Rest Like an Athlete

3 Rules to Help You Relax Over the Holidays

Elite athletes don’t sprint all day long.

The best athletes in the world know that intentional rest and recovery after training sessions fuels their game-day performance.

And cheetahs – the world’s fastest land mammal – expend as little energy as possible when they’re not hunting. Intense bursts of energy are naturally balanced by long periods of rest.

You may not be bringing down antelope or winning championships, but for business owners, near-constant demand makes for a stressed and tired brain – one less capable of creative thinking and more likely to make mistakes.

Before settling into a week’s worth of Netflix, it’s worth asking what you want this rest period to do for you.

Poorly planned time off leads to stress (all those last-minute details!) and regrets. No one wants to look back on the ‘time off’ they spent scrolling their phone or checking work emails out of habit. In fact, according to HBR, “Poorly planned and stressful vacations eliminate the positive benefit of time away.”

Physical rest is important, but what else helps you feel your best? What fuels your peak performance, when you’re energized, motivated and making smart decisions? For many, the most impactful form of rest is active – like yoga, stretching, a hike or long walk, or more intense physical exertion. You might also crave sensory rest and time in nature to boost your mood and mental wellbeing.

3 Rules to Help You Relax Over the Holidays

Rest is most effective when we plan in advance the blend of activities that will allow each of us to rest, recover, and return to peak performance.

Then, for best results, follow these three rules:

1. Take as much time as you can. Optimize the number of days you don’t have to work the next day.
2. Out of sight, out of mind. Turn off phone notifications, close the home office door, put away the laptop.
3. Set boundaries. Define “work emergency” in advance, and communicate it to anyone likely to interrupt your time off. What do you want to be contacted about, and what can wait? (And then make sure you follow your own rules….)

This Week’s Takeaway

Congratulations from the ActionCOACH / Extra Mile team for all your successes and learnings over the last year.

Happy holidays, and don’t forget to celebrate how far you’ve come!

Tune Your Marketing Engine

(Without Spending a Fortune on Ads)

Join me next year for another fun evening at the Port Credit Log Cabin in Mississauga on January 29th, 6:00pm, to uncover straightforward lead generation and marketing strategies that are easy to implement, cost-effective, and designed to deliver real results for your business.

Click here to grab your tickets!

Bridge the gap between your vision, lead generation, and marketing by building a marketing engine.

We’ll Cover:

1. A Stand-Out Strategy: How to define your Unique Selling Proposition and stand out.
2. Your Target Audience: How to refine your marketing messaging to attract high quality leads.
3. The True Cost of Discounted Prices: How to analyze the costs of discounting, and what to offer instead.
4. Your Marketing Budget: How and when to build the budget. What do you actually need to spend?
5. Your Marketing Systems: Scaling up your marketing systems, instead of relying on word of mouth.
6. Bonus: The art of following up without being annoying.

Make Time: By John Zeratsky and Jake Knapp

Make Time is a genuinely helpful resource for cutting through the busyness and focusing on what matters most. It’s packed with straightforward, practical tips that are easy to try without overhauling your lifestyle. The advice feels flexible and realistic, making it a great guide for creating a little more space in your day for the things that truly matter.

Check it out!

Looking for More?

If you want more hand-curated monthly content featuring exclusive ActionCOACH training videos, new and useful resources, plus local events, grants, and awards, head over to The Extra Mile In Action – to find out where leaders go farther!

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