Edition #17: The Most Productive Thing I did Last week
Resting just might be one of the greatest acts of rebellion available in modern society
It says
I’m okay with my limits.
I know what enough looks like.
I’m worth more than what I produce.
It takes guts to rest in a world that mistakes busyness for importance, and activity for productivity.
And we’re all about gutsy moves at the HMFC!
“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
The Problem: I want to rest, but I don’t have time
The times you are too busy to rest are the times you need it the most…
Rest is not a luxury.
It is not a reward.
It is a basic physiological requirement for any human being wanting to live their best life.
And yes, I know…easier said than done.
If I could give you an extra 10 hours a week, I would. But that still wouldn’t solve the problem.
Because unless we are sold on the high performance power of rest, we’ll just find new ways to be busy.
The Solution: Make rest a priority
From the widsom of hypertrophy …
Since retiring from professional sport, people often ask if I miss competing.
For the record, the answer is no.
But I sure do miss my afternoon naps. And the fact that I could legitimately declare them a part of my work day.
It was nothing to do with indulgence and everything to do with high performance.
Consider the question: How do you make a muscle grow?
The obvious answer is you work it. Heavy weights in the gym on a regular basis.
And while it is true that muscles need stimulation, it is more accurate physiologically to say that muscle growth occurs when they’re resting - in the 24-72 hours after you leave the gym.
If there is no rest there is no growth.
In fact, you may actually make the muscle weaker. Lifting weights causes micro tears in the muscle fibers, which get repaired when you rest.
But without rest, all you get is a damaged muscle. Lots of hard work and nothing to show for it.
So while I can’t give you an extra 10 hours a week, maybe this shift helps:
Rest isn’t a luxury. It’s part of the work.
The Application:
“As a guide, it will probably take you 2 weeks of doing nothing to fully recover from this.”
I just finished working on the Winter Paralympic Games with CBC in Canada and it was absolutely wonderful!
And exhausting!
Two weeks of big energy, maximal focus, constantly integrating huge chunks of information while live on air…and all on very limited sleep.
I will not pretend that my life resembled anything remotely balanced during this period. And that’s okay. Sometimes you just do whatever it takes to get through.
And you can get away with it for a while, but not forever. Which is why Bob, my broadcast coach, gave me the advice he did.
So after the broadcast, I spent the week at my mum’s. She cooked, she cleaned, she did my laundry, she ferried me to and from the gym, and she indulged me as I binge watched hours and hours of The Pitt.
Even I would have judged this lazy, spoilt, pajama wearing, crumbs everywhere, glasses smudged with chocolate version of me.
But it was without doubt the most productive way to spend my week.
What bold act of rest can you take this Friday?
The Hail Mary Friday Club is all about taking big, bold action. And sometimes the biggest and boldest thing you can do is nothing.
My hope for the rest of my life is that when someone asks me how I’m doing, I don’t say “Oh, you know, just been really busy…”
Stay bold, friends!
- Stef 💪
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