Posted September 16, 2025

What if you could bend time not just to get more done, but to actually heal your body, reclaim your energy, and rediscover joy in your work?  Stress can make us sick. Burnout drains our potential. Through mindset shifts, lifestyle changes, and intentional strategies, you can reverse the damage and create a healthier, more productive life.

This article explores how stress management, strong relationships, and holistic approaches to work and life can help you shrink years of struggle into moments of clarity. Michelle Niemeyer, a lawyer turned coach and creator of The Art of Bending Time, shares her journey from burnout to breakthrough and how you can do the same.

Michelle Niemeyer practiced law for 33 years. It is a profession known for long hours, constant pressure, and endless demands. About 20 years in, burnout hit her hard. She found herself resenting clients, questioning her purpose, and going through the motions without joy.

Then came a health scare. Severe pain led to tests, and eventually a diagnosis: primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a chronic autoimmune liver disease. Doctors told her it was not curable, only manageable. But Michelle was not ready to surrender her future to that prognosis.

Instead, she leaned into personal development, shifted her lifestyle, embraced holistic health strategies, and slowly began to heal mentally, emotionally, and physically. Over time, her liver scores actually improved from stage two to stage zero, something doctors told her was impossible.

Her lesson: burnout and illness do not have to define your life. With the right strategies, you can reclaim control.

Michelle’s story highlights something we all know but rarely admit. We normalize chronic bad stress. Late nights, endless caffeine, skipped meals, constant multitasking, we call it “just life.”

But what feels normal is actually corrosive.

High cortisol levels, lack of recovery, and constant busyness keep our bodies in fight-or-flight mode. Vacations do not even reset us anymore. We spend the first week just trying to calm down. This constant stress erodes both health and happiness.

Breaking free means recognizing that stress management is not optional, it is essential.

Michelle believes work-life balance is a myth. We are not two separate people. We are whole beings. Instead of dividing work and life, she argues we should integrate them through authentic relationships.

When you connect with people on a human level, whether at work or outside, you create networks that save time, reduce stress, and open doors. A casual conversation might cut months off a learning curve, help solve a problem faster, or even create new opportunities.

Relationships are not just “nice to have.” They are a key to bending time and reducing burnout.

Michelle developed a powerful tool to help people set meaningful goals and cut through the noise: the SWOR Analysis which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Risks.

Here is how it works:

• Strengths: What assets, resources, or advantages do you already have?
• Weaknesses: What gaps or limitations are holding you back?
• Opportunities: What possibilities could open if you pursued this goal?
• Risks: What sacrifices, trade-offs, or costs would it require?

Once you have laid it all out, give your goal a gut-check. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you really want it? If the number is low, it may not be your goal. It might be baggage you have been carrying, or someone else’s expectation.

This simple but powerful framework helps strip away false goals and refocus on what truly matters.

For leaders, Michelle’s story is also a call to action. See your people as whole humans, not just task-doers. Real connection and genuine support reduce burnout and build stronger teams. For individuals, it is a reminder that burnout is not always about quitting your career. It is about reconnecting with what lights you up and finding sustainable ways to thrive.

Bending time is not about squeezing more into your day. It is about reclaiming your health, aligning with your values, and making choices that fuel joy and success.

So here is the challenge: take one step today. Do your own SWOR analysis. Identify a goal that really matters, strip away what does not, and reclaim your time, energy, and life - then connect with Michelle!

Have you ever normalized stress to the point where burnout felt “just part of the job”?

What would your SWOR analysis reveal about the goals you are chasing right now?

Watch: https://youtu.be/W_BXjF5hl-Q

Listen: https://apple.co/47CGqTY