Tag Archives: renewal

Sharpening your saw or building resilience might be the best way to improve.

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“Sharpening your saw or building resilience might be the best way to improve.”

—Seth Godin, American author, marketing expert, and entrepreneur

Image from Unsplash by Matias Sosa

Improvement is often chased through effort, but rarely through renewal.

Stephen Covey called it “sharpening the saw,” yet many of us keep sawing harder with a dull blade.

Real progress comes from building resilience—physical, mental, and emotional—so we can recover faster and perform better.

Rest, reflection, and intentional habits are not luxuries—they are performance tools.

A short walk, a quiet moment, or a disciplined routine can restore clarity and energy.

Ask yourself: are you pushing harder, or preparing better?

The strongest performers are not those who never tire, but those who reset, adapt, and return sharper than before,

Growth happens between efforts, in the pauses where strength is rebuilt and perspective quietly returns.

EXERCISE:

This week, think of recovery as a discipline.

Prioritize quality sleep, active forms of rest such as walking and stretching, and schedule downtime so your body and mind can repair and recharge.

Friday Review: RENEWAL

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Friday Review: RENEWAL

What do you do to renew and rejuvenate yourself? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

“The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you are finished.”

 

 

 

 

“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.”

 

 

 

 

Nature offers us wonderful examples of growth, renewal, and transformation when we allow each of its seasons to guide our life.

 

 

 

 

Friday Review: Renewal

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Friday Review: Renewal

What do you do to renew and rejuvenate yourself? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

When we feel burned out and depleted sometimes we need to plug into a new source of energy that renews and restores. Resting is only one available option.

 

 

 

“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”

 

 

 

 

“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”

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“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”

—Thomas Edison, 19th Century American inventor and businessman

Image from Unsplash by Shane

For some of us a new definition of happy hour as we get older is a good nap.

In my most active working years, I always admired the hard driving folks who often boasted about how little sleep they needed.

While coaching top performing professionals over the years, I, however, came to notice that these individuals often suffered in other areas of life without the wondrous restorative effects of adequate sleep.

Without going into all the science, we can rest confidently in the fact that sleep clears out the clutter in both our bodies and minds.

We need and deserve it to step into each new day to realize our full potential.

EXERCISE:

What requests will you invite into your subconscious as you turn in for the night?

What might you invent with a refreshed and renewed mind and body once you awaken?

When we feel burned out and depleted

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When we feel burned out and depleted sometimes we need to plug into a new source of energy that renews and restores. Resting is only one available option.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Clint Patterson

When was the last time you experienced burnout or a significant state of energy depletion?

To what degree was this experience physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual?

Beyond our frequent default of resting, what other ways have you discovered to plug in to a different energy source when your get up and go is gone?

EXERCISE:

Imagine you were a vehicle with four separate fuel tanks labeled physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

How might tapping into another tank when your current tank points to “E” be a hidden source of renewal you’ve never considered?

Consider checking out the book The Power of Full Engagement for other ways to manage similar situations when you are out of gas.

Nature offers us wonderful examples of growth

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Nature offers us wonderful examples of growth, renewal, and transformation when we allow each of its seasons to guide our life.

Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Ian Schneider

What is your perspective on winter? What activities make up most of your days during the winter months? How much time do you spend outdoors?

Except for periodic brisk walks and sprinting from one building to another with my car acting as a shuttle service, I live a predominantly indoor life when it’s cold. Although I admire the grit and fortitude of people who choose a frigid lifestyle, I prefer to hibernate or fly south.

Instead of feeling bad and self-critical during these months, I’ve learned to embrace more inner efforts as a necessary and valuable aspect of living on a planet that circles the sun on a 23 degree angle.

EXERCISE:

How can and do you embrace each of nature’s seasons and the opportunity they offer? What inner and outer work lies ahead for you in this new year?

FRIDAY REVIEW: RENEWAL

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FRIDAY REVIEW: RENEWAL

What do you do to renew and rejuvenate yourself? Here are a few renewal-related posts you may have missed.

 

“The will to win … the will to achieve … goes dry and arid without continual renewal.”

 

 

 

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Never throw out anyone.”

 

 

 

“Are you doing what matters, or just reacting to the noise?”

 

 

 

 

 

When something small loudly demands all of our attention

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“When something small loudly demands all of our attention, its noise often drowns out the whisper of what’s enormously important.”

—Craig Groeschel, American Clergyman

Image of a woman whispering to a child

Image from Unsplash by Sai de Silva

We live in a very noisy world. If you are like many folks these days, the decibel levels and shiny object distractions have reached new heights and the pace is accelerating exponentially.

Although there are extraordinary opportunities through the abundance of these worldly demands for our attention, we all require gaps in our days to recharge and renew.

EXERCISE:

Create two lists for your personal and professional life. Label the first list Important Whispers and the second Loud Demands.

What strategies can and will you employ to increase the time for items on the first, and reduce or perhaps eliminate items from the second?

Friday Review of posts on Renewal

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FRIDAY REVIEW: RENEWAL

What are your strategies for renewing your energy, your sense of self, and regaining balance in your life? Here are a few renewal-related posts you may have missed. Click to read the full message.

“The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you are finished.”

 

 

 

“The answers you seek never come when the mind is busy. They come when the mind is still, when silence speaks loudest.”

 

 

 

 

“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.”

 

 

 

 

Are you doing what matters

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“Are you doing what matters, or just reacting to the noise?”

—Brendon Burchard, American motivational author

Image of a man holding his ears to block out noise

Image from Unsplash by chairulfajar

It is a rainy Sunday as I write this. I am at home in my designated writing and reading chair, where I am rarely interrupted. Reading and writing are two activities that matter a lot in my life, so I proactively carve out time – especially on weekends – for both.

Rest, recharging, and renewal efforts on these days have also had me limit my cell phone use, primarily to family and friends. I’ve also cut back on virtually all forms of noisy media, to about 20% of what it was a year ago.

EXERCISE:

Consider taking five or ten minutes to create two lists. Label the first “What Matters Most in My Life?” and the second “What Represents the Noise in My Life?”

Once you have a solid list for each category, please apply the More/Less, Start/Stop Strategy to enhance your happiness and life satisfaction.