Rest as Resistance

The Thought: Rest is an undervalued but necessary process to life we should honor if we want to not only have sustained success but also enjoy that success.

The Context: I’ve burned out in dramatic fashion twice. Once in 2018 when 7 figure business and in 2022 when I left my previous businesses.

Burnout is real and too common and I believe it’s partly due to the fact that we don’t honor the rhythms of rest.

In our western society we value MORE. More everything.

More money.
More assets.
More business.
More cars.
More clients.
More houses.
More vacations.
More more more… feed me. 🙂 

We can’t be satiated and it’s a problem. The result?

Burnout. Broken families. Broken relationships. Broken businesses.

It’s not okay.

The reason I wanted MORE-everything is because I thought it would give me everything I needed. Which of course you know… it didn’t.

I while ago I was sitting in on a mastermind session and my big win for the year I shared with the room was…

…“I RESTED.”

The room went nuts!

“what?!”
“how?!”
“what was it like?!”

The fact of the matter is WE DO HAVE LIMITS. Even though we buy allll the nootropics to make us “limitlessss”. 🤣 

My problem was that I DID NOT honor those limits and was miserable and then burnt out, didn’t have peace, joy and lost a lot of the stuff I DID have.

Everybody celebrated me because of my “success”. But was I really successful? Partly, perhaps.

So I think REST becomes RESISTANCE to a system and economy that say YOU MUST HAVE MORE TO BE MORE.

If not, “what does that say about you”… is the thing we carry on our backs with that devil-in-ear to accomplish more.

It’s good to set boundaries, honor our limits AND rest.

If we can’t find a way to build rest into our lives we’ll never operate from a spirit OF rest.

A spirit of rest for me means peace, joy and contentment. The power house.

I’ve had enough living in anxiety and fear that I’m far behind.

Using the processes below to slow my life down and utilize rest as resistance to all the things that have bogged me down have been life changing.

If you wrestle with worry, fear, anxiety, angst and all the ick (you know what I’m talking about…) this CAN help. It’s helped me. However, it is a process and practice.

And one quick note. Feeling guilty or shame about any of this defeats the purpose so none of that ;)

Here’s what I recommend.

1. Let Go
   
   This is a challenge and takes work. The reason why we push so hard as a common theme is because we feel like we’re less so we utilize our work, business and success to make up for it.
   
   What I’ve been finding out the last several months is when I’ve made the decision to let go of that perspective I’ve walked in an incredible amount of peace. And it’s amazing.
   
   There’s no rush.

   I’ve talked to really “successful” people who are riddled with insecurity and anxiety. It’s not worth it.

   
   I think we can hold both, if we’re “open handed”.
   

2. Don’t Compare Yourself
   
   I’m kind of dragging out #1 but this is true and should be reiterated.
   
   So what if it takes you 6 months or 6 years “longer”. If you’re building something great and you love it that’s MASSIVE.
   
   Comparison is a GREAT thief of joy.
   

3. Taking 24 Hours Once a Week to Fully Disconnect
   
   In our house we completely disconnect Saturday night to Sunday night. We use that 24 hours to connect with each other, rest-in-gratitude for all that we have, ZERO screens (other than kindle) and ZERO work (even house work, errands, etc.)
   

   That might seem big but it’s awesome and we look forward to it every week.
   
   We live in the most efficient, productive and abundant age yet most burnt out and strung out. Maybe more productivity isn’t the key? Maybe rest is? Resistance, man.
   
   We lounge, eat, drink, play games, read. No work. No decisions. No worrying. No shopping.

   We stop. We practice gratitude and we celebrate the goodness of life-even the challenges, which are plentiful.
   

4. Don’t Check Your Phone For 30 Minutes
   
   It’s crazy the barrage of messages and pings and dings that come into our world as soon as we wake up.
   
   This is an awesome process that slows my mornings down where I’m able to get my head right before all the ish tries to invade my soul.
   
   So first thing in the morning leave your phone on airplane mode (away from your bed) and practice gratitude and don’t forget your coffee, obvi.

   
   This is amazing but also hard. I usually like to get that new-message dopamine hit. But that’s not a great way to start the day.
   

5. Value REST
   

   There’s a very good chance you are not a slouch. If anything you’re a crazy entrepreneur who can’t-stop-won’t-stop.

   
   It’s common for us to feel ashamed of taking minutes, hours, days or weeks off.
   
   But what if we valued rest as an integral part of our success??
   
   There are studies that show the contribution and importance of resting.

Rest is a level of resistance to the things that DO NOT serve us or our families.

When I don’t honor the boundary of rest I can easily find myself overwhelmed, burnt out and burning down a business (again).

This is my plan forever.

If I can build FROM rest something has to change.

REST IS A CONSTRAINT.

Here’s to rest,

Chris

p.s. speaking of rest, I’m heading to the mountains today to go fishing for my birthday. Enjoy your weekend. And btw, people have asked me why I’m not really making offers here. I will be and it will be awesome. Getting some ducks in a row over the coming weeks.