The true hallmark saying of a legitimate success driven individual. If this isn't your motto how can you even remotely hope to get anywhere? That's what is believed in our self-help, dream inspired society.
I'm here to reluctantly correct that cocktail of disaster(yes, I'm also taking your mini-umbrella and I'm keeping it).
So, if it's of any value, I properly identify as a workaholic. What I'm about to write about are not the blind ramblings of a well-intended easy-come fellow. I have the credentials to write this from both sides of the proverbial coin. That said, let me list those qualifications for you...
Here's what my disproportionate, mostly functioning, and miraculously not in turmoil life consists of:
-Marriage
if you're doing it right, you invest some amount of time, energy, and resource in your spouse
-Step-father of 4 Beautiful Children
though step-children, I invest in each of them as though they are my own blood
-Full Time Job (w/ 40+ hours a week)
this is only a means of money, but a good source
-Side-Hustle Graphic Design and Marketing
like a full time job, but not relied on as main income
-Extra Side-Hustle Flipping Houses
currently working on a residence that we gutted to nothing and building up from there
-Personal Studies and Research
psychology, spiritual wellness, sociology, and the lesser understood connections of such, just a few to name
-Brainstorming Innovative Future Endeavors
always looking for new ways to unite businesses and communities as well as turn a dollar if possible
-Charity
helping out just to help
-Social Life
family is great and all, but we need people outside of those we are obligated to love as well
-Writing a Trilogy
been writing this set of books for years...not publishing a single one until they are all 100% complete...only at 1 book and half of 2nd complete
-Writing Music
more for fun, but something I'd like to be able to invest more time in the near future
-Personal Chill Time
this one gets the least attention, but I'm hoping to just do 'nothing' sometime soon...maybe stare at the ceiling fan and make annoying clicking sounds with my tongue for hours on end...just a thought
This list isn't exhaustive, just a close idea of what is continually spinning in my mind, and where my time is divided between. The constant fluctuation of priorities, concerns, and evaluations that I tend to like a metaphoric garden.
With so many things there are price tags, time-frames, and levels of urgency regarding deadlines, opportunity, etc. "So how do you do it all Tyler?" you may ask.
I don't sleep. Not enough anyhow.
Up to this point, I've stayed up past midnight and into the late hours of morning, playing catch-up and literally passing out from exhaustion. This worked for a while, but I've found as time has gone on: it's working less, I'm working more, and finally my body decided to chime in.
I've always been opposed to sleep. I don't like losing time. Sleep and rest in general has seemed more like 'serving suggestion' that you may read on the nutritional facts on the side of your food packaging. If I can still function the next day(moderately), then all is well right? Wrong. In my research block, I've stumbled upon countless studies that tie a strong link between sleep deprivation and a myriad of health issues. The worst being heart-attack, stroke, cancer, and others of the like. Some shorter term effects include cognitive impairment, irritability, digestive problems, nervous system impairment, and a compromised immune system. My sources are rather scattered and have been primarily for my own entertainment, so I'm not going to list them...but don't take my word for it: go and learn for yourself. Never trust just what you're told, always investigate.
Recently, I'd began to experience prolonged shortness of breath for days on end. Even when at 'rest' I couldn't seem to breathe properly. My sleep cycles were without rhyme or reason. Though I could 'think', my mind felt in a constant 'fog'. My skin crawled with a physical irritability like an itch you just can't scratch. Motivation plummeted on even the best of ideas and projects. Social interactions were strenuous. I was coming apart at the seams.
I know a while back I made a short video promoting rest and said I would be working on taking a day a week to do so...I failed. Hard. It was more of an experiment or an attempt to humor the idea, but nothing beats personal experience of a concept. Whether you rest because your body tells you, or you believe God when He said to rest one day a week...it all adds up: we need time to recharge. Recharge includes both the physical body and mind, and from that our spirits our rejuvenated.
Next question, and one I've often struggled with: what constitutes as rest?
I never jived with the super-religious belief that you can't do ANYTHING that remotely seems like work. Jesus didn't even follow that...he healed people on the holy day. I strongly believe that 'rest' looks different for each person. I can't say for sure, but it seems to have some general principles.
-No stress
-No labor that depletes you physically/mentally
-No obligations(this may be better subbed under 'stress' and this one may be more personal for me)
-Avoid the mundane
-Seek out things that feed positivity and a sense of freedom from the grind
-Stop and evaluate your current state of being
Those are just a few things that quickly come to mind. For me to rest, it looks like avoiding my FT job. Sometimes it looks like avoiding people for a day, and other times it looks like having a fun social gathering. Cleaning, though a 'laborous' activity, make me feel good so long as I don't let it consume me. Creating art, writing, and playing music can also be restful for me if I am sure to not pressure myself or look at it as work(which can be a difficult line to maintain at times). Lastly, a healthy amount of sleep; having the control and peace to leave everything as it is and go to bed with the intent of getting at least seven hours of solid SLEEP.
In summary, when we don't rest, we actually perform worse. If our work is to produce quality, to better our lives and the lives of others, and to have healthy goals in mind, then we are doing all of that a disservice by neglecting ourselves in one of the most important and under-rated faculties of our lives. I've been properly resting for a 2 weeks now, and my body is just starting to recalibrate to a sense of normal.
So at that, I hope you'll consider rest in your own lives and 'take it easy' once in a while.