RHYTHMS OF REST℠
Join hundreds of other business owners, leaders, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, solopreneurs, and purpose-driven high achievers—people with big callings and even bigger calendars—who are ready to start living and leading from a place of internal rest rather than busyness, burnout, and overwhelm.
All it takes is twenty seconds of insane courage...
Thursday, May 11, 2023 Twenty seconds of insane courage can change your life. Last week, I shared about 5 Ways to Use Fear to Your Advantage where I touched briefly on courage. What is courage? Courage is action in the face of fear. In the movie, We Bought a Zoo with Matt Damon, he takes his two children to the restaurant where he met his now deceased wife. Walking by on the street, he suddenly spotted her through the window and stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself, All I need is...
What not reading is costing your leadership
Summer Series | A Rhythm Worth Returning To. This was one of my most well-read issues. Here it is again. Hi Reader, I’m often surprised by how often what I’m currently reading shows up in my coaching sessions. This ended up being one of the most-read issues of the past season. And summer is a perfect time to pick up the reading habit you let go of. I wasn’t always an avid reader, but around 10 years ago, I made a decision. I was going to become a reader. Since then, my reading habit has...
We skipped our marriage review for 10 years. Here's what it cost us.
Summer Series | A Rhythm Worth Returning To This one kept showing up in replies. Here it is again. Hey there Reader, Earlier this year I shared a number most leaders never say out loud. My wife and I rated our 25-year marriage a 6. Most of us would never accept that score in the business we lead. I'm bringing this one back for anyone running a great quarter and a not-so-great marriage at the same time. At our twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, a friend asked us to share some marriage...
The line I deleted before I hit 'send'
Why I Cut the Most Honest Line From My Own Newsletter Read on my website / Read time: 2-3 minutes A few weeks ago, the email I sent you had a line in it that never made it to your inbox. I wrote it, read it back to myself, and deleted it before I hit send. The line said I was taking a break until August. I was scared — scared you'd think I was inconsistent, scared the list would shrink, and most of all, scared that the guy who writes about rest couldn't actually take any himself. That’s not...
You're not burned out from too much work
Work-Life Balance Doesn't Exist. Here's What Leaders Need Instead. Read on my website / Read time: 4-5 minutes I had a full nervous breakdown at twenty-seven. There I was, face down on the floor in a puddle of tears, in the middle of my kitchen when I was supposed to be driving to a weekend training conference for my leadership role. A second breakdown was waiting for me at thirty-nine, and I almost did not see that one coming either. Between those two moments, I tried every item on the...
An honest confession (sorry)
Hi Reader, I have an honest confession. I haven't always been very good at listening when it comes to you and the others on this list. I tend to broadcast. Maybe it's the old preacher in me that likes to say what I want to say and assumes it's what you need to hear. This is strange, because listening is a big part of what I actually teach. A lot of rest comes down to learning to hear what your mind, your body, and even your soul are telling you. I want to extend that same thing here, to you...
The RHYTHMS OF REST guy is officially fried
Why driven leaders dread September — and what they keep getting wrong in June Read on my website / Read time: 3-4 minutes Hey there Reader, Yep. The REST guy is officially fried. The good part that came out of the fall-down-on-the-floor nervous breakdown I had twenty-plus years ago is that I now have a built-in alarm that tells me when I’m pushing too hard. The thing about burnout is, by the time you feel it, you're already further along than you think. For the past few months, I’ve been...
Save 4 hours this week. Here's how I actually do it.
How I Got 4 Hours Back Every Week Without Losing What Makes Me Irreplaceable: Three tools, one rule, and the thing AI can never do. Read on my website / Read time: 3-4 minutes Hi Reader, I've given myself clear rules about AI: ideate with me, research with me, edit with me. Don't write for me. What I didn't expect was how often I'd have to remind myself of that. Not Claude. Myself. Especially when I'm behind on a deadline, and it could do a passable job in thirty seconds. Nobody would know...
I got my hands in the dirt and finally felt like myself again
A Rabbi, a Houseplant, and the Rest You've Been Missing Read on my website / Read time: 3 minutes “If you work with your mind, Sabbath (rest) with your hands. If you work with your hands, Sabbath (rest) with your mind.” (Rabbi and philosopher Abraham Heschel) Hands in the Dirt The day this picture was taken, before potting plants, out of fear and anxiety, I broke my own rule. I got out my computer—on my day of rest—and worked on a new project. What drove me? I was apprehensive that one of my...
Chop wood, carry water: What to do when life feels out of control
Chop Wood, Carry Water: What To Do When Life Feels Out of Control Read on my website / Read time: 3-4 minutes Lately, I’ve been feeling sad, angry, and overwhelmed. I’m not 100% sure why. Some of it is definitely the high expectations I put on myself. Some of it is probably the sheer volume of important things that are happening at once. Looming deadlines. Consequential projects. Pivotal events in my children’s lives. And the things that normally work aren’t working. What then? Three Things...
The question that made me cry in front of 15 people
What Happens When You Stop Thinking So Much, And Start Leading from the Heart Read on my website / Read time: 3-4 minutes A room full of entrepreneurs watched me cry. And it was the most important business moment of my recent life. Last month, the mastermind group I’m a part of met in Austin, TX. A mastermind group is a small, trusted circle of leaders who meet to sharpen each other — iron on iron. On the second day, we did a private Q & A with Ryan Levesque—a 7-time Inc. 5000 CEO who's...
Join hundreds of other business owners, leaders, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, solopreneurs, and purpose-driven high achievers—people with big callings and even bigger calendars—who are ready to start living and leading from a place of internal rest rather than busyness, burnout, and overwhelm.