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In summer 2023, Oliver Rolfe was at breaking point. On the face of it, he had it all. In his early forties, he was a happily married father of two and the founder of a successful global headhunting business. He did not realise, though, that he was on the brink of burnout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hindsight, I can see how it all unravelled,\u201d he says from his home in London. \u201cI had always loved work, but it was a balance with sport and socialising.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hurting his back 10 years ago, he could not play football \u2013 \u201csomething I had always used as an outlet\u201d \u2013 so he threw himself into his work at Spartan International, which is based in London with offices in Hong Kong and New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became where I found my dopamine hits instead of sport,\u201d he says. \u201cMy identity became tied to my work success.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began cramming endless meetings into his days and was on his phone constantly during family holidays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was miserable, I felt depleted, emotionally numb, empty and just like I didn\u2019t know what I liked any more, or even who I was,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n