Rest Is Resistance

Why Sustainable Leadership Requires Slowing Down

As I sit down to write this, I’m texting three friends who are walking through incredibly difficult life stages. The kind that rearrange you.

At the same time, I’m personally running on fumes.

We’ve entered our second month of disrupted sleep with my little one waking multiple times a night. My oldest recently told me our house is “no longer peaceful” because I’ve been snapping at everyone in my exhaustion.

Ouch.

Add in the cultural noise, strong opinions about the Super Bowl halftime show, nonstop political discourse & the endless churn of social media and it feels like the world is operating at maximum volume.

If you feel overstimulated, overwhelmed, or stretched thin right now, you’re not alone.

And more importantly: you’re not weak.

You’re likely under-rested.

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The Culture of Constant Engagement

We are living in a system that rewards:

• Immediate opinions

• Constant productivity

• Emotional reactivity

• 24/7 accessibility

As founders, leaders, parents & impact-driven entrepreneurs, we often internalize this pace.

In ethical manufacturing & sustainable business, we reject exploitative labor systems. Yet many of us unknowingly exploit ourselves, pushing through exhaustion in the name of responsibility or growth.

But sustainable impact cannot be built from chronic depletion.

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What “Rest Is Resistance” Actually Means

Rest is resistance because it pushes back against:

• Hustle culture

• Outrage-driven media cycles

• Productivity as identity

• The belief that worth equals output

Rest regulates your nervous system.
Rest restores your clarity.
Rest allows you to lead long-term instead of reacting short-term.

When things feel like they’re spinning faster & faster, rest is not indulgent.

It’s strategic.

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Practical Ways to Rest (Even in Busy Seasons)

If you’re in a full season with kids home from school, business demands increasing, life feeling heavy, here are simple entry points:

Rest your brain:
Read fiction instead of scrolling headlines. I recently finished You Are Here by David Nicholls & I highly recommend.

Rest your body:
Take a nap. Go to bed early. Close the laptop.

Rest your mind:
Take a silent walk. No podcast. No call. No input.

Rest your soul:
Do something joyful & unnecessary like eating cookies + cream ice cream in the middle of the afternoon. And bring me some : ) 

Small pauses recalibrate your entire system.

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Sustainable Leadership Starts With Self-Regulation

Whether you’re building a business, leading a team, raising kids, or trying to create impact in a noisy world, your capacity matters.

Your clarity matters.

Your nervous system matters.

You do not have to have a hot take today.
You do not have to fix everything.
You do not have to operate at maximum capacity at all times.

Sometimes the most responsible, ethical, sustainable choice you can make is to rest.

Because rest is resistance.
And sustainable impact requires sustainability in you first.

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