Note from Matt Schnuck

As a CEO and entrepreneur for nearly 25 years, I’ve had my share of successes, including bootstrapping three companies to exits that brought in six, seven, and even eight figures. By my early 30s, I had achieved total financial freedom. But with that success came a cost—a cost I didn’t fully understand until it was too late.

I was a solo founder—a choice that, in hindsight, was a reflection of a deeper character flaw: not asking for help. Y Combinator won’t even accept solo founders because the odds of long-term success are so low. Despite this, I pushed my company to $25 million in revenue. It was a significant milestone, one that led to an 8-figure deal for me personally when I sold the company. 

But here’s the kicker—within two years after the sale, the company tripled its revenue to $75 million in ARR. I had burned out. I had sold way too early. And that burnout cost me over $100 million in personal wealth.

If I had known then what I know now, I might have avoided the burnout that led to such a costly mistake. Since, I’ve discovered a different way to lead in the years that followed, helping me maintain the mental, emotional, and inner resilience needed to sustain long-term success. 

But I found my unlock in a strange and unexpected place. A book aimed at artists.

Why CEOs Should Care About "The Artist’s Way"

Crack open Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” and your first impression might be - “this is 1990s self help BS.” Stick with me. Julia is writing to struggling artists but the book has 2 foundational systems that support anyone trying to bring a vision into the world.

As a CEO, I’ve lived the consequence of any business success: being bombarded with demands from every direction. Your team looks to you for guidance, your customers expect results, and the external world pressures you to perform. It’s easy to lose yourself in these responsibilities, to grind through each day until there’s nothing left. That’s where I found myself—drained, uninspired, and longing for an escape.

The most shared trait among successful founders is determination. Determination itself relentlessly appears as the most common quality among great founders in Y Combinator’s data set. 

But determination isn’t an endless resource, regardless of genetic gifts or how you might have been forged in fire. It needs to be fueled even in those who most enjoy “chewing glass” (how Elon famously describes entrepreneurship). Without a renewal practice, even the most determined leaders will burn out.

"The Artist’s Way" offers two foundational practices that I wish I had embraced sooner: Morning Pages and Artist Dates.

The Power of Morning Pages

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."  - Carl Jung

Morning Pages are a daily practice where you write three pages of stream-of-consciousness journaling each morning. This isn’t about crafting perfect prose—it’s about getting whatever is in your head onto the page without judgment. 

This practice helps you make the unconscious conscious, revealing the thoughts and patterns that might otherwise dictate your actions and decisions without you even realizing it.

In my own experience, Morning Pages have been a crucial tool for clearing mental clutter, reducing anxiety, and making space for clarity and creativity. 

If I had been practicing this daily journaling before my last exit, I might have recognized the signs of burnout earlier. Instead, I missed those warning signals, leading to a decision that cost me more than I could have imagined.

The Importance of a Date with Yourself

The second core practice from "The Artist’s Way" is the Artist Date—taking yourself out once a week to do something that nurtures your creativity and feeds your soul. These solo outings are about breaking away from the routine and reconnecting with your authentic self.

For me, Artist Dates have ranged from long walks through the city to attending stand-up comedy shows alone. One particularly memorable date was at The Comedy Store in LA, where I found myself unexpectedly sitting in the legendary Mitzi Shore’s owners booth. 

Watching the comedians that night, I was struck by their courage—their ability to tackle taboo subjects, masterfully tell embarrassing stories to total strangers and connect through raw honesty. It reminded me that leadership, like comedy, requires a unique relationship with oneself—one that is fearless, authentic, and constantly renewing.

If I had taken the time for these dates back then, perhaps I wouldn’t have felt the overwhelming urge to escape. Perhaps I would have had the clarity and energy to continue leading my company. I might have reaped the rewards of that perseverance.

Fueling Determination: The Beast Within

There’s a beast inside every great founder and CEO—a relentless drive to achieve, to overcome obstacles, and to lead with vision. But this beast isn’t just fueled by hard work or physical strength. It needs to be fed on a deeper level, through practices that nourish the soul as much as the body.

Pre-Artist’s Way: 

I worked out sporadically. It always felt great but I was inconsistent. I was too pulled by the external to keep showing up. When I sold I was 25 pounds overweight.

Post-Artist’s Way:

The ability to stick to a morning practice of writing started to spawn other daily practices, like strength training. I began regularly connecting with my own inner beast. 

I’ve learned that working out every day is as much about my mental health as it is about physical fitness. True renewal requires more than just physical exertion. 

Oddly, I found that if I kept stacking my bookshelf with completed journals, I was more likely to stack the workouts and plates in the gym. The outer transformation followed the inner work. 

Today at 46, my physical health is far superior to my early 30’s.

As leaders, we often overlook the importance of tending to our inner selves, dismissing these practices as "squishy" or unnecessary. I know I did. 

But the truth is, they are hardcore. They require discipline and consistency, and they are essential for maintaining the mental and emotional resilience needed to lead effectively over the long term.

Recognizing and Preventing Burnout

Burnout is a silent killer for CEOs and founders. It creeps up slowly, often masked by the demands of leadership and the pressure to always be "on." But there are signs if you know where to look—fantasies about escape, persistent low energy, and recurring themes of stress in your Morning Pages.

Your pages can be a powerful early warning system, alerting you to recurring stressors and decisions you’ve been avoiding. By bringing these issues to light, you can address them before they lead to burnout. And remember, if the CEO burns out, the company’s survival is at risk.

My other weapon in burnout prevention is the Zone of Genius framework. Knowing your Zone of Genius and spending 80%+ of your time there is so burnout insulating that I created an entire in-depth guide to the Zone of Genius for CEOs here.

I’ve never seen a founder working in their Zone of Genius and using the Artist’s Way practices burnout. 

The Artist’s Way as Fuel for Authentic Leadership

When I ask a room of CEOs what makes a great leader, within 5 answers the word “authentic” comes up. But authenticity can’t show up day after day unless you nurture your inner self. Embrace the practices that feed your soul, and you’ll find that you’re a better leader.

Being a founder can and should be fun. I continue to start companies and don’t imagine I’ll ever stop. 

Why? Because the inner me is now integrated into being a founder. 

I’m now connected to entrepreneurship as a vehicle for impacting others, creating positive ripples in the world and becoming the best version of myself. But for me that level only unlocked by discovering renewal practices that feed that inner beast. 

Sustainable determination is unstoppable determination.