"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." - Carl Jung
Burn Back Brighter
After a legendary run of releasing six back-to-back classic albums, Jay-Z abruptly retired, declaring, "The game ain't hot."
Back then, fans speculated this was just another self-mythologizing maneuver by the 33-year-old rapper, a logical (albeit hasty) attempt to leave on top. But in a recent interview with Kevin Hart, we learned that severe burnout prompted Jay's premature exit from the rap game. Hear it straight from the GOAT's mouth:
"I really thought that I was really burned out…I was releasing an album every year…and then in between that, soundtracks, other people's album, ROC-A-FELLA, touring back to back…and I had just looked up one day, and I was like…' I'm tired.'"
What I find ironic about this revelation is that Jay-Z's post-burnout success is more impressive by several orders of magnitude than his mythical run of annual albums spanning 1996-2003. Beyond burnout, he started a family (with Beyoncé ), released nine more chart-topping albums, and built a multi-billion dollar empire.
How, after losing his fire, was Jay-Z able to burn back brighter than before?
Success Leaves Clues
Jay-Z increasingly clarified his purpose throughout his career—a purpose far bigger than rap. In his 1996 debut album, he declared his desire to go beyond mere survival: "9 to 5 is how you survive, I ain't trying to survive / I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot." In a 1999 interview with Vibe, he stated, "My goal is to create a comfortable position for me and everybody around me...blacks, when we come up, we don't normally inherit business. That's not a common thing for us to have old money, like three and four generations, inheriting our parents' businesses. That's what we workin' on right now, a legacy." And in a 2017 New York Times spotlight, he emphasized, "The goal is, if you have a specific God-given ability, is to live your life out through that." Post-retirement, he embraced his purpose, acknowledging, "Who am I to shut it off?... I'm just going to leave it open."
Three North Stars—freedom, legacy, and maximization—are affixed in Jay-Z’s constellation of purpose. And they continue to guide him from one prime to the next.
What guides you? How do you reorient yourself, especially when going through burnout?
Audit Your Purpose
Studies show that having a strong sense of purpose—like Jay Z's evolving and transcendent raison d'être—is both a bulwark and an antidote against burnout. It makes you more resilient and confers better recovery from adversity. Purpose is an overarching sense of what matters in our lives, and we experience purposefulness when we strive or work toward something personally meaningful or valued. Research shows that most people say they have a purpose when asked, although it's often difficult for them to identify or articulate it.
Enter the "purpose audit." Carve time to consider how your work fits into the bigger picture—Jay Z's time away from the tedium of studio recording sessions, promotion, and touring undoubtedly enabled him to rekindle the embers of his purpose. What makes you feel most alive? What are your unique talents? And what barriers are preventing you from living out through them more fully? To help you better identify and articulate your purpose, here are a handful of starting points:
- The Purpose And Meaning In Life Questionnaire (PMLQ): A scientifically validated tool to measure your sense of purpose and meaning in life.
- The Purpose In Life (PIL) Assessment: Another scientifically validated tool to measure your sense of purpose and meaning in life.
- The VIA Survey Of Character Strengths: Identifies your unique character strengths, which can be a vital clue to your purpose.
- The Ikigai Self-Discovery Tool: Based on the Japanese concept of Ikigai, this tool helps you find your "reason for being."
- The "Why" Exercise: Based on Simon Sinek's "Start With Why" concept, this exercise helps you uncover your core purpose.
One of the core ideas in my first book, “The Burnout Gamble,” is reconfiguring focus in order to bounce back from burnout. The solutions I proposed, however, assumed the reader had a strong sense of purpose. But what if you don’t have a North Star?
If you don't know (or can't articulate) your purpose, that's more than okay—let your awareness compel you to live your life out through your gifts until you can make looking inward a bigger priority. It took the worst retirement in history for Jay Z to look inward and burn back brighter. For you, it could be as simple as a much-needed vacation. Either way, discovering your purpose requires time and reflection.
Keep The Channel Open
My all-time favorite quote belongs to legendary choreographer Martha Graham. It’s one that I turned to while engulfed by the smoke of doubt during my last brush with burnout. It’s one that I turned to when I felt disoriented and unable to connect my outputs with my desired outcomes. And it's one that I continue to turn to whenever I find myself running on empty:
"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open."
Graham’s timeless wisdom underscores Jay-Z’s odyssey. It offers solace that burnout is not the end but the catalyst for an extraordinary resurgence. Keep the channel open, and let your purpose guide you toward your own kingdom comeback.
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