Resilience Fatigue and the Cost of Staying Positive

The modern workplace celebrates those who bounce back. But what happens when the bounce is delayed, and the pressure to stay steady becomes the stress? For many Canadian professionals, it goes beyond just grit or perseverance; it’s resilience fatigue. It’s an exhaustion beneath the surface of what looks like strength.

A recent survey found that 47 % of Canadian professionals report feeling burned out, and 31 % say their burnout has increased compared with the year before. As workloads, technical requirements, and deadlines stack up, resilience can start to feel more like a demand.

When the Expectation to be Endlessly Resilient Erodes Well-Being

There’s now more of a pressure at work that few talk about directly. It’s the expectation to smile through setbacks, to keep calm under pressure, to stay positive even when things clearly aren’t. Over time, that emotional suppression becomes its own source of stress.

What many professionals experience isn’t a lack of grit but resilience fatigue: the exhaustion that comes from constantly trying to project strength. How does it show up? A strained laugh in a meeting, an instant “no problem” reply to yet another last-minute task, the dread that comes when someone says “we’ll just have to push through.”

When we frame resilience as endless optimism, we erode our ability to recover. It’s emotional honesty, not forced positivity, that helps people stay grounded. Teams that normalize saying “this is hard” without judgment recover faster and make better decisions because their energy isn’t spent pretending.

Authenticity is the first step toward real resilience. Authenticity allows truth to exist in the room. When leaders and colleagues model that openness, they make space for strength that isn’t performative, strength that endures.

How Can Boundaries Reduce Resilience Fatigue?

In conversations about resilience, boundaries rarely get the attention they deserve. Without them, even the most capable professionals can find themselves overextended and resentful.

Resilience fatigue often begins with small acts of overcommitment. Saying yes to “just one more” request. Skipping lunch to meet a deadline. Checking messages after hours because “it’s only a minute.” Each act seems harmless in isolation, but together they create a pattern of depletion that no amount of positive thinking can fix.

Setting boundaries is about clarity, not rigidity. Professionals who can name their limits, communicate them respectfully, and honour them consistently will recover faster from stress and perform more effectively. A boundary is a way of preserving energy for what matters most.

Managers play a pivotal role here. When they model boundaries, such as ending meetings on time, logging off without apology, or declining non-essential work, they give implicit permission for others to do the same. Boundaries only take root when they’re visible and respected, not just talked about.

What Role Does Energy Management Play in Resilience Fatigue?

When people talk about burnout, they often think of time as the problem. But most professionals aren’t short on hours, they’re short on energy. The difference matters. Managing time is about efficiency. Managing energy is about sustainability.

Resilience fatigue grows when energy output consistently exceeds recovery. The body might be present, but attention, creativity, and empathy start to fade. It’s not laziness or disengagement, but depletion disguised as discipline. Research from the Canadian Mental Health Association found that 71 % of employees report feeling mentally drained at the end of most workdays, a signal that recovery isn’t keeping pace with demand.

Energy management begins with awareness. When professionals notice early signs of depletion — mental fog, irritability, declining focus — they can take small, consistent steps to restore balance. Brief recovery practices such as a five-minute reset, a short walk between meetings, or focused breathing can interrupt fatigue before it becomes chronic.

Leaders help when they design workflows that respect human rhythm. Rotating high-focus tasks with lower-intensity work, encouraging short breaks, and limiting after-hours communication all signal that sustained energy matters more than constant output. Teams that work this way stay creative and resilient because recovery isn’t left to chance.

Reframing Resilience Fatigue at Work

Resilience fatigue isn’t a personal failing. The most resilient workplaces are those that build space for truth, rest, and recalibration instead of pushing through exhaustion.

If your team’s feeling the weight of resilience fatigue, this might be the moment to rebuild from the inside out. Consider our course, Developing Workplace Resilience for Top Performers and explore how authenticity, boundaries, and energy awareness can transform how your team recovers.

What’s one honest choice or small boundary that could make tomorrow feel more sustainable?