If you're an engineering leader running on burnout and no boundaries, more talent won't fix it. Pete Wilson learned that the hard way, then rebuilt.
Living on default and not sure how to get out? Talk it through with a coach, free
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You've checked every box.
The title. The team. The reviews that say "exceeds."
And somewhere along the way, your life started running on default.
Default means you're just responding to whatever lands on you. The next fire. The next ask. The next yes you didn't want to give.
Pete Wilson knows that life well.
For 20 years he was a pastor. He started two churches, and the second one, in Nashville, became one of the fastest-growing in America.
On the inside, he was a people pleaser with no boundaries, running on scarcity and completely burned out.
Then it all came down. A public divorce. The loss of the role he'd built his life around. A depression so heavy he was sneaking into the grocery store at midnight in a hoodie.
Here's what pulled him out, and you already know how to do it.
When a test fails, you don't argue with the data. You trace the root cause. Your life works the same way. Your results come from your actions, and your actions come from your thoughts.
So Pete started debugging his thoughts with two questions.
Is that true?
Do you like the direction this thought is taking you?
Today he's remarried, coaching high-capacity leaders, building a management company with his wife Jordyn, and writing a book for his kids. The book he swore he'd never write.
He didn't get more gifted. He stopped living on default and started creating.
In this episode:
— The difference between a default life and a created life, and how to tell which one you're living
— Why people-pleasing plus no boundaries is a fast track to burnout in any high-pressure leadership role
— How to root-cause your own life the way you'd root-cause a failed test
— Two questions to debug any thought before it steers your next decision
— Why you can believe "anything is possible" in your head and still not believe it in your heart
— Why the higher you rise, the fewer people will tell you the truth
— Pete's three morning questions for creating yourself, the people around you, and the world
Also — Pete breaks the rules at the end and leaves you with two questions instead of one. The second is the one you won't shake: what are you tolerating that you know you shouldn't?
Your setback doesn't get the final word. You do.
If you're new here, binge the channel.
If you just counted what you're tolerating and didn't like the number, book a free Career Growth Audit.
If you want to reach director and beyond without burning out or losing yourself on the way...
Watch the Director Promotion Plan below.
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15 minutes with an OACO coach. Use it when you can see the default pattern but can't see the way out of it yet.
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Watch next:
Forget Networking. Build Your Career Crew
Why who's in your boat matters more than how hard you row.
Bored at Work but Exhausted? That's Still Burnout
When the burnout isn't from too much work, but from too little that matters.
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I'm Zach White, founder of Oasis of Courage.
Mechanical engineering degrees from Purdue and Michigan. Former engineering leader at Whirlpool. Since 2019 I've coached 300+ engineering leaders at 200+ companies — big tech to rust belt, and everything in between.
You shouldn't have to sacrifice your life to reach your potential at work.
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And if you want to see our Promotion Plan — how we help engineering leaders stop running on default and design a career and life on purpose, without handing over their nights and weekends to do it...