A friend of mine was complaining to me not long ago that his life was exhausting. He wasn’t sleeping well,  his routine was messed up,  and he felt like he was approaching burnout.  No doubt,  many of the leaders and entrepreneurs reading this will recognize themselves.

Many successful people achieved what they did through hard work. Hard work can often mean highly effective,  concentrated effort,  but it also often can include another element: relentless striving.

My suggestion to my friend was meant to address this second element. His relentless efforts have a positive connotation. To be relentless implies a strong will,  perseverance,  and determination. It’s what I would call a character strength,  and certainly something to develop.

What I suggested to my friend was that he introduce a day of rest into his schedule. It’s a concept found in cultures and religions around the world.  It’s also a recognition that we might not have evolved for unceasing effort. We sleep at night in order for our systems to perform maintenance, both in the body and the brain.  Nature has cycles like this everywhere you look: seasons,  crops, even forest fires.

Athletes train in cycles. Some businesses even shut down completely for a short period of time. During these times,  maintenance can be performed, broken things can be  fixed, inventory can be taken.

A day of rest is not a day to catch up on email or finish a home renovation project. No,  it’s instead a day to put things away. It’s a day for not using tools or technology. It’s not a day for climbing mountains,  either. Hard physical exercise is rejuvenating but it isn’t REST.

Resting means staying put. Not moving. Stillness. Many people never rest. So may I suggest that you give it a try?

One day. 

See how it feels.  If you don’t like it,  you can resume your relentless efforting. 

On the other hand,  you may discover that a day of rest was exactly what you needed.