Thriver, Not Survivor: How to Beat Chronic Fatigue with Miguel Bautista

Thriver, Not Survivor: How to Beat Chronic Fatigue with Miguel Bautista

‍

Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind, George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. I’m joined in the studio today by an amazing guest, Miguel Batista. How are you doing, brother?

I’m doing excellent—just really excited to be here.

Yeah, yeah. It’s sometimes tough to coordinate, but I’ll tell you what, I’m really excited for you to be here because we’re talking about the topic of overcoming fatigue, brain fog, and chronic pain. Let me give a quick introduction so our audience knows who you are. You’ve written a book—Not Survivor: How to Beat Chronic Fatigue—but more importantly, you’ve helped thousands of people overcome fatigue, brain fog, and chronic pain. You developed the CFS Recovery System, a program that’s helped over a thousand people go from bedridden to thriving.

And being a former athlete and someone who’s gone through everything from coaching to discipline, I think today’s topic will be really helpful for a lot of people. So I really appreciate you taking the time.

I’m looking forward to our conversation. Absolutely. I think it’s going to help a lot of people, especially those with chronic fatigue syndrome—it’s so much more than fatigue. There are all these strange symptoms going on, lots of burnout that leads into it, which many entrepreneurs experience. Those Type A personalities, the high achievers—those are the people with the perfect recipe to get something like this. And usually, by the time they find us, they’re already in the severe stages. So hopefully, this helps people.

Yeah, and I think for those of you listening, we’re going to get into details that you might associate with burnout, stress, or chronic fatigue. Or you might have something more specific—and we’ll get into that as well.

‍

Miguel Batista’s Background and Journey

One thing that might really help everyone is for you to share a bit of your background and personal journey. You went from being bedridden to hiking in Hawaii—it’s a pretty inspiring story and lays the foundation for why you’re so qualified to talk about this. Could you share that story and what led you to where you are right now?

Yeah, absolutely. My story really starts before the symptoms even began. I grew up in Vancouver, BC, a regular kid from a simple family. I loved playing outside, but I realized early on that I couldn’t sit still. I was always very driven—almost too driven for my own good.

I had this extreme personality. I remember in elementary school, the first time I ever got a C+, I felt like a complete failure. I was used to getting straight A’s; I was that perfectionist type who put a lot of pressure on myself to always “succeed.”

Fast forward a few years, and that inner drive led to success early in my life: I was wrestling team captain, football team captain, and an honors student. After I graduated, I became one of the top-selling personal trainers in a company with over 300 trainers—at just 22 years old. I had a nice car, was making decent money, and on the outside, everything seemed like it was on track.

But my body couldn’t keep up with the demand I was placing on it. I was working 12–16 hours a day, constantly reading books about personal development, not sleeping right, not eating right—but most importantly, that inner voice kept saying, “You’ve got to do more, be more productive, keep pushing harder.”

I equated success with pain, discipline, blood, sweat, and tears. That’s what I told myself. But eventually, my health started slipping, and I fell into a hole so deep I never thought I’d get out.

“I thought success meant pushing harder, but it turns out it meant learning when to slow down.”

After a few years, my health truly deteriorated. It began with brain fog and insomnia, then anxiety and random panic attacks. I didn’t even know what anxiety was—I saw it as weakness. I told myself, “You’re just soft; push through it.”

But soon, I ended up in the hospital—over and over again—because I couldn’t breathe, my heart felt like it was going to explode, and I couldn’t sleep. Everything started going downhill.

After about four years of this, I hit rock bottom. I was 23 years old, lying in a hospital bed, unable to sit up or feed myself. The people beside me were being told they had four months to live after surgery. I thought, “How did I end up here? My life was good, I did everything right.”

I’d been to 35 or 40 different doctors and specialists—conventional and alternative health experts—had dozens of ER visits, and nobody could tell me what was wrong. On paper, I was perfectly healthy. But I felt horrible.

At my worst, I was completely bedridden, getting spoon-fed for eight months straight. Imagine going from being a team captain and a top personal trainer to not even being able to shower. My grandmother had to wipe me down for six months. The other two months, I spent in the hospital learning how to use a wheelchair, a walker, and finally getting back on my own two feet.

‍

Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I think it’s important to note something you said earlier—most people who are success-driven, like entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, got where they are because of the hard work, the grind, the hustle. But what gets them to success is often the very thing that causes their problems later. They don’t see it because they believe it’s what made them successful, so the last thing they want to do is change that.

Exactly. You nailed it. In fact, those personality traits double down on themselves. When they start to feel tired or run down, they don’t see it as a warning sign—they see it as a challenge. “This is my time to shine,” they think. They believe it’s weakness to rest or slow down. So they push even harder or refuse to acknowledge what’s happening.

These types of people—Type A personalities—are the last ones to reach out for help or show any sign of weakness. Usually, by the time they finally do, they have absolutely no choice left. They’re already in the severe stages.

We’ll talk a bit later about how people can catch this early on, but finish your story first—what did you do? How did you start to find recovery?

I honestly feel like I won the lottery when I met my doctor in the hospital. It’s a wild story. During the first month in the ICU, they ran every possible test, but everything came back normal. Still, I couldn’t stop shaking. I had to wear earplugs, construction earmuffs, and a blindfold because I couldn’t tolerate sound or light.

They blended my food because my digestive system had stopped working. After ruling out organ failure, they told me, “This is probably an issue with the way your brain is communicating with your body.” On paper, my heart, lungs, and organs were fine—but something was clearly wrong.

They gave me two options: either go home and come back every day for treatment—which was impossible since I couldn’t even sit up—or stay in the psych ward, where I could work with a doctor daily. I remember thinking, “Is this a trick? Do they think I’m crazy?”

But they reassured me: I’d be a voluntary patient, with a special wristband, free to leave anytime. So, I spent the next month living in the psych ward. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

That’s where I met the psychiatrist who essentially unlocked what was happening. He told me, “You’re not going to die, but your body has hit its limit. Your nervous system is hypersensitive.”

He explained that my body had been pushed too hard for too long. My nervous system had been overworked to the point of malfunction—it was stuck in a constant state of fight or flight.

“When your body doesn’t trust you anymore, it forces you to slow down—whether you want to or not.”

‍

That’s powerful. I remember reading about that concept—the hypersensitive nervous system—and thinking about how many people deal with unexplained symptoms that medicine can’t define. Can you explain what you mean by that? What does a hypersensitive nervous system actually feel like?

It feels like you’re on edge all the time. Overwhelmed. Your tolerance for stress drops drastically, and your threshold is much lower than it used to be. Everyone has a limit to how much stress their nervous system can handle, but for some people, especially high achievers, that limit gets exceeded over and over again.

When you pile on stress—pressure from yourself, finances, relationships, work—it all adds up. At first, you’ll see warning signs like anxiety, heart palpitations, or insomnia. But instead of slowing down, Type A people take it as a challenge. They push harder.

The further they go beyond that limit, the worse the symptoms get. Eventually, the body slams on the brakes. It says, “We don’t trust you anymore. You’re running yourself into the ground, so we’re going to make you stop.”

That’s when people start experiencing things like brain fog, fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations, or shortness of breath. It’s the body’s way of forcing rest. But instead of listening, people interpret it as weakness—and keep pushing.

That’s fascinating. And does it build up over time too? Like, are there people who used to handle stress fine but now can’t, because it’s accumulated over years?

Absolutely. That’s one of the biggest misconceptions. People say, “I used to handle this stuff no problem. Why can’t I now?” It’s because the stress has been compounding. It’s like a bucket filling up—eventually, it overflows.

Once that bucket’s full, even small things can trigger symptoms. The brain starts to signal your body to stop—it gives you brain fog, blurry vision, even short-term memory issues or anxiety. For some people, there are 40 or 50 symptoms.

So, when someone reaches that point, what’s the starting place? Is it about retraining the brain, since it’s not really a “medical” problem in the traditional sense?

Exactly. First, you should absolutely rule out all other health issues—see your doctor, get the tests done, get the bloodwork. But when everything comes back fine and you still feel awful, that’s when you need to look deeper.

That’s when people start developing health anxiety—they think something serious is being missed. Every little sensation makes them panic: a racing heart feels like a heart attack, dizziness feels like a brain tumor. They stop trusting their bodies.

Education is the first step—understanding what’s happening. Because once you understand it, you break the cycle of fear. It’s like a loop: symptoms cause fear, fear triggers the nervous system, which causes more symptoms.

Think of it like a computer. You have hardware and software. Once the “hardware” (your organs, muscles, etc.) checks out fine, the problem is in the “software”—the way your brain is processing stress.

The good news is, you can always update the software. It just takes conscious effort—neuroplasticity, repetition, retraining the brain. You can literally teach your nervous system to move from a survival-based mode to a calm, regulated one.

‍

CFS Recovery System Overview

You’ve developed the CFS Recovery System, which has helped thousands of people. Can you walk us through what that system looks like—some of the phases or pillars of recovery?

Yeah, absolutely. There’s a duplicatable process to go from as severe as bedridden to fully functioning—running, exercising, traveling, living your life again, and often feeling better than before you got sick.

The first step is education. We teach people what exactly is happening in their bodies—why they feel these symptoms and why they don’t go away. We do this through short, focused video modules, coaching calls, and a nervous system health assessment. We analyze their specific symptoms, how long they’ve been sick, and what stage of severity they’re in. Then, we match that to a specific approach, because each stage requires something different.

The second part is community. Once people realize there are others going through the same thing, it brings so much relief. Many of them have never met anyone who understands what they’re experiencing—not even their doctors. Just knowing they’re not alone helps them sleep better and reduces anxiety.

Yeah, uncertainty is one of the hardest parts—whether it’s physical, emotional, or even in business. Having people who truly get it must be a huge help.

Exactly. And that brings us to the third part—hands-on guidance. We don’t just give people information and send them on their way. We’re in the trenches with them every day—five days a week, messaging back and forth, making sure things stay on track. It’s not a “do it yourself” program; it’s a “we’ll do it with you” program.

Because let’s face it, information alone can be overwhelming. There’s so much out there, and people don’t always know how to implement it. It’s like reading a dozen gym books and then trying to build your own fitness plan—you need someone who knows when to push, when to rest, and how to adjust when things flare up.

For the more severe cases, we track small but crucial milestones. Things like: How many times can you go downstairs to make food this week? How often can you shower? Once they hit those points, we slowly work on reintroducing normal activities—leaving the house, working again, or rebuilding stamina—without triggering a crash.

Because for these individuals, even a minor flare-up can set them back for days or weeks. So our goal is to help them reintegrate safely and sustainably.

“The people who burn out the fastest are often the ones who care the most—they just don’t realize they’ve turned their strength into a weapon against themselves.”

‍

That’s such a critical distinction. You mentioned earlier that certain personality traits—like being a perfectionist or a high achiever—can amplify these issues. I like how you called it a double-edged sword. How do you help people manage those traits without losing what makes them great?

Yeah, exactly. It’s all about teaching people how to control those traits rather than letting those traits control them.

The drive, ambition, and focus that make people successful can also destroy them if left unchecked. So, we work on dialing down that intensity—not removing it, just regulating it.

We help them understand that success doesn’t have to come from pain and punishment. You can still be ambitious, but do it from a calm, grounded place.

That’s so true. Entrepreneurs fear that if they slow down or change their approach, they’ll lose their edge—but it’s really about regulation, not replacement.

Exactly. You don’t need to give up the traits that got you where you are—you just have to learn to use them differently.

For example, I compare it to a car driving on cruise control with the engine redlining. That’s how many high achievers live—it’s their default. They don’t take real breaks. Even on vacation, they’re still mentally working.

I had to learn how to fully disengage from work at times—to let my mind and body rest. It wasn’t easy, but it changed everything. Once people learn to harness their “superpowers” intentionally, instead of being ruled by them, everything else—health, relationships, business—improves dramatically.

What do you think makes your approach so different from traditional treatment models?

Most programs for CFS, long COVID, or fibromyalgia focus mainly on education—“Here’s what’s going on, here’s what to try.” But that’s where it stops.

We go further. We personalize it, stay with clients every day, and adjust their routines based on their unique triggers and energy levels. It’s like having a coach who walks you through recovery, not just a manual that tells you what to do.

That’s what makes our system so effective—implementation, not just information.

‍

Practical Advice for Entrepreneurs

That’s incredible insight. You’ve worked with so many entrepreneurs, business owners, and high performers. What kind of practical advice would you give someone who’s starting to notice these early signs of fatigue or burnout—before it becomes something major?

The biggest advice I could give—and something I wish I’d learned earlier—is this: take half a day off every single week.

Not just physically, but mentally. When you’re taking time off, be there. Don’t bring work thoughts with you. Give your mind space to breathe. Step back, even just 5% of the time, and you’ll be amazed how much that helps.

It’s harder to do than it sounds, especially for driven people. But if you can take your foot off the gas occasionally, you’ll actually go further in the long run.

That’s powerful. I’ve always said that entrepreneurs are like corporate athletes. Just like professional athletes push their bodies to the limit, they also dedicate time and effort to recovery—cold baths, massages, rest days. Growth happens in recovery.

If you’re out there grinding and never giving yourself downtime, you’re missing the most important part of performance. Recovery isn’t weakness—it’s where strength is built.

Exactly. And it doesn’t have to be huge changes right away. Even small habits—like building short breaks into your schedule, setting boundaries with work, or practicing mindfulness—can start to reset your nervous system.

If you prioritize recovery as much as you prioritize effort, everything else—your business, health, and relationships—will thrive.

‍

Final Thoughts and Contact Information

If someone listening wants to start learning more, getting educated, or even connecting with you, where’s the best place for them to start?

The best place is YouTube. Just look up CFS Recovery—we’ve got over 1,800 videos covering every symptom, from chronic fatigue to long COVID. You can learn about the physical and emotional aspects of recovery there.

We also have an Instagram account, @cfsrecovery, where people can DM me directly. Everything we teach in our paid programs is also available for free in some form online. We want people to have access to the information no matter what.

That’s incredible. I’ll put those links in the show notes so listeners can find you. I was watching your content recently and it’s excellent. This isn’t just about chronic fatigue—it’s about mental health, personal development, and building a sustainable life.

Exactly. Because chronic fatigue, burnout, anxiety—they all connect. If you’re dealing with strange, unexplained symptoms and doctors can’t figure it out, just know there’s hope. Millions of people go through this, and recovery is absolutely possible.

As long as you’ve ruled out the big stuff medically, you can start rebuilding your health and life. We’ve helped over 1,500 people directly, and there are thousands more who’ve recovered using our free content. So if you know someone struggling—maybe with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, or long COVID—send them our way.

That’s amazing. And I’ll echo that—you never really know what people are going through. Sometimes the biggest struggles are invisible. Share this episode with someone you care about; it might make a huge difference in their life.

And remember—it's never too late to start living the life you’re meant to live. But you do have to take steps. Whether it’s burnout, fatigue, stress, or anxiety, it’s up to you to make a change. Life will only get better once you take that first step.

Thank you so much for having me. This was an amazing conversation.

I appreciate you being here, Miguel. Great topic, great energy. Thanks again for joining us.

Absolutely. Appreciate it.

Alright everyone, have an amazing day. This has been The Daily Mastermind. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

‍

‍

About George 

George Wright III is a proven, successful entrepreneur and he knows how to inspire entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals to achieve massive results. With more than 20 years of executive management experience and 25 years of direct marketing and sales experience, George is responsible for starting and building several successful multimillion-dollar companies. He started at a very young age to network and build his experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a driven and well-known entrepreneur. George built a multi-million-dollar seminar business, promoting some of the biggest stars and brands in the world. He has accelerated the success and cash flow in each of his ventures through his network of resources and results driven strategies. George is now dedicated to teaching and sharing his Prosperity Principles and strategies to every driven and passionate entrepreneur he meets. His mission is to empower entrepreneurs globally, to create massive change and LIVE their ultimate destiny.

‍

You have GREATNESS inside you. I BELIEVE in you. Let’s make today the day you unleash your potential!

George Wright III

CEO, The Daily Mastermind | Evolution X

_________________________________________________________

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are ways I can help you…

Get to know me:

1.  Subscribe to The Daily Mastermind Podcast- daily inspiration, motivation, education

2.  Follow me on social media Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin | TikTok | Youtube

3.  Get the Prosperity Pillars Poster I Developed over 20 years from my Mentors.

‍

‍

About Guest: Miguel Bautista

Helped thousands overcome Overcome Fatigue | Brain fog | chronic pain

Author of Thriver, Not Survivor: How to Beat Chronic Fatigue — a practical guide to regaining energy and rebuilding life after illness.

Developed the CFS Recovery System, a proven program that has helped over 1,000 people go from bedridden to thriving.

Former athlete who personally battled years of mysterious, undiagnosed symptoms before discovering the power of brain retraining and neuroplasticity. Leads a global coaching team made up of former clients who have fully recovered and now guide others through the same transformation.

Guest Resources:

Website: cfsrecovery.co/apply

Book: Thriver, Not Survivor

YouTube: CFS Recovery Channel

‍