In this episode, I’m unpacking what happens when we push ourselves until there’s nothing left, physically, creatively, emotionally. I call it the “exploitation loop,” and it shows up in our businesses, our creative work, and our lives.
Why do we keep exhausting ourselves even when we know better? Where does this loop come from? And why does it feel so automatic?
Let’s explore this together. We’ll start by naming what we’re seeing, with space to reflect before seeking solutions.
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✦ REFLECT & CONNECT
🌱 Sit, walk, or dance with this question:
How is the exploitation loop showing up in your business, creative work, or life?
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TRANSCRIPT
[0:29] Hey there, how are you doing? Well, I have been thinking about something we talked about last week. Namely, that feeling of arriving in September with no creative energy left, no enthusiasm, no motivation. You know, I talked about it in a group call with some business friends, and saw many of them nod in agreement. So I have kept asking myself questions about it, reflecting on it, and looking for explanations.
[1:05] And today, I want to share what came up for me. So last week, we explored two reasons why we experience this kind of feeling, right? One is rooted in the present moment, like 2026 and the year before, and I dare say the year before that, too, have been a wild mess globally. We are talking about, you know, genocide, war, facing the consequences of climate change, economic disruption, of course, on top of our personal contexts and challenges. We are navigating crisis after crisis, or I’d rather say multiple overlapping crises at the same time. So, you know, no wonder we are feeling exhausted and confused, or maybe we are second-guessing everything.
[2:04] The other reason we talked about last week is rooted in the socio-cultural system we live and were raised in. That is to say, our dear friend capitalism and its emissaries will have convinced us all that we must be productive to be worthy. And this is so ingrained in our thinking that we tend to abide by it unconsciously. Well, this week, I have been reflecting on one thing that stems from this system, something that I call the exploitation loop, which I have seen my clients and myself too doing repeatedly over the years. So what happens in an exploitation loop is that you push yourself so hard until you don’t have a single ounce of energy left, it could be physical energy, cognitive energy, creative energy, emotional energy, or a combination of them or all of them. Anyway, when you reach that point you can just stop because you just can’t anymore.
[3:24] And you know, to me, this exploitation loop sounds like the, quote-unquote boom-and-bust cycle I often hear mentioned in neurodivergent spaces and hypermobile communities. So I’m not officially diagnosed with either, but my life experience resonates a lot with both, so I hang out in those spaces quite a lot.
[3:50] And after hearing so many accounts of the boom and bust cycle, I’ve come to the conclusion that, the underlying reason it happens is that we try to conform to some kind of standard or external expectation that makes us neglect our needs and burn out. So, for example, for an AuADHD person, that neuronormative expectation could lead them to force themselves to spend a lot of time with people or tackle a huge list of boring tasks or switch attention contexts very quickly. For a hypermobile person, it could look like trying to do more and more repetitions of an exercise, or increasing the weight load quickly, or maintaining a quote-unquote proper posture.
[4:45] For a creative business owner, it could look like pushing through one more week without allowing themselves to take a break or regenerate their energy. Or it could look like a more specific creative exploitation loop. Like, you know, when you force yourself to write a newsletter, to draft an essay, to outline a course, or to create a piece of art, a piece of jewelry, when your creative well is already empty.
[5:20] And of course, a creative business owner can be neurodivergent, hypermobile, or living with other conditions, right? So all those things overlap and compound, but we tend to disregard them because of an unconscious, automatic, quote-unquote reflex. Neglecting our needs is easier than honoring them, because our most used neural pathways are shaped by those repeated attempts to conform to external expectations. So in brain language, if you want, most used means easier and quicker to access, like we don’t even have to think about it to take those pathways or enact those behaviors.
[6:09] The good news is that neuroplasticity is a thing. Yay! We can change those pathways. It will take some repeated effort and energy to make them the most used. And that’s another good reason to break out the exploitation loop because we cannot change pathways when we are burned out.
[6:31] Now, what I found interesting when I looked for boom and bust cycle online was finding out that its main meaning is related to the economy. The Cambridge Dictionary says that boom and bust is a situation in which an economy or industry goes through a period of growth, especially one in which a lot of money is made, followed by a period of little or no growth. Which brings me back to the exploitation loop, because when I think about exploitation, I specifically think about capitalism, which I believe is an inherently exploitative and extractive economic system. So we are forcing ourselves into a loop or a cycle shaped by an economic system. But we are not economic beings, right? We are human beings and, you know, primates and animals for that matter.
[7:30] And no matter how much we are against that system, once again we are trying to shrink ourselves into its lethal economic mold.
[7:42] Do you need a minute? Because I think I need a minute. Or at least, you know, an inhale-exhale moment.
[7:50] Okay, so if the exploitation loop is affecting our capacity and creativity, what can we do about it?
[8:00] I believe it’s more about interrupting or altering the pattern than avoiding the loop entirely. I think it’s more about how we can have times of expansion and times of contraction without burning ourselves out. And we will explore that later in another episode. Plus, this will be a key part of the work we will do in Joyful Impact Summer Camp in August.
[8:34] The camp is a four-week program that I am building because I want you to arrive in September and feel different this year. I want you to feel refreshed. I want you to feel excited. I want you to feel energized. I want you to feel like your creative well is bubbling with inspiration. And my deeper reason to build the Camp, my dream for you, is that you start treating joy not as a reward for reaching some kind of finish line or as something that, you know, can wait, but as the essential fuel for your creative power so that you can truly enjoy your work and life while also contributing to dismantling that system that keeps exploiting you and us all.
[9:29] Okay, so registration for the Joyful Impact Summer Camp will open on July 15. And in the meantime, I’ll keep on sharing about it here. You know, my letters and podcast episodes are a way for me to explore and expand my thoughts and to build the Camp somewhat in public. But of course, they are also my way to offer you a space for self-reflection and self-reconnection and hopefully to spark a shift.
[10:00] So in that spirit, I want to leave you with a question to sit, walk or dance with. How is the exploitation loop showing up in your business, creative work or life? And I’d love to hear what’s coming up for you. You can drop me a line or record a voice message and in the show notes, you will find a single easy-to-click link to do that, if you like. But for now, let me thank you for spending some time with me today. We will talk soon. Bye.