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 pushing hard — working on my upcoming book, finalizing a three-hour workshop for executives, rebuilding my quad muscle from a patellar tendon rupture, and trying to be fully present for my family. I’m feeling weary and stretched thin. Business may move in quarters, but life moves in trimesters. That’s why I do some serious re-evaluation and take a retreat moving into the summer (more on the retreat next time). You probably feel it, too. Summer is approaching, and you want to slow down. Enjoy the weather. Hang with your family and friends. Go on vacation. Relax. But instead, you find yourself busier than ever. Business doesn’t stop just because summer arrives. But is it possible to slow down without losing momentum? Slowing down doesn’t only preserve momentum; I believe it increases it. The Thing You’re Ignoring Every June I fought this for years. The season was telling me to slow down — the kids are home from school, the weather is getting nicer, and my energy is low from pushing from January to April. All the while, driven me is shouting: If you slow down, everything falls apart! For years I missed precious time with my kids — fishing, playing at the park, riding bikes — while trying to push through all summer long. And it changed nothing. Leaders feel a unique pressure to “make things happen,” as the success or failure of the company or organization relies solely on us. It doesn’t. In fact, it only makes things worse. As Tim Ferriss wrote in The 4-Hour Work Week, as soon as he removed himself as the bottleneck, profits increased 40%. Slowing down forces you to delegate and automate your business. In 2014, I was leading a small, struggling church we founded four years earlier in Cambridge, Mass — one of the most difficult areas of the country (and maybe the world) in which to start a new church. We had never introduced ourselves to the city as a new church, so we decided to hold a grand opening. It involved raising $35,000 (a significant sum of money which I had to raise) and hundreds of hours of labor. All this while working part-time as an urban youth worker for the City of Cambridge to make ends meet and, most importantly, trying to be a good husband and father. Wednesday afternoons were set aside for what had always been a refreshing time of prayer and stillness, but on that particular Wednesday, there was a long list of items that needed answers. None of them could wait. With each prayer, I felt my anxiety grow — to a level I hadn’t felt since my nervous breakdown, twelve years earlier. Instead of pushing through, I tossed my prayer list to the floor, lay down on the bed, and let go as these words flooded into my heart and mind: You don’t have to understand or control everything to live and lead from a place of rest. As I did, a deep peace came over me, unlike anything I had experienced. I would never be the same again. What Are You Holding Onto? I still feel anxiety sometimes. I still feel the temptation to push through the warning signs. So what changed? I no longer hold on so tightly to outcomes I can't control. And you don’t have to either. The best way to manage the future? Joshua, a pastor friend of mine, puts it this way: "Look ahead but don't live ahead." There’s nothing wrong with looking ahead and planning for the future. But living in the future only creates anxiety. There are too many unknowns. Too many things we can’t control. Too many questions we can’t answer. You have your own version of that prayer list — that never-ending list of unfinished, anxiety-producing tasks. Lying on that bedroom floor taught me to rethink my approach to summer in three ways. 1) Rethink what’s most important. What opportunities are only available in the summertime that you don’t want to miss? 2) Re-evaluate your schedule. As the season changes, so must your schedule. If you have school-aged children, that happens in trimesters, not quarters. 3) Ruthlessly eliminate . Kids home, vacations, and good weather make summer a natural time to slow down. So why fight it? It’s also a good time for experiments. One of the business owners I work with, Jesh, always wanted to take Fridays off but was afraid his business would suffer. After some encouragement from me, he decided to try it as a summer experiment. Within 2-3 weeks, he secured two new retainer clients and hit his revenue goal for the year. It happened six months early, all while taking Fridays off! Your RHYTHMS Check Slowing down doesn't cost you momentum; it restores it. My clearest thinking doesn’t happen when I’m pushing through anxiety; it happens when I’m at rest, at play, or on a walk. This is about your Spiritual and Tangible rhythms — where they meet. The Spiritual work is letting go of the outcomes you've been white-knuckling. The Tangible work is practical: looking at how you actually spend your time and asking whether your schedule is fighting the season or moving with it. Summer has a rhythm. The question is whether yours is working against it. If you keep overriding the season, packing your summer calendar the way you pack every other quarter, you'll hit September empty, wondering where the summer went. But if you look honestly at what summer actually requires of you and make even small adjustments to join the season rather than fight it, you'll enjoy it more and lead better now and in the fall. This week's Rhythm of REST: Calendars don't manage themselves, and they need a fresh set of eyes every season. Pull up yours. Find three places where you're scheduled against the grain of summer: meetings that could move, commitments that could shrink, margin that got filled out of habit. Make one adjustment this week. Just one. See what it costs you. I think you'll be surprised.  Reflection Question: Where in your schedule right now are you fighting the season, and what would it look like to stop? Until next time,

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 the difference, and the temptation is real. That tension is what this email is about. Depending on who is talking, AI is either the savior or the devil. It’s neither. Similar to money or the internet, AI is simply a tool, albeit a powerful one. Much of what I hear is end-of-the-world type stuff: mass job loss, autonomous weapons, and the singularity—where AI becomes an all-knowing digital God. And while AI demands more regulation, and some of the warnings are legitimate, many of the doomsday scenarios seem overblown…at least for now. The One Thing AI Can Never Be One thing AI will never be is human. My advice if you’re worried about your job? Get more human. Focus on things that only humans can do. Upskill your leadership. Grow your people skills. Become a master at human connection. Will it replace jobs? Undoubtedly. As I heard Scott Galloway say on a recent podcast, “AI is not going to take your job; someone who understands AI will take your job.” Will it create new opportunities? Absolutely. Can it replace human-to-human connection? Never. That's the philosophy. Here's how I'm actually living it. What I’ve Decided About AI First, fully understanding AI is impossible—even the experts don't fully understand what they've created and released into the world. But making the effort matters. Otherwise, it’s impossible to join and influence the conversation around AI. Second, AI is a competent assistant but a poor replacement. It’s no exaggeration to say it saves me 4-8 hours of work per week, but the temptation to let it have things that belong to me is ever-present.

“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) The day that 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 long-term coaching clients was finishing next month, and I didn’t have anyone to replace him. But here’s what I’ve learned: doing things out of fear and anxiety rarely produces anything good. Doing something with my hands or body? That almost always resolves the tension I’m feeling. Hands In the Dirt After catching myself, I decided to propagate a few new plants from old plants. Since I live in a subdivision with an HOA, my yard is not big enough to have a garden (and we are not allowed to have one). Instead, I’ve become a plant dad, though to be fair, I’ve killed my fair share of those, too! Propagating plants is not a big task, but it felt really good to get my hands in the dirt. That’s because I work with my mind most days—coaching, writing, speaking, leadership—and it’s often intangible work. But there's something about holding soil in your hands, seeing roots take hold, that quiets the noise in your head. It’s more tangible, less cerebral. And you see immediate results. Sifting dirt through my hands and repotting a few plants quieted the noise in my head. It didn’t solve the problem, but it gave my mind rest—which is exactly what I needed. Rest Isn’t What You Think It Is Heschel was onto something here: most people don’t know how to rest. Leaders often believe that rest means inactivity. It doesn’t. Real rest means doing activities that replenish you. If you work with your mind all week, working with your hands is replenishing in a way nothing else can be. Like you, I have a hard time doing nothing. What I’ve found is that doing nothing isn’t always restful. Hiking, potting plants, having sex with my wife, organizing the garage, reading fiction, poetry or a biography—that is rest for me! What about you? Heschel understood something most people don't: your brain needs the opposite of what it does all day. If you spend your life in meetings, strategy sessions, email, and Slack threads, the most restful thing you can do isn't more screen time—it's something you can hold in your hands. Your RHYTHMS Check This newsletter touches two of the four core RHYTHMS OF REST. Understanding how they work together is the point. Your Emotional rhythms are about creating space to process, reflect, heal and grow instead of pushing through everything. Fun and hobbies are the keystone rhythm here, activities that bring you joy for no other reason than they're delightful. Potting plants, hiking, organizing the garage. These aren't distractions from real life. They're how you refill your emotional tank. Your Spiritual rhythms are about being grounded in something deeper than your next deadline or achievement. Sabbath, a weekly day of refraining from work-based productivity, is the keystone rhythm here. As Heschel understood, Sabbath isn't collapsing on the couch. It's the counterintuitive discipline of stopping. Not because the work is done (it's never done), but because you are human with limitations and constraints. A day of rest is a declaration that work doesn't own you. It's a time to let the soil lie fallow and be in sync with the natural rhythms of the world. Here's where these two rhythms intersect: what you do on your day of rest matters. Hands-on, replenishing activities, the fun and hobbies from your Emotional rhythms, are often the best way to rest. They're how you stop working with your mind and start resting with your hands. If you don't practice active rest, you'll keep defaulting to things that drain you rather than replenish you and wonder why you feel depleted even though you had a "day off." And you will slowly convince yourself that rest doesn't work for people like you. But if you design your rest around what actually replenishes you , it becomes a point of joy and life. Your emotional tank refills. Clarity returns. And you feel refreshed and ready to give your best to your family, yourself, and your work. Your Emotional rhythm determines your capacity. Your Spiritual rhythm anchors you when things feel turbulent. This week's rhythm: Pick one day this week (or a half-day if a full day feels impossible) and protect it. No email. No work on the computer. No heavy mental lifting. Instead, do one hands-on, non-cerebral activity that replenishes you. Build something, plant something, cook something, fix something. Let your hands do what your mind can't. Reflection question: What is one replenishing (and dare I say fun) activity, opposite from what you do in your leadership, that you can do this week on your day of rest? Plan to do it this week on your day of rest. Engagement: Hit me back on social media @KentMurawski or leave a comment (1) What's your version of "hands in the dirt" — the one non-cerebral activity that replenishes you most? And (2) When is the last time you actually did it? I read every response. Until next time, Kent Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you... Try the REST Assessment to identify exactly where you are on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—so you can take the next right step. ​ Apply now to find out if executive coaching is for you or for a 1:1 VIP Day - for business owners or executives Catalyze your organization - invite me to do a keynote or workshop ​ Apply for a Life Plan Weekend to clarify your purpose, align your core values, and build a living plan that grows and flexes with every season of your life (can be facilitated as a team retreat as well).

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 That Hold When Everything Else Doesn’t Maybe you've been there too — doing all the right things, and still feeling like you're underwater. I don't have a formula for this, but here's what I keep coming back to. 1) Chop Wood, Carry Water One particular Wednesday, I really didn’t feel like working. I felt sad, anxious, angry, and lonely. I wanted to curl up in my bed and watch Netflix, but I had important work to do in preparation for a talk I’m giving at the end of April. It was a cold but delightfully sunny day, the birds were singing, and I thought for sure a walk would untangle my thoughts as usual. But it didn’t move the needle, and I finally accepted that I was a professional who had a job to do—I needed to “chop wood and carry water” anyway. “Chop wood, carry water” is an old Buddhist saying about embracing the mundane. Rather than escaping into something more glamorous or spiritual, it’s the place where transformation actually happens. This was also true for Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century French monk who worked as a shoemaker and cook. People said his greatest labor never diverted him from God. There was something about the way he stayed present and connected—never moving too slowly but never rushing, either. He had a calm devotion that affected everyone who saw him. That day, I embraced the mundane. I still felt sad and angry, but by the end of the day, I had made progress. And that’s what matters. 2) Lean into your anchors One of my anchor routines is my spiritual morning routine. It may sound exhausting to some, but it’s life-giving for me. I’m not sharing it as a prescription but rather as an encouragement to find your own rhythm. Mine begins at 4:30 AM with coffee—not because I want to get up that early, but because it’s the amount of time I need before the family routine begins. I start by filling out my ​five-year journal​ and ​daily gratitude journal. ​ Then from 5-6 AM, I read Scripture using the 2-year plan from the Book of Common Prayer, read 10 minutes of a spiritual classic (right now I’m reading The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard), and close with 15-20 minutes of silence prompted by a short reading in ​The Practice of the Presence of God​ by Brother Lawrence—a 17th-century monk in France. Finally, from 6-7 AM, I write this newsletter. No matter what’s happening around me, my routine anchors me, and when I miss it, I feel off. That’s what happened that Wednesday—I missed my morning routine. I didn’t feel bad for missing my routine; I was already feeling bad, and missing my morning routine exacerbated it. Had I done it that day, it might have been a better day, but when I miss a day, I don’t fret; I just get back in the saddle. 3) Acknowledge your emotions Emotions are how we experience the world. In the words of Dr. Peter Scazzero, they are “the language of the soul.” They are also a dashboard trying to tell us what’s happening inside. I find it helpful to treat my emotions like people. That might look something like this, “Sadness, I recognize you are here, and it’s okay. If there is something you want to tell me, I’m open. If not, that’s okay, too.” Then sit with them for a few minutes. Psychologists call this Acceptance Commitment Therapy—accepting what you can't control while committing to what actually matters. Interestingly, both Stoicism and Christianity share similar philosophies of acceptance and control. Did you know emotions last for only 90 seconds? According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, if an emotion lasts longer than that, it’s because you are rehearsing that thought, restimulating the emotion, and it’s triggering the same physical response again. I've tested this. When I stop feeding the thought, the wave really does pass. Acknowledging your emotions and giving them time and space to speak is often what allows them to resolve. Whether it’s a short walk, sitting by a lake, or simply finding a quiet corner, silence and solitude can give you the time and space you need to listen to your life. If any of this sounds familiar, I want you to know—there’s nothing wrong with you. You're paying attention. And that matters. Your RHYTHMS CHECK Most people think the answer to overwhelm is a better strategy, but the truth is the answer is often just showing up and doing the next mundane thing in front of you — even when it doesn't feel like it's working. This is about your Emotional and Spiritual rhythms — because when life overwhelms you, these two chambers of the heart are doing the heaviest lifting. Your emotional rhythms are the dashboard telling you something needs attention. Your spiritual rhythms are the anchor that holds you steady while you listen. If you ignore what you're feeling and just push through, your emotions build up, and eventually you won’t be able to ignore them any longer. But if you slow down long enough to acknowledge what's happening inside, and lean into the anchors that ground you, it gives you the strength to keep moving forward even when you don’t feel like it. Your emotional and spiritual rhythms hold you steady when your mind and body aren’t cooperating. This week's rhythm: Stop ignoring those nagging feelings. Take 5 minutes to sit in silence. Name what you're feeling out loud—acknowledge it. Then ask it: "Is there something you want to tell me?" Write down whatever comes. Reflection question: What is one emotion you've been avoiding this week — and what might it be trying to tell you? Hit me back: What emotion showed up when you sat with it? Leave a comment here, on YouTube, or on social media (all handles @KentMurawski). I'd love to hear what surfaced for you. Until next time, Kent  PS - Does your morning routine need help? I’ve decided to give away Win the Morning, Win the Day! for free—a five-part mini-course that helps you design a simple, sustainable morning rhythm so you can start each day focused, grounded, and energized. Simply use this code: WINTHEMORNING100 Sources Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW, “The Power of Leaves on the Stream Metaphor for Personal Growth,” May 28, 2024, https://sweetinstitute.com/the-power-of-leaves-on-the-stream-metaphor-for-personal-growth/#_ftn2 WUSA9. (2021, May 26). The 90 second life cycle of an emotion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxARXvljKBA

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 generated over $100 million in revenue and recently sold his company to move his family to a farm in Vermont. Smart, humble, and disarmingly real. Our group leader had told us not to waste his time with dumb questions, so when it was my turn, I asked: “What do you wish people would ask you that no one is asking you?” His answers so far hadn’t disappointed, so I thought he would drop another pearl of wisdom. Instead, he turned the question back on me. “I can’t answer that, but what’s so valuable to you, really deep down inside, that you want to ask me about?” I thought for a few seconds and began, “I think…” He immediately said, “No, don’t think—answer from here,” pointing to his heart. As hot tears flowed down my face, I asked my question, “How do you take something that is so deep inside of you, that has changed your life, and help people understand that it can transform their lives, too?” Honestly, I don’t remember how Ryan initially responded, but I do remember the vulnerable story he shared, with tears of his own, about his son. I won’t relate it here since it was a private Q & A session. But the main point wasn't his story. It was what happened in that room when he let us see him. What Your 5-year-old Self Has Been Trying to Tell You Then Ryan gave us an exercise that hit me like a freight train. Imagine yourself as a small child of 4 or 5, climbing up onto the table so you’re finally taller than the adults and fully seen. What would you say, or shout if necessary, to your parents or the most important people in your life? “See me!” That’s what I would shout. Growing up, my home was chaos. Yelling was the soundtrack. I felt lost in the mix. Parents always fighting. My sisters and me constantly bickering. My Mom overwhelmed with four kids. My angry Dad either passed out drunk or screaming at my Mom or us. I usually retreated to my room or outside. “See me,” is a cry for validation, especially from my Dad. I longed for him to teach me to be a man and tell me, “You have what it takes, son.” Like many men, my early drivenness was an attempt to compensate for my father’s lack of approval. I was chasing a ghost—the ghost of my father’s approval—though I didn’t know it at the time. I thought that if I could achieve outward success, people might see me—he might see me—and I could finally prove to myself that I was enough. That comes with a cost. It nearly tanked my marriage. Alienated my kids. And I nearly lost myself in the process. Seeking to define myself through accomplishment, I didn’t know who I had become. Something Shifted After Ryan left and we were sharing our takeaways from the session, tears flowed again. Mike, our group leader, had been telling me for years to “lead with vulnerability.” I always thought of myself as a vulnerable person, but over the years, whether from a calloused heart, the wounds vocational ministry had left, pride that can come with age and proficiency, or something else, that vulnerability had gotten buried. I always thought of myself as a vulnerable person. But over the years—a calloused heart, the wounds vocational ministry left, the pride that comes with age and proficiency—that vulnerability had gotten buried. But that day, something cracked open—deep down in a place I'd been protecting for years. I suddenly understood, at a visceral heart level, what it means to lead with vulnerability. Why Vulnerability Changes Everything Vulnerable leadership makes people feel seen, heard, understood. It gives us the courage to look foolish. It reminds us that we can’t do it on our own. As John Donne reminded us in his 1623 poem, “No man is an island, entire to himself.” Moving forward, Kent, the heart communicator, will take the lead. And Kent the teacher will follow. Maybe it’s time to stop thinking so much and lead from your heart a little more. Your RHYTHMS Check This is about your Emotional and Relational rhythms —vulnerability sits at the intersection of both. Emotional health gives you the courage to feel exposed. Relational health gives you the people who make that exposure safe. If you don't take the risk of being vulnerable, you stay hidden—successful on the outside, invisible on the inside. Your relationships stay shallow. Your leadership stays transactional. And the people around you never get permission to be real, either. But when you lead with vulnerability, everything shifts. People trust you more. Relationships deepen. And you finally stop performing your way through life. Your emotional and relational rhythms determine whether people follow your title or follow you. This week's RHYTHM OF REST: Share one vulnerable thing with someone you trust—your spouse, a close friend, a mentor, a small group. Brené Brown defines vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. In other words, if your palms don't get a little sweaty before you share it, it's not vulnerability. What is the one thing you've been afraid to say out loud—and who is the one person you trust enough to say it to? Leave a comment and tell me: who are you going to be vulnerable with this week, and what's one thing you've been holding back? I read every response. Until next time, Kent PS - Take my 5-minute ​ RHYTHMS OF REST℠ Assessment​ to discover where you land on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—and get your free personalized report with next steps.

Do you have a plan for your life? As a leader, you probably have a business plan, a marketing plan, a financial plan, and a vacation plan. But what about your actual life? Recently, I spent two days with James, a young business owner in Florida, to help him create a Life Plan. 

Can I ask you something that might sting a little: when did you last have a genuinely great idea sitting at your desk? Companies spend millions of dollars helping people become "more productive." But most of those investments are built on a definition of productivity that's often nebulous or undefined. Recently, I had a conversation with an executive whom I coach about what productivity means to him. His two-word answer was clarifying: Productivity is “measurable results,” he said. Of course, you have to define what those measurable results are — and in which area. The results need to align with your role and your strengths: the things you're both good at and energized by. Otherwise, you could be logging impressive numbers in an area that doesn't move the needle — or worse, doesn't represent your highest contribution. What Is Productivity, Really? Productivity is doing more of the right things—work aligned with your strengths and your role—and less of the wrong things—work that doesn’t maximize your strengths and doesn’t drive the results that matter most. Gay Hendricks, author of The Big Leap, calls this your Zone of Genius—activities you uniquely excel at, love, and are energizing. It's different from the Zone of Excellence — things you do very well but that drain you, the Zone of Competence—things others can do just as well, or the Zone of Incompetence—the tasks others do better than you that you hate doing. He recommends spending 70% of your time in your Zone of Genius. A tall task, I know, but well worth the effort. So here's a question worth sitting with: What is your definition of productivity? Once you define it, there's a second question you have to answer: How do you actually become more productive, and is that even the right word? Now, back to my conversation with the executive. When I asked him how he gets measurable results, his answer was, “I sit for 10 hours a day at my desk.” Of course, he could see through his answer as soon as it came out of his mouth. Sitting at your desk for 10 hours a day doesn’t make you productive. In fact, it undoubtedly lessens productivity. Your Desk Is the Last Place You’ll Find Your Best Thinking With the rise of hybrid work and more freedom to choose how and where you are most productive, the possibilities are nearly endless. In this executive's case, I asked him where his best ideas come from. His answer mimics what many of us know to be true—a hard workout, a walk, in the shower, or sitting in the hot tub. I don’t have a hot tub, but if I did, I could imagine it being a place where ideas are generated! Sitting at your desk for 10 hours straight is not exactly an idea factory—it’s an idea graveyard! That's one thing that AI can't do for you or your company: create novel ideas. Whether walking, drawing on a whiteboard, going to the library or a coffee shop, or sitting on a park bench with a Moleskine journal—my best ideas don’t come from sitting at my desk—especially when I’m stuck on a problem. As my friend Mark Batterson always says, “Change of Place + Change of Pace = Change of Perspective.” The Science of Good Ideas In May of 1879, after recurring migraines and other physical ailments, Friedrich Nietzsche was forced to leave his position as a university professor. After resigning, he retreated to a small village in the Swiss Alps during the summers. Surrounded by the grandeur of the Alps, Nietzsche became a renowned walker, sometimes walking up to 8 hours per day. Eventually, he filled six small notebooks with the prose that became some of his best work. By 1889, ten years later, Nietzsche had regained his health and written some of his most influential books, including The Wanderer and His Shadow. His conclusion? “Only thoughts that come by walking have any value.” Habitual, low-demand activities — walking, showering, even doing dishes — free your brain to operate in the background. Neuroscientists call this the default mode network (DMN) : a set of brain regions that activate when your mind is at rest or wandering. This is when ideas collide in unexpected ways. This is where breakthroughs live. Modern knowledge work demands constant productivity. Portable technology comes with the expectation that we’re always on. But creative thinking needs margin . You can’t run back-to-back meetings, pile on menial tasks, and expect to do your best work. I learned this the hard way after years of running at full capacity, pushing through my red zone, and wondering why my ideas felt stale. Protect Your Energy and Produce Your Best Work Structuring your days for both focused work and creative margin is an art. Here are three practical ways to protect your energy and produce your best work. #1 - Define and Protect Your Peak Creative Times Leadership expert Carey Nieuwhof recommends splitting your day into three zones: Green Zone — peak energy, creativity, and focus. Usually 3–5 hours. Red Zone — 1–2 hours of mental mush. Don't fight it; work with it. Yellow Zone — the in-between. Solid but not spectacular. #2 - Treat Each Day Like Three Days I’m an early riser so this is how it works for me. You might be different so adjust accordingly. Morning/Day 1 (Green Zone): 8–11 AM for me — creative, focused thinking and high-priority work that actually moves the needle. Afternoon/Day 2 (Yellow Zone): Lunch to 4 PM — meetings, admin, necessary tasks that don't require deep thinking. Evening/Day 3 (Red Zone): After 4 PM — work out, replenish, have dinner, be present with family. #3 - Time Block Your Days and Hours Time blocking is a game-changer, but most people only block their hours, not days. Here’s how I structure my days: Daily Time Blocking Pick a theme for each day or for half days. Here’s how I structure my days: Monday: Morning for creation; afternoon for admin and finances. If admin doesn't happen Monday, it haunts me all week. Tuesday: Full coaching day. Wednesday: Thinking, writing, creating. No meetings. I follow the work wherever it goes. Thursday: Coaching and flex day for wrapping up projects. Friday: Writing in the morning, then relationships — a coffee date with my wife first, then 2–3 hours of writing, often lunch with a friend or business colleague. Hourly Time Blocking For hourly blocking: map out 30-minute increments. Use pencil. Leave room for deep work blocks of 2–3 hours in the morning or during your green zone. If You Lead a Company, Organization, or Team… Leaders, you want your people to be productive. I get it. But here’s the challenge: do you have a shared definition for productivity? Is each person's job description built around their strengths and the results that actually matter—or is it collecting digital dust in a folder somewhere? Extensive research has shown that strengths-based management and employee development lead to more engaging and productive workplaces in key areas such as sales, profit, turnover, and safety. Furthermore, one in two employees has left a job to get away from a manager or boss at some point in their career. Bosses and managers—you’ve got to do better. When’s the last time you’ve invested in your personal leadership and development? Read a leadership book? Invested in coaching? Sat down with your team and asked how you can grow as a leader? I recommend starting here: Have each employee write their ideal job description aligned with their position and their strengths—the work they're good at and that energizes them. Compare it to their current description, and adjust accordingly. Set three big quarterly priorities: one primary, two secondary, and let them run with it. Check in regularly. Evaluate priorities quarterly. Set new ones together. Which brings us to the question underneath the question — because productivity isn't just a scheduling problem. It's a rhythms problem. Your RHYTHMS Check This is about the “T” in REST or Tangible rhythms —specifically how you structure your work, protect your creative energy, and operate from your Zone of Genius rather than defaulting to busyness as a substitute for productivity. If you don't define what "productive" means for your specific role and strengths, you'll keep measuring hours instead of outcomes, burning energy on the wrong work, and wondering why you feel exhausted but behind. But when you get clear on your Zone of Genius and build your days around it, you'll produce better results in less time, lead from a place of clarity and energy, and finally stop confusing motion with momentum. Your Tangible rhythm determines whether your work is sustainable—or just busy. This week's rhythm: Identify your Green Zone (your peak 2–3 hour creative window) and block it on your calendar today — not tomorrow. Protect it like a non-negotiable meeting with your most important client. Then identify one recurring task that belongs in your Red Zone and move it there. Where are you spending your best hours on your worst work? Leave a comment. What is one thing you're moving out of your peak creative time this week and back where it belongs? I read every one — and I might just have a thought for you. Until next time, Kent P.S. — Rest isn't one-dimensional — and neither is the life you're after. When your Relational rhythms are strong, your marriage is solid and your people know they have you. When your Emotional rhythms are healthy, you laugh more, stress less, and lead with clarity. When your Spiritual rhythms are grounded, you wake up knowing why you're doing this. When your Tangible rhythms are working, you do your best work — and still have something left over for the people who matter most. That's not a fantasy. That's what the right rhythms actually produce. I'm launching my first RHYTHMS OF REST beta group in 2026 to help you build all four — professional excellence without sacrificing what's most important to you. Click the link to get on the waitlist. Sources Gay Hendricks, The Big Leap ​ “ Shower Creativity, ” NETO Innovation Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche Rigoni, B., & Asplund, J. (2016, July 7). Strengths-based employee development: The business results. Gallup. Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you... Try the 5-minute REST Assessment to identify exactly where you are on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—so you can take the next right step.​ ​Schedule a Discovery Call to find out if executive coaching is for you - for business owners or executives Catalyze your organization - invite me to do a keynote or workshop Design a Life Plan Weekend to clarify your purpose, align your core values, and build a living plan that grows and flexes with every season of your life.

The worst advice you could give to anyone who thrives on forward motion is “just rest.” Here’s the #1 mistake high-capacity people make about rest—thinking rest means doing nothing. Case in point: what’s the immediate picture that comes to mind when you hear the word “rest”? A couch? A hammock? Bed? Bingeing Netflix in your pajamas? The core fear most leaders have around rest? The fear of doing nothing. Leaders thrive on forward motion. Doing nothing is one form of rest, but more than a few hours of doing nothing, and you’re scratching your head, wondering what to do next. People who love productivity often tell me, “I don’t know how to rest.” That’s because the term “rest” is misunderstood and too vague. We don’t know how to rest because we don’t understand what it actually means. What Is Rest? Here's where it gets interesting. At the end of the Genesis creation narrative in the Hebrew Torah, there's an odd statement: God rested. The Hebrew word for rest is shâbath—where "Sabbath" comes from. But it doesn't mean doing nothing. It means to cease, stop, and celebrate. God finished his work, declared it "very good," and stopped to enjoy what he'd accomplished. Whether you’re religious or not, this brings up an intriguing question: if, as the Bible describes, God—the creator of the universe who holds everything together—took time to stop and celebrate for a whole day and the world didn’t fall apart, then why can’t we? Rest Isn’t What You Think We need a new definition of rest. The #1 mistake many leaders make is equating rest with inactivity, when in fact, rest is often active. More often than not, rest is doing what replenishes you. Rabbi/philosopher Abraham Heschel famously said, “If you work with your mind, Sabbath with your hands, if you work with your hands, Sabbath with your mind.” On my day of rest, I enjoy playing music, taking walks, hiking, skiing, playing golf, biking, reading fiction and poetry, puttering in the garage or basement, working with my hands, and hanging out with my family. All active. All replenishing. I discovered this several years ago after a leadership conflict left me emotionally depleted. I retreated to the garage and refinished furniture for months. Working with my hands didn't require emotional capacity, but it helped me heal. That's when it clicked: depletion doesn't get fixed by doing nothing. It gets fixed by doing things that replenish you—and usually involves fun and hobbies. A 400% Decrease in Hours Worked When I began coaching Brandon, a tutoring company founder, he couldn't hold a thought while walking from room to room. He was burned out and hadn't taken a day off in five years. When I explained the Jewish Sabbath—twenty-four hours of complete rest—he was skeptical. But when he learned it runs sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, meaning he could still work Saturday evening, everything clicked. Within months of implementing one full day of rest per week, he went from working 12-15 hours daily, seven days a week, to 2-4 hours daily, six days a week. That's nearly a 400% decrease in hours worked per week! Sabbath was the catalyst. Could a real day of rest become a catalyst for you, too?" The Leader’s Challenge Here’s the challenge. You love your work, personal development, creative problem-solving, and creating things. Telling you to do nothing can feel like torture and doesn’t work. Maybe you find yourself sneaking emails, peeking at your computer, or doing some other work-related task on what’s supposed to be a day of rest. I know I do sometimes. Doing nothing for too long doesn’t usually work well for people like us. Instead of doing nothing on a day of rest or after work, why not try some things that replenish you? Your RHYTHMS Check This is about all four rhythms —rest isn't one-dimensional. When your Relational rhythms are depleted, you need deep connection, not isolation. When your Emotional rhythms are drained, you need fun and hobbies, not more productivity. When your Spiritual rhythms are dry, you need purpose and beauty, not another task. When your Tangible rhythms are exhausted, you need movement, sleep, and nourishment, not another deadline. One type of "rest" doesn't fix all four. If you don't audit what type of depletion you're actually experiencing, you'll keep resting wrong and wondering why you're still burned out. But if you identify which rhythm needs replenishment and give it what it actually needs, you'll stop running on fumes and start operating from overflow. This week's rhythm: Ask yourself: Which of the four rhythms (Relational, Emotional, Spiritual, Tangible) feels most depleted right now? Then do ONE thing this week that specifically replenishes that rhythm—not the rhythm that's easiest to fix, but the one that needs it most. Imagine taking a full day to do only what replenishes you (no productivity, no checking email, no "sneaking" work), what would you actually do? List three activities. Then ask yourself: when's the last time you did any of them? Leave a comment and tell me which rhythm is most depleted for you right now—and what one thing you're going to do this week to replenish it. I read every response. Until next time, Kent PS - If you haven't taken the ​RHYTHMS OF REST Assessment ​ yet, do it today! This will help you identify exactly where you fall on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—and show you which of your four rhythms needs attention most. Takes 5 minutes. Get your personalized results. Sources Genesis 2:2, The Bible Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you... Try the 5-minute ​REST Assessment​ to identify exactly where you are on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—so you can take the next right step. Most leaders don't go down because of one thing—it's four rhythms quietly out of sync all at once. That's exactly why I'm launching my first ​ RHYTHMS OF REST beta group ​ in 2026, to help you get all four working together so you can build a thriving life without sacrificing what matters most. Spots will be limited. Click the link below to join the waitlist. ​Schedule a Discovery Call​ to find out if executive coaching is for you - for business owners or executives Catalyze your organization - invite me to do a ​keynote or workshop​ 

If it can happen at age 76, it can happen to anyone. Like many of you, I was shaken by the recent news about Philip Yancy’s eight-year affair with a married woman. It gave me pause and made me reflect. The main insight I walked away with? You can never stop fighting for your marriage. If you’re not married, apply that to your relationships. If you want good ones, you can never stop fighting for them. This type of failure isn’t sudden; it’s gradual. It’s a slow fade. I know because I’ve watched it in my own marriage in different seasons. Most people think that if you have a good marriage, you can coast, but the truth is that every great marriage is one season of neglect away from becoming a mediocre one. The moment you stop fighting for it, you start losing it. Like anything you fight for, there is no neutral ground. You are either advancing or retreating. The irony? Even as we'd eventually slip to a 6, we've spent 25 years learning what actually works. We have a good marriage—just one that has drifted into maintenance mode instead of growth mode. The practices I'm about to share aren't theory. They're the rhythms that got us through two decades of marriage and the same ones we're using right now to climb back to an 8. Simple but Not Easy At our twenty-fifth anniversary celebration last year, one of our friends shared about all the people he knew in their forties getting divorced. He pointed out our dedication to growing our marriage and asked us to share some wisdom with the group. Here are three things that have kept us together and growing. 1) Never Stop Dating We certainly haven’t always done this perfectly, but we’ve been consistent. Until recently, it was every two weeks (and sometimes longer), though we rarely went a month without a date. Our kids are older now, and our youngest can stay home by himself, so we’ve transitioned to weekly dates where I’ve noticed something important: spending focused time alone reminds me why I fell in love with Gina in the first place. In over 25 years of marriage, we’ve both been three or four different people and have changed significantly—for the better. Dating reminds me that we can never stop getting to know each other. What does this look like practically? Here’s our current rhythm: a weekly coffee date, a monthly dinner date, a quarterly extended date (3-6 hours), and a yearly multi-day getaway. And we like to sneak in an overnighter or two in addition to our annual getaway. Whatever your rhythm, decide on it together, put it on paper, and schedule it. 2) Never Stop Growing Marriage (and any relationship, for that matter) is like a plant. It has to be cared for and cultivated if you want it to grow and flourish. After our recent marriage review, we were not where we wanted to be and decided it was time for a marriage tune-up—another round of marriage counseling! Here’s what investing in your marriage looks like: Find some marriage mentors —a couple who have been married longer and/or have a better marriage than you. Ask them to meet with you so you can ask them some questions about marriage. Over time, they might even become marriage mentors. Find a good marriage counselor. They provide a needed second perspective on your recurring problems and share tools you may not have thought of. We’re on a waitlist right now. Read a marriage book together. Two that I recommend: The 5 Love Languages quiz and book by Gary Chapman, and The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman and Nan Silver. Do an annual marriage review —the practice we skipped for ten years that let us slide back to a 6. 3) Never Stop Talking It can be hard to find time to talk when life is in full swing (marriage, kids, and heavy work responsibilities), but find time you must. Clinical psychologist, author, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, Dr. Jordan Peterson contends that 90 minutes of weekly conversation is the minimum needed for a healthy marriage relationship. Otherwise, we develop a backlog of communication that affects our intimacy. Simply put, we don’t talk enough, and men, you probably aren’t listening enough. After we shared those three things, I said, “It’s nothing revolutionary. It's simple stuff.” To which someone replied, “It’s ​simple but not easy.​ ” I couldn’t agree more. Having a healthy and fulfilling marriage is not that complicated, but neither is it easy. An Embarrassing Admission I’ve been open about our past ​marriage struggles​ . My wife and I did our first annual marriage review in 2015 and loved it. We asked some tough questions, evaluated how we were doing, talked about what we wanted our marriage to be, and formed a plan to get there. It produced one of the best marriage seasons of our lives for several years. Sadly, we didn’t do one for another ten years, which is why we recently found ourselves sliding back into mediocrity when we did another review in late 2025. The toughest question of the review: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate our marriage and why? Both of us gave it a similar rating. Her rating: 6. My rating: 6.5. Not great, I know. Certainly not #MarriageGoals. But there’s good news, too. The review allowed us to pinpoint where we were falling short and form a plan that we’ve already begun to execute, including: A fresh round of marriage counseling. A weekly date. Reading a marriage book together. Having a weekly parenting conversation (being on the same page with our thirteen-year-old was a pain point). Pursuing a hobby together. Our goal: to move from a 6 or 6.5 to an 8 by June 30, 2026. Already, by setting our intention and forming a plan, we are seeing improvement. Mediocrity is easy. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Excellence is hard. It takes constant work and improvement. Your RHYTHMS Check This is about your Relational rhythms —good relationships make for a happy life. Because marriage is the centerpiece of your inner circle, and when this primary relationship fails, everything downstream suffers. Much like the heart, where all four chambers must work together, your relational rhythm with your spouse pumps life into every other area. It’s easy to drift into roommate status, where you coexist but don't truly connect. The slow fade becomes inevitable. Your marriage can drop from an 8 to a 6 or worse without you even noticing. Never stop dating, never stop growing, never stop talking. When you do, it creates a marriage that advances rather than retreats. You become someone your spouse wants to spend time with. The compound effect of small, consistent investments transforms mediocrity into something worth fighting for. This week's action step: schedule your next marriage check-in right now. Pull out your calendar and block 90 minutes in the next 7 days—no phones, no kids, just focused conversation. If you're married, give this question to your spouse ahead of time and talk about it during your check-in: "On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate our marriage right now, and why?” Then ask, What one thing would move our marriage from where it is now to one point higher on a 10-point scale? If you’re not married, which relationship is in most need of attention right now, and what’s the first step you need to take? Your turn. Reply to this email and tell me: When's your next date scheduled, and what's the one thing you're committing to do this week to fight for your marriage? I read every response. Until next time, Kent PS - Your Relational rhythm is just one chamber. But it's the one that pumps life into everything else—and it's usually the first thing leaders sacrifice when life gets busy. I'm launching my first ​ RHYTHMS OF REST beta group ​ in February 2026 to help you master all four rhythms before another year slips by. Click the link to be added to the waitlist. Sources ​Philip Yancy’s eight-year affair with a married woman​ , Christianity Today The Five Languages of Love ​quiz​ and ​book​ by Gary Chapman ​The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work​ by John Gottman and Nan Silver ​“The Yearly Marriage Check Up​ ,” The Art of Manliness  ​Jordan Peterson Marriage Advice (90 Minute Rule for a Healthy Relationship)​ , the SRS Daily Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you... Try the 5-minute ​REST Assessment​ to identify exactly where you are on the burnout scale—from Thriving to Critical—so you can take the next right step. Transform those anxiety-filled, rushed mornings into your foundation for daily success with my course, ​Win the Morning, Win the Day!​ ​Schedule a Discovery Call​ to find out if executive coaching is for you - for business owners or executives Catalyze your organization - invite me to do a ​keynote or workshop​