I Tracked Every Symptom I Had for a Year. Here’s What Happened.
Some days Autism makes me feel like superwoman. Other days...ehhh
A year ago today, I started tracking all of my mental, physical, and emotional symptoms, and guess what?
My life changed for the better.
I recovered from autistic burnout.
I created better sleeping habits.
I enhanced my relationships because I tightened up my boundaries.
I created a rhythm for my life not based on productivity culture. One that worked with my brain and needs not against it.
Most importantly, I came back home to myself and became more present and grounded in my body.
Creating this digital symptom tracker changed my life in many more ways. It reminded me of my brilliance and my resilience. Because a year ago, I was drowning under the weight of autistic and workplace burnout.
I went weeks without interacting with anyone, weeks without leaving my house, weeks of just sleeping, eating, and working on my business. I was stuck in this cycle of doing just enough to make it day by day, but barely living.
I was stuck in survival mode with a scarcity mindset.
You see, I burnt out not only because of overstimulation and a dysregulated nervous system from navigating systems that weren’t built for autistic folks. But also because I was overworking to escape poverty trauma.
The silver lining? Overworking gave me the resources to take a sabbatical this past year; a chance to rest intentionally, relearn who I was outside of survival mode, and create a new baseline for what a regulated nervous system looks like for me.
It wasn’t glamorous.
There were nights I didn’t sleep. Mornings I barely made it out of bed to eat. There were tears, loneliness, suicidal ideation, and moments I almost gave up.
But I didn’t. And that’s worth honoring.
So today, I’m writing a letter to 2024 Sam. To honor the version of me that got me here. And maybe, just maybe, it’s a letter you need to hear, too.
Hey Sam,
So much has changed in the last year, and I have you to thank for it.
Your boldness. Your curiosity. Your resilience. That’s what brought us here. That’s what got us out of burnout and out of the toxic cycle we were trapped in.
Because of you, I’m more grounded in who I am. Because of you, my life has more ease and space to rest. Because of you, I’ve healed childhood wounds that made me believe I had to earn love, care, and respect.
And can I just say how freaking brilliant you are?
Even while struggling to figure out how to heal, you created something complex and beautiful for others who needed support, just like you did.
That symptom tracker led to a full framework, which led to building digital portals so people could take burnout recovery into their own hands, without all the guesswork and pain.
That framework is now the anchor of the book you’re writing. It’s shifted how you move through the world. You built a path for others. One that makes healing possible.
Thank you for getting us here.
Thank you for forcing me to prioritize rest and just be.
Thank you for helping me remember who I was outside of overworking, overgiving, and self-abandonment.
Thank you for bringing me back home to myself.
This past year taught me that healing doesn’t happen all at once. It happens moment by moment, decision by decision.
Tracking my symptoms was just the first step, but it opened the door to everything that followed: rest, clarity, boundaries, softness, and a deeper understanding of who I am.
If you’re somewhere in the middle of your burnout, I want you to know you’re not alone, and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. That’s exactly why I created this system. So you’d have a map. A mirror. It is also a reminder t
hat your healing gets to be intentional, and on your own terms.
Want to see the symptom tracker that started it all?
Curious about the recovery portals? Click the button below to take the free quiz and access the portals.