An indie developer shares their personal journey with burnout, tracing it back to low self-esteem and hyperfocus tendencies developed during college. After pushing too hard on their note-taking app and experiencing severe health issues, they reflect on how early validation from users created an unhealthy dependency on external approval. The piece explores accepting inherent traits as 'unfixable bugs,' the importance of unconditional self-worth, and how supportive users encouraged proper rest without deadlines.