June 20, 2025 • 14 mins
What happens when everything you've achieved feels empty inside?
"Shine Brighter" emerged from this breaking point. What began as personal therapy journaling slowly transformed into something greater as Laura recognized a quiet epidemic of high-functioning burnout among successful people. Through nearly two decades in executive recruiting and over 30,000 interviews, she'd seen this pattern repeatedly - accomplished individuals masterful at doing but who had forgotten how to simply be.
Join the Waitlist for Shine Brighter: https://www.lauraeking.com/sbwaitlist
Checkout Laura King as a Peak Performance Coach + Speaker on her website:
Subscribe to Laura's Peak of the Week:
https://www.lauraeking.com/peak-of-the-week
Checkout Mondo Davison as a Believer Speaker on his website:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, it's Laura, and welcome to this week's Peak of
the Week.
Guess what I have news Shinebrighter.
It's coming out end of July.
Oh my gosh.
I'm so excited and this is whattoday's Peak of the Week is on
so excited to share this withyou here.
(00:26):
It is why I wrote ShineBrighter and why it almost
didn't happen.
Okay, I'm sitting here with anadvanced copy, literally looking
at this.
Honestly, part of me cannotbelieve this exists in the world
(00:46):
, not because I doubted I couldwrite it, but because two years
ago I was in no condition towrite anything at all.
I was broken, completely,utterly broken.
All right, I'm going to go offscript a little bit because I
gotta give you, like paint you apicture of Laura of two years
ago.
Laura of two years ago onlylived in her mind.
(01:10):
She wasn't actually in thepresent moment.
She was missing out on all ofher kids, everything, because
she was so wrapped up in a storyin her mind that was.
I now see just something Icompletely made up.
I created a reality of my own,basically of my own prison,
(01:35):
basically of my own prison, andI was swirling and I was not
nice to my husband and my kidson many occasions I didn't
really like the person I was,and I'm sure you're thinking
like that does not sound likethe Laura I know.
(01:56):
Well, that's exactly why I hadto write the book.
So the day that everything fellapart.
So the day that everything fellapart, I had taken my son for
(02:17):
neurofeedback therapy to helpwith his anxiety and his ADHD.
The practitioner, also atrained therapist, and I were
talking more about the tests andI was like I felt this wave
come over me.
I'm compelled to take thesetests.
And I got the results.
Oh, laura, I am so sorry toshare this news with you.
(02:41):
I knew it.
I knew it.
I'm like I am the person whowants to get straight A's on all
of the things and I'm like, ohmy gosh, I'm going to have a
great brain, I'm going to have agreat brain.
Did I have a great brain?
Nope, in fact.
I think his first question waswhat trauma did I go through?
(03:03):
Like there was some severesigns of trauma, and he went on
to say that not only do I haveanxiety off the charts, but my
brain waves show that I'm notfinding rest at night or during
the day, and that I basicallyhave ADHD, and that I basically
(03:23):
have ADHD.
I figuratively dropped to myknees, but I think I just.
He offered me a hug and I justlet it, I just sobbed, I just
let go and I was just lettingall the waterworks just come to
the surface.
(03:44):
It's confirmed what my body andsoul have been whispering for
years, but I've been too busytrying to keep it all together,
trying to perform success.
I had been swimming upstreamagainst everything I was
(04:04):
achieving, but I never feltconnected to myself or connected
to purpose, or connected to joy.
It looked like I was successful, but inside I was dying, and so
I didn't set out to write ShineBrighter.
I was setting out to getunstuck and what started as sort
(04:28):
of my personal therapyjournaling my way through this
wreckage of my performance-basedidentity it slowly became
something bigger and as I begansharing pieces of my story, I
realized I was not alone in thisquiet epidemic of high
functioning burnout.
Emails started coming in, oreven just in conversation, and
(04:53):
I'd share things and peoplewould say I feel like you're
describing my life exactly, orhow did you know what I was
going through?
Or I thought I was the only onewho felt this successful and
empty at the same time.
So through my almost twodecades in executive recruiting
and over 30,000 interviews, I'veseen the pattern everywhere
(05:19):
Sometimes, the most accomplishedpeople are often the most
disconnected from themselves.
They've mastered the art ofdoing, but have forgotten how to
simply be.
So shine brighter is not forpeople who want to do more.
It's for people who areexhausted from doing everything
(05:41):
quote, unquote right and stillfeeling wrong inside, still
feeling off, still feelingmisaligned.
It's for the executive wholooks super impressive on
LinkedIn but feels disconnectedat home.
It's for the high achieverwho's built a beautiful life but
(06:01):
doesn't feel present in it.
Beautiful life, but doesn'tfeel present in it.
It's for the leader who's tiredof performing strength and
ready to find real power.
It's for anyone who's everasked themselves is this, it, is
this what success is supposedto feel like?
You know who you are.
You've checked all the boxes.
(06:23):
Society handed you Careermilestone, family
responsibilities, communityroles.
Again, from the outside,everything adds up, but inside
there's a quiet ache thatwhispers.
Something essential is missing.
You're not broken, you're justmisaligned.
(06:43):
And that misalignment, it's nota character flaw.
It's not a character flaw, it'san invitation.
So my journey from thatneurofeedback clinic to writing
this book it was not linear andit was not pretty.
It involved therapy.
It was not pretty.
(07:04):
It involved therapy, deepspiritual work, countless
conversations with God andslowly, ever so slowly, learning
to trust my own inner wisdomagain.
I had to face some hard truthsthat I built my entire identity
around external achievement,that I've been carrying
(07:26):
generations maybe of thisachievement addiction,
unconscious patterns,unconscious patterns passed down
that somehow equate worth withproductivity, worth with
(07:48):
productivity, and that I'd beenso focused on being everything
to everyone that I forgot who Iactually was.
The real transformation beganwhen I started asking some
different questions.
Instead of how can I achievemore, I asked who am I when I'm
not achieving?
Instead of what do I need to do, I asked what does my soul need
?
Instead of how can I besuccessful, I asked how can I be
(08:13):
present?
These questions led me to aprofound realization I am not
what I do.
I am not my achievements, notwhat I do.
I am not my achievements, I amnot my revenue numbers.
I am love, I am joy, I amessence, I am the story that's
unfolding.
(08:33):
There's a scene in the bookwhere I describe finding an old
eulogy that I'd written formyself years, years earlier,
during a workshop and in themiddle of my darkest burnout I
stumble across these pages thatdescribe the woman I want wanted
(08:53):
to be remembered as as alive,as joyful, as present, as loving
, and reading that eulogy Irealized the woman I described
felt like a complete stranger.
I was like who's that person?
And that's when I knewsomething had to fundamentally
shift, and the practices thatemerged from that, reckoning
(09:19):
what I now call the four A'sframework I now call the four
A's framework Sure, awareness,attitude, action and alignment
Literally saved my life.
I was going down a dark pathand they helped me remember who
I was beneath all the doing andthe achieving.
They cracked open myperformance prison and led me
(09:46):
home to myself.
Why now matters.
We are living in a time whenthe old models of success are
crumbling.
The pandemic showed us whathappens when we stop long enough
to actually feel what's goingon inside.
You could say the pandemickicked off the beginning of a
collective healing and many ofus realize we've been running on
(10:09):
empty for years, calling itambition.
And the next generation?
They're watching.
They're looking at our versionof success and saying no, thank
you.
They can see the quietdesperation, even when we think
we're hiding it.
But what if there is another way.
What if success could feel?
(10:31):
Feel as good on the inside asit looks on the outside?
And that's the possibility thatShine Brighter explores Not by
rejecting achievement, but byredefining it.
Writer explores Not byrejecting achievement, but by
redefining it.
Not by doing more, but bybecoming more of who you truly
are.
So I want to be honest aboutsomething this book is not going
(11:02):
to tell you to quit your job orblow up your life.
Okay, some people need radicalexternal changes, but most of us
need something quieter anddeeper.
We need to come home toourselves, right where we are.
Shine Brother emerged from themessiest, most vulnerable season
of my life.
It contains the frameworks thathelped me stop performing and
start living, the gentledisruptions that taught me the
(11:25):
difference between achievementand alignment.
But here's what makes thedifference.
I'm just I.
I don't have it all figured out.
I am not writing a place ofhaving it all figured out.
I'm writing from the journey,from the ongoing journey, from
(11:47):
the messy journey, from the helpme understand what's going on.
This book is my way of sayingyou're not alone.
You're not alone, but there isanother way of being and living
in the world, and we can figureit out together.
So your future self, yourfuture self is like yay.
(12:10):
These words really resonatewith me.
It's calling you.
It's calling the version of youthat feels aligned and
energized and authenticallypowerful.
So don't wait for perfectcircumstances.
They're waiting for you rightnow to decide and declare and
(12:30):
express who you truly are.
If you were given a year leftto live, what would you just let
go of?
Why not just do that now?
Why not just become that personnow?
(12:55):
It needs you.
The world needs you fully,authentically, brilliantly you,
brilliantly you.
So I'd love for you to join thewaitlist.
There will be a link in thepodcast description to be in the
know towards the end of July,but between now and July there's
(13:16):
a lot of fun stuff that's goingto be happening.
I'd love for you to join thewait list, not because I have
all the answers remember, butbecause I've learned we don't
have to figure it out alone.
Sometimes.
The most radical thing we cando is simply stop pretending
everything is fine and starttelling the truth, even if that
(13:39):
truth is just to ourselves.
Your light is already there.
This book is just here to helpyou remember how to let it shine
.
I believe in you, I believe inyour magnificence and I am.
(14:00):
I believe in your magnificenceand I am gosh so excited for you
to tap into this version of you, the one that remembers.
Oh my gosh, I did not come hereto strive and struggle and
spend my time in lack andlimitation and fear.
That's no fun.
That is a prison of the mind.
(14:22):
There is light.
Okay, I will not begin singing,I will spare you that but I
will say I am just so thankfulto be in your ears today.
Thank you for the honor, thankyou for the opportunity.
I am beyond jazzed for what Godis going to do with this book
(14:50):
and I stand in awe of it all.
Hey, it's Laura, and welcome to this week's Peak of
the Week.
Guess what I have news Shinebrighter.
It's coming out end of July.
Oh my gosh.
I'm so excited and this is whattoday's Peak of the Week is on
so excited to share this withyou here.
(00:26):
It is why I wrote ShineBrighter and why it almost
didn't happen.
Okay, I'm sitting here with anadvanced copy, literally looking
at this.
Honestly, part of me cannotbelieve this exists in the world
(00:46):
, not because I doubted I couldwrite it, but because two years
ago I was in no condition towrite anything at all.
I was broken, completely,utterly broken.
All right, I'm going to go offscript a little bit because I
gotta give you, like paint you apicture of Laura of two years
ago.
Laura of two years ago onlylived in her mind.
(01:10):
She wasn't actually in thepresent moment.
She was missing out on all ofher kids, everything, because
she was so wrapped up in a storyin her mind that was.
I now see just something Icompletely made up.
I created a reality of my own,basically of my own prison,
(01:35):
basically of my own prison, andI was swirling and I was not
nice to my husband and my kidson many occasions I didn't
really like the person I was,and I'm sure you're thinking
like that does not sound likethe Laura I know.
(01:56):
Well, that's exactly why I hadto write the book.
So the day that everything fellapart.
So the day that everything fellapart, I had taken my son for
(02:17):
neurofeedback therapy to helpwith his anxiety and his ADHD.
The practitioner, also atrained therapist, and I were
talking more about the tests andI was like I felt this wave
come over me.
I'm compelled to take thesetests.
And I got the results.
Oh, laura, I am so sorry toshare this news with you.
(02:41):
I knew it.
I knew it.
I'm like I am the person whowants to get straight A's on all
of the things and I'm like, ohmy gosh, I'm going to have a
great brain, I'm going to have agreat brain.
Did I have a great brain?
Nope, in fact.
I think his first question waswhat trauma did I go through?
(03:03):
Like there was some severesigns of trauma, and he went on
to say that not only do I haveanxiety off the charts, but my
brain waves show that I'm notfinding rest at night or during
the day, and that I basicallyhave ADHD, and that I basically
(03:23):
have ADHD.
I figuratively dropped to myknees, but I think I just.
He offered me a hug and I justlet it, I just sobbed, I just
let go and I was just lettingall the waterworks just come to
the surface.
(03:44):
It's confirmed what my body andsoul have been whispering for
years, but I've been too busytrying to keep it all together,
trying to perform success.
I had been swimming upstreamagainst everything I was
(04:04):
achieving, but I never feltconnected to myself or connected
to purpose, or connected to joy.
It looked like I was successful, but inside I was dying, and so
I didn't set out to write ShineBrighter.
I was setting out to getunstuck and what started as sort
(04:28):
of my personal therapyjournaling my way through this
wreckage of my performance-basedidentity it slowly became
something bigger and as I begansharing pieces of my story, I
realized I was not alone in thisquiet epidemic of high
functioning burnout.
Emails started coming in, oreven just in conversation, and
(04:53):
I'd share things and peoplewould say I feel like you're
describing my life exactly, orhow did you know what I was
going through?
Or I thought I was the only onewho felt this successful and
empty at the same time.
So through my almost twodecades in executive recruiting
and over 30,000 interviews, I'veseen the pattern everywhere
(05:19):
Sometimes, the most accomplishedpeople are often the most
disconnected from themselves.
They've mastered the art ofdoing, but have forgotten how to
simply be.
So shine brighter is not forpeople who want to do more.
It's for people who areexhausted from doing everything
(05:41):
quote, unquote right and stillfeeling wrong inside, still
feeling off, still feelingmisaligned.
It's for the executive wholooks super impressive on
LinkedIn but feels disconnectedat home.
It's for the high achieverwho's built a beautiful life but
(06:01):
doesn't feel present in it.
Beautiful life, but doesn'tfeel present in it.
It's for the leader who's tiredof performing strength and
ready to find real power.
It's for anyone who's everasked themselves is this, it, is
this what success is supposedto feel like?
You know who you are.
You've checked all the boxes.
(06:23):
Society handed you Careermilestone, family
responsibilities, communityroles.
Again, from the outside,everything adds up, but inside
there's a quiet ache thatwhispers.
Something essential is missing.
You're not broken, you're justmisaligned.
(06:43):
And that misalignment, it's nota character flaw.
It's not a character flaw, it'san invitation.
So my journey from thatneurofeedback clinic to writing
this book it was not linear andit was not pretty.
It involved therapy.
It was not pretty.
(07:04):
It involved therapy, deepspiritual work, countless
conversations with God andslowly, ever so slowly, learning
to trust my own inner wisdomagain.
I had to face some hard truthsthat I built my entire identity
around external achievement,that I've been carrying
(07:26):
generations maybe of thisachievement addiction,
unconscious patterns,unconscious patterns passed down
that somehow equate worth withproductivity, worth with
(07:48):
productivity, and that I'd beenso focused on being everything
to everyone that I forgot who Iactually was.
The real transformation beganwhen I started asking some
different questions.
Instead of how can I achievemore, I asked who am I when I'm
not achieving?
Instead of what do I need to do, I asked what does my soul need
?
Instead of how can I besuccessful, I asked how can I be
(08:13):
present?
These questions led me to aprofound realization I am not
what I do.
I am not my achievements, notwhat I do.
I am not my achievements, I amnot my revenue numbers.
I am love, I am joy, I amessence, I am the story that's
unfolding.
(08:33):
There's a scene in the bookwhere I describe finding an old
eulogy that I'd written formyself years, years earlier,
during a workshop and in themiddle of my darkest burnout I
stumble across these pages thatdescribe the woman I want wanted
(08:53):
to be remembered as as alive,as joyful, as present, as loving
, and reading that eulogy Irealized the woman I described
felt like a complete stranger.
I was like who's that person?
And that's when I knewsomething had to fundamentally
shift, and the practices thatemerged from that, reckoning
(09:19):
what I now call the four A'sframework I now call the four
A's framework Sure, awareness,attitude, action and alignment
Literally saved my life.
I was going down a dark pathand they helped me remember who
I was beneath all the doing andthe achieving.
They cracked open myperformance prison and led me
(09:46):
home to myself.
Why now matters.
We are living in a time whenthe old models of success are
crumbling.
The pandemic showed us whathappens when we stop long enough
to actually feel what's goingon inside.
You could say the pandemickicked off the beginning of a
collective healing and many ofus realize we've been running on
(10:09):
empty for years, calling itambition.
And the next generation?
They're watching.
They're looking at our versionof success and saying no, thank
you.
They can see the quietdesperation, even when we think
we're hiding it.
But what if there is another way.
What if success could feel?
(10:31):
Feel as good on the inside asit looks on the outside?
And that's the possibility thatShine Brighter explores Not by
rejecting achievement, but byredefining it.
Writer explores Not byrejecting achievement, but by
redefining it.
Not by doing more, but bybecoming more of who you truly
are.
So I want to be honest aboutsomething this book is not going
(11:02):
to tell you to quit your job orblow up your life.
Okay, some people need radicalexternal changes, but most of us
need something quieter anddeeper.
We need to come home toourselves, right where we are.
Shine Brother emerged from themessiest, most vulnerable season
of my life.
It contains the frameworks thathelped me stop performing and
start living, the gentledisruptions that taught me the
(11:25):
difference between achievementand alignment.
But here's what makes thedifference.
I'm just I.
I don't have it all figured out.
I am not writing a place ofhaving it all figured out.
I'm writing from the journey,from the ongoing journey, from
(11:47):
the messy journey, from the helpme understand what's going on.
This book is my way of sayingyou're not alone.
You're not alone, but there isanother way of being and living
in the world, and we can figureit out together.
So your future self, yourfuture self is like yay.
(12:10):
These words really resonatewith me.
It's calling you.
It's calling the version of youthat feels aligned and
energized and authenticallypowerful.
So don't wait for perfectcircumstances.
They're waiting for you rightnow to decide and declare and
(12:30):
express who you truly are.
If you were given a year leftto live, what would you just let
go of?
Why not just do that now?
Why not just become that personnow?
(12:55):
It needs you.
The world needs you fully,authentically, brilliantly you,
brilliantly you.
So I'd love for you to join thewaitlist.
There will be a link in thepodcast description to be in the
know towards the end of July,but between now and July there's
(13:16):
a lot of fun stuff that's goingto be happening.
I'd love for you to join thewait list, not because I have
all the answers remember, butbecause I've learned we don't
have to figure it out alone.
Sometimes.
The most radical thing we cando is simply stop pretending
everything is fine and starttelling the truth, even if that
(13:39):
truth is just to ourselves.
Your light is already there.
This book is just here to helpyou remember how to let it shine
.
I believe in you, I believe inyour magnificence and I am.
(14:00):
I believe in your magnificenceand I am gosh so excited for you
to tap into this version of you, the one that remembers.
Oh my gosh, I did not come hereto strive and struggle and
spend my time in lack andlimitation and fear.
That's no fun.
That is a prison of the mind.
(14:22):
There is light.
Okay, I will not begin singing,I will spare you that but I
will say I am just so thankfulto be in your ears today.
Thank you for the honor, thankyou for the opportunity.
I am beyond jazzed for what Godis going to do with this book
(14:50):
and I stand in awe of it all.
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