When Dedicated Employees Push Themselves Too Far

By: Paula van der Werff and Yvonne Bramer

This article is part of a series in which we, together with PSYCH-K® Facilitators, explore what is really happening beneath behavior and complaints.

We look not only at what is visible, such as stress, fatigue, or relational tension, but especially at the subconscious beliefs that drive behavior, choices, and experiences.

Each article focuses on one specific target group and shows how subconscious reprogramming can create space for lasting change.
This article was written in collaboration with Yvonne Bramer (Praktijk Natuurlijk Vitaal). She works as an independent coach with dedicated and driven municipal employees.

Within municipalities, many employees work from a deep sense of commitment to residents and to the city. They feel responsible, think proactively, seize opportunities, and often devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work. Ironically, it is exactly this dedication that causes them to take on more and more work, or for others to place work on their shoulders because they know it will be in good hands.

Gradually, a pattern develops in which these employees are always “on.” They keep going and going, often without realizing how far they have already crossed their own boundaries. Only when the workday ends do they notice how exhausted they truly are. By evening, it feels as if their battery is completely drained.

What lies beneath this situation is often less visible. Employees act from good intentions, a strong sense of responsibility, and loyalty toward colleagues and residents. These are beautiful qualities, but they can also lead someone to forget themselves entirely.

Many people can sustain this for a long time. They take one extra step, solve problems, and keep everything running. Until the moment comes when body and mind signal that they can no longer continue this way. At that point, they no longer want to go on like this and/or physical or mental complaints begin to emerge.

For many employees, a clear tipping point eventually arrives. Their energy after work has disappeared. Constantly pushing forward no longer works, and the exhaustion keeps increasing. At the same time, their thoughts about themselves become increasingly harsh.

As the pressure continues to build, a recognizable pattern often emerges. People start overthinking and worrying. They cannot let go of work, not even on days off. Their battery remains empty, their patience at home becomes shorter, sleep becomes more difficult, and physical tension symptoms increase. In some cases, this eventually leads to burnout or long-term absence.

Conversations can create insight and awareness, and that is valuable. At the same time, talking usually does not change the automatic patterns from which we operate.

In fact, talking often reactivates the emotional reliving of stressful situations. With the best intentions, employees try to analyze what happened and why things unfolded the way they did. This costs enormous amounts of time and energy. The paradoxical effect is that the tension increases even further, while the inner critic grows stronger.

When I first heard about PSYCH-K®, I was honestly both skeptical and curious. What makes this method so special is that it allows you to permanently change the programming of your autopilot.

It does not only work on concrete situations employees struggle with, such as stress before conversations, presentations, expressing opinions, or saying no. It also works on the underlying beliefs and fears beneath these situations, such as beliefs about being good enough, functioning well, or belonging.

You can tell yourself a hundred times that “good is good enough,” but when your automatic reflex is perfectionism, an inner conflict will continue to arise.

In my work, I help employees regain control over their physical and mental vitality. I do this by teaching them skills and behaviors that help them develop new empowering habits. At the same time, I use PSYCH-K® to quickly and effectively transform limiting beliefs into supportive beliefs. This accelerates the process of lasting behavioral change, and that is always the goal.

PSYCH-K® consists of short yet powerful exercises with a profound impact. It helps employees release the emotional charge and experienced stress connected to situations. At the same time, underlying beliefs shift from sabotaging to supporting. Again and again, I witness how relief and calm emerge, allowing employees to show more authentic behavior. From that state of relaxation, it becomes much easier to build new habits.

In many coaching trajectories, similar themes return repeatedly. Questions such as: Am I good enough? Do I belong? Am I doing this right? often play a central role. These themes can express themselves in many different ways, both large and small.

When fear is connected to these themes, people move into automatic survival reactions. Employees often recognize these patterns from earlier moments in their lives as well. Once calm is restored around these beliefs, the world suddenly looks very different. It is a beautiful process to witness time and again.

Examples of Supportive Beliefs

• I work from relaxation and trust.
• I trust that I do my work well and that I am good enough.
• I trust my own feelings and act accordingly.
• I am good as I am.
• I am allowed to take good care of myself; by doing so, I also take good care of my work and long-term employability.
• I allow myself to live from my own balance.
• Doing my best is good enough.
• I am satisfied with my efforts, even when the desired result has not yet been achieved.
• I can delegate tasks and let go.
• I dare to ask for help.

Many employees believe they are doing the best thing for their organization and for the city’s residents by continuously pushing themselves harder. There is always more work, everything feels important, and deadlines keep piling up. Breaks are skipped, work is mentally carried home, and personal needs disappear into the background.

The paradox is that this creates the exact opposite effect of the original intention. When employees take better care of their own physical and mental well-being, a win-win situation emerges. They feel better, perform their work better, and remain sustainably employable in the long term.

Working in a relaxed way, maintaining energy, and experiencing peace of mind is possible, and it requires far less willpower than many people think. I know this from personal experience and from the many coaching trajectories I have guided over the years.

The combination of developing new skills and behaviors together with working with PSYCH-K® creates a clear shift. The results become noticeable in daily work, in well-being at home, and in sustainable employability over the long term.

This target group touches me personally. I myself worked within municipal government for many years and experienced what it feels like to almost collapse under the combination of deep commitment, high work pressure, and challenges both at work and at home.

I wanted to prevent myself from becoming completely exhausted and therefore began searching for ways to feel physically and mentally stronger. Once I discovered which “buttons” could be used to create change, I knew I wanted to share that knowledge. That was the moment I decided to continue as an independent professional.

If I had known PSYCH-K® at that time, my own process would probably have been much faster. That is exactly why I am so grateful that I can now use this method to help others regain their balance.

At De Werff, we train people in PSYCH-K® from one clear principle: sustainable change requires autonomy. The ability to recognize and reprogram subconscious beliefs increases inner stability and self-leadership.

Our PSYCH-K® Workshops offer people the opportunity to learn how to apply PSYCH-K® themselves, for personal development or professional use.

At the same time, individual guidance can be helpful when patterns are deeply rooted or require additional depth. The Facilitators within De Werff’s quality network work from the same vision: support is aimed at strengthening self-direction, not dependency.

Autonomy and guidance are not opposites. They strengthen each other.