What if the fastest path to your goals starts with protecting your energy? We sit down with functional medicine nutritionist and educator Andrea Nakayama to unpack how high achievers can set a self-care floor, work with their biology, and lead with more clarity and calm. Andrea’s story - building a global education company while navigating profound personal loss - reveals why sleep, boundaries, and joy aren’t luxuries. They’re leadership tools.
We explore how to define your non-negotiables so they actually live on your calendar, not just your wish list. Andrea breaks down the hormone science behind the late-night “second wind,” why it sabotages sleep quality, and how to catch your natural evening curve for better recovery. We talk practical micro-practices that fit real schedules: 10-minute resets, afternoon self-checks, and routines that flex without collapsing into all-or-nothing thinking. Her “road, bike lane, poison ivy” model helps you stay consistent while avoiding extremes that trigger stress and setbacks.
For big goals, we trade hustle myths for smarter pacing. Think Everest, not elevator. In business, growth happens in stages - each base camp gives you time to adapt, refine, and build the strength to reach your next summit. Andrea’s five P model - passion, permission, purpose, persistence, perseverance - replaces perfectionism with momentum you can sustain. Along the way, we connect bioindividuality, circadian rhythm, and nervous-system-care to everyday leadership decisions so your effort translates into durable results.
If you want to finish strong and start stronger, this conversation gives you the playbook: protect sleep, schedule what refuels you, and let joy be part of the plan. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs permission to slow down, and leave a review to tell us your top non-negotiable for the season.
In this podcast you will learn how to:
• Define energy, relationships, and impact as daily anchors
• Non-negotiables for leaders: sleep, digestion, blood sugar
• Setting a self-care floor and saying no with confidence
• Calendar design with micro check-ins and wiggle room
• Shift out of all-or-nothing mindsets
• Cortisol, circadian rhythms, and second winds
• Evening unplugging and nervous system care
• The five P model: passion, permission, purpose, persistence, perseverance
• Add joy as a core success metric
Highlights:
0:00
Slowing Down To Succeed
0:21
Framing Elite Achievement
4:08
Making Self-Care Non-Negotiable
8:02
Defining Your Self-Care Floor
12:04
Calendar Design And Wiggle Room
15:57
Beyond Perfectionism And The Bike Lane
20:38
Base Camps, Not Summits In A Day
25:53
Circadian Rhythm And Second Winds
30:00
Night Unplugging And Nervous System
33:28
Micro-Practices For Recovery
37:42
Weekends, Boundaries, And Refueling
Interested in 1:1 Coaching?
Kristin partners with high-performing financial advisors, leaders, and business owners who are ready to lead with more clarity, focus, and intention.
Clients often come to her with a strong vision, but they aren’t sure how to close the gap between where they are now and where they want to go. Many are navigating a season of growth, stepping into expanded leadership, or realizing they’ve outgrown their current systems and ways of working.
They know they’re capable of more and want a strategic thought partner to help them get there, someone who will ask the tough questions, create space to think deeply, and offer a proven process for turning ambition into meaningful progress.
If this sounds like the kind of partnership you’ve been craving, email meet@kristinburke.com to learn more and connect.
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