The true nature of burnout is working too hard at the wrong thing. It’s striving for a goal you can’t accomplish—perhaps a goal no one can accomplish. Burnout is pulling the whole weight uphill all by yourself, reaching the summit and realizing you’re only going to topple to the bottom to start all over again. It’s a feeling of despondency, and Nehemiah’s workers were suffering from rubbish burnout. They couldn’t see the picture of the shining city, only the debris. In a word, they were frustrated.