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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...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

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...
Reader Survey: Help me listen better

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 Newsletter

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...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

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...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

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...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

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 RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

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...
Build Your Life Plan

I'm trying something new — and I want you in the room

Hi Reader, I've been working on something for a while now, and it's finally ready to test. It's called Build Your Life Plan — a 6-week virtual group experience where you'll build a complete Life Plan using my RHYTHMS OF REST℠ framework. Personal core values. All four rhythms — Relational, Emotional, Spiritual, Tangible. Keystone habits. A finished plan you can actually live by. It's the same framework I use with private executive coaching clients and in my Life Plan Weekends — but in a small...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

You have a plan for everything—except your life.

You Have a Plan for Everything—Except Your Life (Here's How to Change That) Read on my website / Read time: 4-5 minutes 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. Kent and James during a Life Plan weekend One of the first exercises we did was to establish his...
The RHYTHMS OF REST Newsletter

Why your best ideas never happen at your desk

Why Your Best Work Isn't Happening at Your Desk Read on my website / Read time: 4-5 minutes 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 nebulous or non-existent. Recently, I had a conversation with an executive whom I coach about what productivity means to him. His...

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.