It’s been creeping up on me for a while now.
Burnout. The sneaky bugger.
After a year and a half without any real time out, the moment has come for me to spend the next two weeks decompressing. Off the grid.
Why would I be sharing this? I want to be transparent.
And as a reader, you are part of this.
Plus – coach or not, I’m human. And what’s more human than confession?
I felt the urge to keep forging on, keep swinging the axe at the tree. But I know that is not going to help me fell the mighty oak of entrepreneurship.
Truth is, I’ve been a hypocrite…
*gasp*
I’ve been operating on old programming:
relentless_grind.exe
And despite my override efforts, it’s a deeply buried hustle chip – often operating covertly – keeping me glued to the laptop when every cell in my body is telling me to walk away.
Now I see it. And it has been eroding me from the inside.
It calls for evolution.
Hence why the name of this publication is now Office 2 Ocean.
The real story of how one person can turn their whole life around…
Imagine…
One day you stare out the window, confined to a fluorescent-lit cubicle, hung-over, alt-juggling windows while your boss patrols the area like a hawk…
Suddenly, you’re driving a 46-foot boat full of smiles, guiding them through beautiful coral reefs and waking up every morning to an ocean view, excited for what the day holds.
I escaped my corporate cage.
I’ll help you escape yours.
How?
In the beginning, I started what was habitshaping.com – totally convinced that helping people build better habits was the way to go.
But it was too loose, too generic.
So over time, that became Real Confidence.
That stood for a while. But in all honestly, it was as much about helping others build confidence as building my own confidence.
It was me sharing what I had long kept hidden. I.e. the inner parts work, self-journeying as I call it.
Over the time I spent working on Real Confidence, I learned a ton. Behind the scenes though, it took a lot out of me. Physically, mentally and emotionally.
I was pouring my soul into it. Thinking it would inspire the most curious people to reach out for guidance, but very few did.
I believed that was my message – the walk within. The soulful, mythic flavour to the branding and words. I was romanticising my pain. It was my public journal.
But was it the right thing to coach? Now, looking back, I think I was jumping the gun. The concept was not fully formed.
Absolutely, there will come a point in the future where I teach self-journeying properly as a fully-fledged technique to healing psychological wounds. But that time is not now.
This moment calls for something more tangible. Something less deep.
I know from diving, you can’t take people down to 30 metres, without getting used to the surface first.
This was the emergence of Stress Less. But it still didn’t sit right with me.
So I did away with it. I even went as far as deleting 95% of my website.
I want a clean slate on which to build – not a brand – but a bridge.
A clear path out of the backseat of your life, procrastinating your time away, collecting empty achievements, chasing goals that never hit home. Office…
Into the driver’s seat, where you make the decisions, in control of your future, living your life full of purpose and joy. Able to breathe freely. Ocean.
Office 2 Ocean. O2O.
Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!
Now, not everyone will get it, thats ok. (Not even the double entendre…)
So far, it’s been a slow, unwinding process of understanding what problem I am solving, the solution I have to offer and ultimately who it’s for.
…with a little bit of perfectionism mixed in.
As a reader, you get to witness it all in real-time.
So with that said, the next two weeks are a reset. A detox, if you like. An internal cleansing that has been long overdue.
I invite you to do the same.
See you back here in two weeks.
Mark it in your calendar – 10:00 GMT 9th September 2025.
Until then, take some time to recharge.
Unwind, read, recuperate. It doesn’t have to look like a beach holiday, I understand it’s not as simple as just calling two weeks off work.
But make sure to carve out some time for yourself.
Try 30 minutes, each day, doing what rejuvenates you.
No screen
No noise
No disturbance.
Clarity and calm. Rest and recovery.
So be well, I’ll catch you on the other side in two weeks.
On my return, expect a new energy. Focused, clear and revitalised.
Speak soon,
–Oliver
Disclaimer: no AI was used in the production of this content. Not even 1 prompt. Nada. This is a human space for humans, not prompts and polish.
WOW, Oliver, this is a good one!!! What's more human than confession, you ask. Very relevant. It's when we confess, to each other and to ourselves, that we meet our common humanness. It's when we brave the choppy waters of mask-free living, showing our true self, that we find to our joy that we did not sink (neither did anyone else). And we grow into authenticity. When I spend time with you, reading your stuff, it's YOU I want to meet, not a polished, edited statue. We have a fear-ridden society where we fear each other and fear not being able to measure up, to not be enough. As a coach you have a unique opportunity to help people in their process of seeing their path through this mess of things leading to burnout etc. I applaud your wise decision to do a reset!!! You will start up again, even better equipped to walk your talk and not only talk about walking. Follow your passion, your greatest joy, and coach others how to do the same. That prevents burnout. I also very much like your Disclaimer. Hope you do not mind if I copy it to my Bio on Writer's Corner. AI has it's uses, but I prefer the beautiful, honest imperfection in what my fellow Substackers write, to the most well polished piece that AI could bring about. The honest human expression. Maria
Love your vulnerability here, Oliver, sharing your process feels like a breath of fresh air.
LOVE the new name O2O! Like H2O💦, but not LOL.
Rest, recharge, and return!