Let's face it: You've been hustling since you were a kid, proving your worth with every achievement, every perfect performance, every time you carried it all without asking for help. Yet here you are—successful on paper, falling apart in your body.

Jes Robins gets it. She was hit by a car going 74 miles an hour, went through 16 surgeries, and tried to heal like a hustler. She rebuilt the same toxic cycle, climbed to the top again, and found herself at 350 pounds, in chronic pain, hating everything she'd built. The breakdown moment? Sitting on her basement floor realizing she couldn't keep doing this.

This episode exposes the perfectionism-to-burnout pipeline that high-achieving women live in—and why your nervous system won't let you move forward until you stop forcing your body into patterns it's done with. Jes breaks down how to actually retrain your nervous system, why affirmations don't work when your body doesn't believe them, and what it takes to guide from the middle of transformation instead of pretending you've already arrived.

You're not broken. Your body is trying to tell you something. This is your reckoning. Yet.

IS THIS EPISODE FOR YOU?

Listen if you're: ✓ A high achiever who's hustled your way to success but your body is screaming at you to stop ✓ Dealing with chronic pain or health issues that won't resolve no matter what you try ✓ Stuck in perfectionism patterns where nothing you do ever feels like enough ✓ Recovering from physical trauma and realizing the healing needs to go deeper than just your body ✓ A people-pleaser who's spent your life taking care of everyone except yourself ✓ Ready to understand nervous system healing beyond just "managing stress" ✓ Curious about why you keep rebuilding the same destructive patterns even after hitting rock bottom

This is for you if you're done healing like a hustler and ready to learn what your body actually needs.

WHAT GETS EXPOSED

The perfectionism pattern that starts in childhood—and why you learned that if you weren't perfect, other people got hurt (hello, four-year-old Jes hiding her brother's punishment for her mistake)

Why "healing like a hustler" keeps you stuck in the same cycle—when your PT says eight weeks to recover and you're determined to do it in six because you always have to be one step ahead

The chaos addiction high achievers don't talk about: how your nervous system gets trained to believe that if there's not a 10/10 crisis happening, you're not operating at baseline (hello, painting your kitchen the night before a big project)

The toxic helper-healer pattern where you keep offloading things that make you feel good because someone else needs you more—and how this becomes the first domino in your burnout

Why affirmations and mantras only work when your body believes them—and what to do when "I am worthy" feels like complete bullshit because your nervous system hasn't caught up to your brain yet

 BURKE BOMBS

💣 "Your nervous system is designed for two things: keep you safe and regulate up and down based on stimulus. But you've trained your body to believe that if you don't have chaos from 10 out of 10, then it's not worth doing yet."

💣 "The very root cause was: Jess has to be perfect or she's not enough, she's not loved, and other people get hurt. And so asking for help felt like you should be able to carry this."

💣 "When you want to be ready versus being ready—that's the thing. When you're actually ready, it's not a sexy moment. It's that dull moment where you're like, okay, I am done with this shit."

QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE

How do I know if I'm healing like a hustler? You're healing like a hustler if you're treating recovery like another achievement to conquer—doing PT but making it a competition, trying to heal faster than recommended, refusing to rest because stillness feels like failure. Your body needs regulation, not domination. The sign? Chronic pain that won't resolve, patterns that keep rebuilding, and the inability to sit still without creating chaos. Jump to: [03:35] for Jes's story of trying to out-effort a massive injury

Why don't affirmations work for high achievers? Your body has to believe the affirmation or it's not going to work—it's going to feel like bullshit. If you're saying "I am worthy" but your nervous system is still running the program of "I have to earn my worth through performance," the affirmation crashes against your lived experience. Start with curiosity instead: "Wouldn't it be cool if I was worthy?" Give your body exposure therapy to the new belief. Jump to: [30:29] for the affirmation breakdown

What is nervous system retraining and how does it actually work? Nervous system retraining is about recognizing your patterns, training the exact opposite behavior, and doing it in your body—not just your mind. Your body is a pattern machine that repeats what's familiar. To change, you interrupt the pattern (like noticing you create chaos before big projects), choose the opposite action (start the project early instead of procrastinating), and repeat until your body holds the new pattern as truth. Jump to: [15:48] for the nervous system work breakdown

How long does it take to rewire nervous system patterns? It's not about time—it's about repetition and proof. You need to build a stack of evidence that you're the person who does the new thing. For some people, significant shifts happen in 90 days (Jes's chronic pain disappeared in that timeframe). For deeper patterns rooted in childhood, it's ongoing work. The key: small, consistent actions that prove to your body you're safe in the new pattern. Jump to: [16:38] for the pattern retraining process

CONVERSATION BREAKDOWN WITH TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] - Meet Jes Robins: alchemist, work in progress, guide from the middle of transformation

[00:32] - "I realized many of the lessons I've lived have been to teach me how to guide from the middle of transformation"

[03:35] - The accident that changed everything: hit by a car going 74 mph while standing

[04:08] - 16 surgeries, multiple wheelchairs, learning to walk multiple times—and trying to heal like a hustler

[04:48] - "Every time they said you won't walk again, you need eight weeks to recover, I was like, I better do it in six"

[05:14] - Rebuilding the same exact toxic cycle: high-level corporate career, emotional support water bottle, still completely disconnected

[05:43] - The basement breakdown moment: 350 pounds, chronic pain, hating everything

[06:14] - "I can't keep doing this. And he was like, I don't know what comes next, but it's going to be fine"

[08:14] - The childhood memory that changed everything: the spoons, the punishment, the pattern of "Jess has to be perfect or other people get hurt"

[10:46] - "No matter how much I pushed, it was never enough. No matter how much I tried to do it better, faster, stronger, prettier—it's like the very root cause was Jess has to be perfect or she's not loved"

[12:10] - The bullshit rule book: solve it, fix it, have a backup plan so the plan goes according to plan

[13:21] - Post-accident warfare: showing up to work in a wheelchair because stillness felt like failure

[15:48] - Unpacking patterns: how nervous system works and why we train chaos as baseline

[17:41] - The chaos cycle: productive procrastination and painting your kitchen the night before big projects

[19:13] - "We all think 'this time is different' until someone goes, you know you've done this like 10 times now"

[21:06] - The rooted why technique: tracing triggers back to earliest memories

[23:16] - Reinforcement is the magic: your body needs the new story to be way more familiar than the old one

[24:22] - The four-day wave: how to introduce your nervous system to change without freaking it out

[26:32] - Celebrating wins as a high achiever: "We just keep moving the bar. We forget to slow down and look"

[27:25] - The worthiness journey: "I am worthy" until you actually feel it, then "I am enough"

[29:16] - Affirmations in flow state: why repeating mantras during physical movement rewires your inner mean girl

[30:29] - When affirmations don't work: "Your body has to believe it or it's going to feel like bullshit"

[31:32] - Wanting to be ready vs. being ready: straddling worlds between old identity and new

[32:53] - "Wouldn't it be cool if I was a millionaire?" The curiosity game that opens nervous system safety

[34:27] - When you're actually ready: "It's not a sexy moment. It's that dull moment where you're like, okay, I am done with this shit"

[36:32] - Finding the sweet spot: manifestation that doesn't make your body panic

[37:55] - "What was my body going to have to sacrifice to do that? Because all I had known up until this point was sheer will, effort, and determination"

[39:01] - The "look how easy that was" game: training your body to recognize ease

[40:10] - Get comfortable but not too comfortable with the uncomfortable

[41:46] - Building stack of proof: "Every time you repeat the thing, you're basically building a stack of proof that you are the person that you say you are"

[44:29] - The final truth: "The only thing standing between the life you have and the life you see is that you're allowing it to be that way"

[45:27] - Everyone needs a coach: your greatest strength for others is your greatest weakness for yourself

[46:45] - The lesson: "Your nervous system can be expanded. Your vision can be expanded. It happens with little consistent actions repeated over and over until your body believes it"

ABOUT MICHELLE BURKE

Michelle Burke is the bestselling author of Hot Mess Magic, keynote speaker, and host of Hot Mess Magic podcast.

She doesn't do curated advice or toxic positivity. She tells the truth that gut-punches you awake.

Hot Mess Magic was born from the fire—the breakdowns, the unraveling, the full-blown identity crises. The kind that crack you open and refuse to let you go back to who you were.

This isn't self-help. It's self-trust.

Connect with Michelle:

📧 Newsletter: https://michelleaburke.substack.com/

📱 Instagram: @michelleaburke

🌐 Instagram: @hotmessmagicmedia

📖 Book: Hot Mess Magic

Work with Michelle:

💬 Expansion Sessions (one-on-one guidance for trusting yourself again. Only 20 spots available till Jan. 31, 2026)

🎤 Speaking

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jes Robins is a transformation coach and nervous system expert who guides women from the middle of their own transformation—not from some polished, "I've arrived" bullshit.

After being hit by a car going 74 miles an hour, enduring 16 surgeries, and trying to heal like a hustler, Jes rebuilt the same toxic perfectionism-to-burnout cycle she'd been running since age four. The second rock bottom—350 pounds, chronic pain, hating everything—cracked her open to a different way.

Her authority doesn't come from credentials (though she has those). It comes from living it: the childhood pattern of "be perfect or people get hurt," the decades of people-pleasing and chronic busyness, the nervous system trained for chaos, the basement floor breakdown that finally changed everything.

Jes now helps high-achieving women rewire their nervous systems, break perfectionism patterns, and guide from the middle of transformation—messy, real, and human.

She's not theorizing about change. She's got the receipts.

Connect with Jes Robins:

📱 Instagram: @jesrobins

🌐 Website: jesrobins.com

💬 Work with Jes: Nervous system healing and transformation coaching

KEY REALIZATIONS FROM THIS EPISODE

On perfectionism's childhood roots: "I was four years old. My brother got punished for my mistake that night because they knew to get to me, they had to go through him. I realized this is where everything stacked—the pattern of Jess has to be perfect or she's not enough, she's not loved, and other people get hurt." - Jes

On healing like a hustler: "I tried to heal like a hustler. I did the PT and every time they said you won't walk again, you need eight weeks to recover, I was like, I better do it in six. Because I always needed to be one step ahead." - Jes

On nervous system chaos addiction: "I had built a cycle where if I don't have chaos from 10 out of 10, then I don't feel like I'm actually at my baseline. So I started creating chaos in my day-to-day. I'd paint my kitchen the night before a big project because I needed enough chaos to go tackle the thing." - Jes

On the difference between wanting to be ready and being ready: "When you're actually ready, it's not a sexy moment. It's that dull moment where you're like, okay, I am done with this shit. And you can't fake that." - Jes

On affirmations that don't work: "Your body has to believe the affirmation or it's not going to work. It's going to feel like bullshit. And if you're going into the affirmation going 'these don't work,' it's not gonna work." - Jes

THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH NOBODY'S SAYING

You can't hustle your way out of a pattern your body is trying to heal.

Jes tried. She out-efforted a car accident. She rebuilt the same corporate success. She did all the "right" things—supplements, emotional support water bottle, telling herself she'd work out. Meanwhile, her body was keeping score: 350 pounds, chronic pain, hating everything.

Your nervous system has been trained to equate chaos with safety.

If you grew up learning that perfection keeps people safe, that achievement earns love, that stillness equals failure—your body believes baseline is crisis mode. You're not broken. You're operating exactly as programmed. But that program is destroying you.

The affirmations aren't working because your body doesn't believe them yet.

You can say "I am worthy" a thousand times. If your nervous system is still running the childhood program of "earn your worth or lose love," the affirmation crashes. Start with curiosity: "Wouldn't it be cool if I was worthy?" Give your body exposure therapy to the new belief.

Healing isn't sexy. It's that basement floor moment where you finally say "I'm done."

Not done trying. Done with the lie. Done with the performance. Done rebuilding the same cycle and expecting different results. That's when the real work begins—not when you're "ready" in some polished Instagram way, but when you're actually ready to stop running.

You're not healing until you train the opposite pattern in your body.

Mind work alone won't cut it. You have to interrupt the pattern (notice you create chaos before big projects), choose the opposite (start early without drama), and repeat until your body holds the new pattern as truth. Small, consistent, opposite actions. That's the work.

You're not broken. You never were. Your body is trying to tell you something. This is your reckoning!

12. RESOURCES MENTIONED

The Rooted Why Technique - Jes's method for tracing triggers back to earliest memories to find pattern origins

Flow State Work - Using movement + mantras to rewire your inner mean girl when the default mode network is quiet

Four-Day Wave Method - Jes's approach to introducing your nervous system to change without triggering survival mode

The Chaos Cycle - Understanding how high achievers train their bodies to require crisis-level stimulus to feel "normal"

13. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE

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If this episode cracked something open—if you're a high achiever whose body is screaming at you to stop hustling—subscribe so you never miss an episode.

And if you're ready to stop healing like a hustler and start training your nervous system for something different? Leave a review. Tell us what this conversation exposed for you.

Your mess is your medicine. Your breakdown is your breakthrough.

Welcome to Hot Mess Magic.

14. TAGS

#NervousSystemHealing #PerfectionismRecovery #HighAchieverBurnout #BreakingPerfectionismPatterns #HotMessMagic #JesRobins #ChronicPain #TraumaHealing #PeoplePleasing #HustleCulture #GenXWomen #XennialWomen #MidlifeTransformation #BodyKeepsTheScore #InnerMeanGirl #SacredMess #MiningYourMess #DoItMessy #HealingJourney #SomaticHealing

15. SEO KEYWORDS REFERENCE

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