The Importance of Rest
“There is virtue in work and virtue in rest, use both and overlook neither.”
The greatest most accomplished men take rest. I'm not referring to sleep. That is a physical requirement needed by all living creatures with a brain. It parallels the body in that when it is refused rest it compels one’s consciousness to give in to rest. If one’s conscious mind is strong enough to refuse the brain rest it will cease to function and will begin hemorrhaging to the point of physical failure. The brain is simply another body part, another organ in the function of the body. It is not much different than a muscle in that it has physical requirements to function and a known method to help it work more effectively. The rest I'm referring to is psychological. Many in today's society emphasize how hard work is necessary, that you should keep going even when you're tired. The grind doesn't stop, the hustle doesn't quit. There are hundreds of top-tier motivational speakers out there. Most of them mean well and their message is needed in today's world. In G7 (Group of Seven) countries it is easier than ever for one’s basic needs to be met. Hard work isn't required for food, shelter, social interaction, or to be clothed. Literally, all of these countries have social safety nets to ensure these basic needs are met for the citizenry. For the first time in the history of the world, almost 700 million people have a way to be fed, clothed, and sheltered in some form if they cannot do so for themselves. This is 700 Million people that do not have an intrinsic existential motivating requirement to work hard and exceed their perceived limitations. This coupled with the efficiencies that technology and modern advances have created has given rise to apathy in many developed countries. Convenience has created laziness.
First World Nations be like
We have a different potential problem now. Previous Most of our grandfathers and great grandfathers worked themselves into a shortened lifespan as they were encouraged through life's circumstances to overwork, ignore the calls of their bodies and minds to rest, and deliver against the stresses of the world they lived in. They were typically surrounded by other men who were similarly minded and often that social pressure had its own psychological impact. The pendulum swung away from maximum productivity at the expense of personal physical and psychological health and toward "rest and relaxation" with a life devoid of struggle. This has left an emptiness felt by many as a lack of struggle usually implies a lack of accomplishment. People seek ways to achieve easily. In the sea of motivational speakers, thought leaders, and manosphere gurus there is a lack of balance and many things required for success get missed as everyone carves out their niche.
I don't believe in immediate balance. I believe in lifetime balance. Achieving greatness means burning the candle twice hot, doing everything in your power to climb, to grind. Make hay while the sun shines is a code I live by. When I have the capability I run strong purposefully and in a way that is sustainable. That is not a life of balance. Achieving greatness is not a life of balance. My mentors don't believe in balance and many people in my support system don't either, certainly not in their actions. We believe that you have to kill to eat and we are hungry every day. What often gets lost in that consistent push and attempt to grow is the systemic implementation of true psychological/mental rest. The importance of decompressing mentally and allowing your mind to spring back and allow itself to recharge and recenter. This is different than sleep. Sleep is the brain (different than the mind) defragmenting for a set amount of time to allow for continued high-level function.
So why doesn't mental rest get talked about much by motivational speakers, manosphere gurus, and inspirational social media personalities?
Because it doesn't apply to most people.
Most people when it comes to effort in their own lives
In my opinion, most people are resting too much. People like to work 4 hours rest for 30 minutes work another 4 hours then rest for 6+. That's not rest, that's laggardly. That's playing to work. Not including the 8 hours of sleep that's the same amount of time chillin as working. I guess that's balance, but not a process that those with high goals, high capacity, and high capability follow. My grandfather used to say "you know what you call someone who works a 40-hour workweek? Retired." My mother lived by that same mantra. I saw them both over time grind their bodies past a point of rationale. My grandfather had a farm. He had a triple bypass surgery and was back on his tractor in less than a week. That's not resting mentally that's allowing your body to rest just long enough to get back in the game. That’s like charging your phone from dead to 3 percent so that you can get on IG live for 2 minutes. You’re just killing your battery. My mother inherited the ridiculous work gene and used to work 40 hours in 3 days over the course of a weekend. That's a hell of a grind, but my mom would rest for 4 days after that. That rest would be mental and physical. She rested her mind as well as her body. She would sleep usually 12-16 hours the first day and ease into a normal sleep cycle by the time her shift start on Friday. There are 168 hours in a week, 56 of them are for sleep by default, leaving you 112 waking hours. Working only 40 of those hours is working less than half of the available waking hours. If you have a life you’re happy with by spending only half of the waking hours being productive (not saying you gotta be working for the man, but be working on SOMETHING for you) then good on you. Most people say they aren’t content with the lifestyle 40 hours gives most people but talk is cheap.
If you’re only working 40 hours then you probably resting too much
The Brain is still just another organ but it’s capable of a much greater workload than the average person wants to give it credit, as long as you responsibly work up to it. The average Human body WILL get injured if it attempts to run a marathon untrained. However, the average human body does have the capability to run a marathon. Part of the reason the concept of success being a marathon instead of a sprint resonates so well is because it's so accurate. High goal achievement is consistency over time. The motivational speaker is there to keep you consistent, it’s not his intention to give you the entire formula, that’s a role of a business coach or a mentor. Which, as I discussed in a previous entry, is why it’s important to have a holistic support system that can give you different things as you need them. In that concept of a marathon, it is very rare and usually strongly advised against the person running the marathon have any other strenuous activity scheduled for that day or usually even that week. Running the marathon takes a lot out of you and it is important that you rest appropriately before attempting another strenuous activity. The guy that runs multiple marathons back to back to back may look amazing but people aren’t usually aware of what it’s doing to him long-term. There are a couple of examples of people like that that and I’ll discuss them in a later entry, just know that every choice made good or bad means you’re sacrificing something else.
I’m making an important distinction of saying “marathons” instead of saying “workouts”. Workouts can be done most days a week, but even the pros that workout 3+ hours a day usually only work out 6 days a week. They take time to rest! Because they understand the importance of recovery and how it affects the long-term goal. Not resting means short-term success and long-term failure. It means hampering your efficiency and pace over time. Mental rest is just a healthy way that you unwind your mind. Emphasis on healthy. Heroin is a way to relax psychologically (I've heard) it's also clearly going to create a bunch of other problems. All distressing activities aren't created equal and all people don't receive them the same way. As an example I have a friend that likes to work on cars to unwind, car work for me doesn’t feel like a time to decompress it just feels like a chore or a task. I like to listen to audiobooks and go for a quick 3 mile run to unwind when I’m stressed out. I have another friend that would find that task arduous. Finding your happy place when it comes to rest tasks will take experimentation. I have a whole toolkit of different things I do to decompress depending on what I have been doing or what I will be doing. From things that are a quick 5 minutes to things that are 2 or so hours. They are all relatively healthy for me mentally and have been tested over time to know what works for me and what doesn’t.
It’s fun being the tough guy. Mr. Disciplined. Mr. “No Days Off”. Mr. Always Available. The way you’re perceived by others and the confidence you may feel at always getting it done can be a good feeling. Winning against the odds can make you believe that this is sustainable behavior and you’re somehow special compared to others.
You’re not.
Your capacity to push past your natural mental barriers may be high than others but it is a universal rule that the Mind, Brain, and Body need rest to run at their best. You may be someone that’s resting too much, if you aren’t sure you may want to consult a mentor or business coach to be sure. In that case, you need to dial up your workload and dial back the rest. If you’re working too much and not resting enough you need to implement a rest protocol in your work process (if you don’t have a work process you’re probably not working too much). In either case, your life will often reflect what you are missing. When I wasn’t pushing hard enough I found progress in my life to be lacking. When I was pushing too hard life sat my ass down and forced me to rest.
Don’t let life make the correction for you, make the correction before it has to.