
You don’t need your story to be sad to put yourself in front of the world. You can even love struggle if it’s the pursuit of your own choice. Like Alysa, you can adopt the mindset: what’s there to lose? Every second out there you are gaining something — just enjoy life.
3. Keeping herself as a priority.
She left because of burnout when she knew she couldn’t go on, and she chose herself and listened.
When she came back, she came on her own terms.
She puts her mental and physical health first, and Alysa unapologetically advocates for herself and does what she wants because if it’s not what you want, then it’s not really winning. Also, don’t let anyone push you past your breaking point, and simply take breaks to recharge.
4. Rock bottom isn’t always destruction.
Taking a break from a life you feel stuck in can give you a very different perspective, and you can learn so much.
You don’t have to compromise so much of yourself to do something you don’t want to do.
There are infinite possibilities. Wherever you are, there’s always a chance to move on.
Like she said in one of the interviews, if she didn’t hit rock bottom so many times, she could not have gone up.
And that’s when it starts to make sense because AGAIN…
