Mindset 1: Stress Is What You Say to Yourself!

Over 2,000 years ago, the great philosopher Epictetus stated:

People are not disturbed by things, but the view they take of them. It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it! Pain and suffering comes from the stories we tell ourselves about the future. We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can choose how to respond to them.

His wisdom is as profound today as it was 2,000 years ago. We don’t need to squash every little stressor that we encounter each day—we just need to control our response to them. We manufacture most stress from our primal fear of the unknown and assume the worst. Stressors are past or future threats that don’t actually exist in the now. If a bear barrels across a field toward you (Figure 8.1), that is a true threat—you should run! But if you start to get chronic hypertension because of the demands of your job, that is a perceived threat you create for yourself.

Stress is a fact of life, and everyone will experience a major crisis at some point. One of our good friends and colleagues, Phil Nuernberger, PhD, a leading expert in the world on stress and working with the mind, has truly educated the On Target Living team on how powerful the mind can be in controlling stress. He believes it’s not about good or bad stress; it is about creating balance and harmony. If you are an overstimulated person, you will need more rest. If you are an understimulated person, you will need more activity. Dr. Phil says we think of stress as only arousal (overstimulation) and a lot of it is, but many people handle stress by just stopping everything or completely shutting down (understimulation). We all need arousal, and we all need withdrawal, but if there is imbalance we create stress. Dr. Phil calls the mind an instrument, and he says we all need proper skills to control our instrument.

Most people think of stress as psychological. Stress is not worry, frustration, or anxiety—all of these emotions may be a response to stress, but they are not stress. Stress is physiological: heart rate, muscular activity, hormonal function, and digestion are the main physical responses to stress. Many stress resources explain how fight or flight, or rest and digest, are automatic responses, meaning you have little control over your stress response. That may be true in some cases, like running into a bear or almost getting into a car accident, but how about speaking in front of a large crowd, being under the gun with an important deadline, or having a tough meeting with one of your colleagues? Is it possible to control your response to to these fears or threats? Most people and organizations believe stress is out of their control. They have little control over their daily circumstances, and stress is just going to hit them at any time. Here is what you need to know: The human body was designed to cope with stress. Imminent threats to survival aren’t melting organizations and its people down today. It is the perception of threat and the distorted reactions that take their toll. Deadlines, conflicts, demands, teamwork, financial responsibilities—it is the perceived death by a thousand cuts that is draining our capacity and beating us down. But it doesn’t have to be that way; we have control over our reactions.

Can you imagine if you had to think about your heart beating or taking a breath while you were sleeping? The human body is truly amazing with all its connected systems and processes. One of the most remarkable systems is the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system acts as a stress control center in the body; regulating the heart, digestion, respiratory rate, perspiration, pupil dilation, sexual arousal, and many organs and muscles. The autonomic nervous system is always working to maintain balance with our internal systems. Whereas most of the actions of the autonomic nervous system are involuntary, some such as breathing and heart rate work in tandem with the conscious mind. It is possible to learn how to control many areas of the human body through the conscious mind. With a little practice, you can learn how to control many areas of the human body that affect your health and performance.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts—the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The job of the autonomic nervous system is to synchronize both systems and maintain balanced responses throughout the body.

PNS: The Brake—“Rest and Digest”

If the sympathetic nervous system is the five-alarm fire, then the parasympathetic nervous system is laying in a hammock drinking a piña colada. Think of the sympathetic nervous system as the throttle and the parasympathetic nervous system as the brake. Heart rate and blood pressure drops, nerves calm, brain waves slow down, muscles relax, vessels dilate, digestion increases, and your pupils constrict. Rest and digest helps us calm down and relax for extended periods of time, but chronic parasympathetic dominance depletes and atrophies the mind and body. This is what we call the possum response.

Sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions typically function in opposition to each other, but both systems are essentially working together to create harmony within the body. The parasympathetic nervous system slows everything down, promoting a rest-and-digest response. It sounds like we all need more of the parasympathetic nervous system in our lives—and yes, we probably do! But more and more people are allowing their parasympathetic nervous system to become too dominant. We begin to lose muscle tone, depression and withdrawal begin to creep in, and many times we feel a level of emotional flatness. We start to lose interest in our passions and procrastinate on doing anything constructive. We begin to sleep too much and don’t feel like getting out of bed. We are tired all of the time and start to feel like we have lost our juice for living. One of the most powerful methods to get people back into balance from a dominant parasympathetic nervous system is movement. Movement stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and speeds things up to get the mind and body back into balance.

With the sympathetic nervous system speeding things up, it begins to promote a fight-or-flight response. This is essential in small amounts for you to show up and crush it every day. You can show up with focus and energy to present your ideas with gusto at the morning presentation. But as many of us have seen throughout our society, this 24/7/365 overstimulation forces us into an unsustainable overdrive. Chronic dominance of the sympathetic nervous system, or bear response, starts to overstimulate our nerves and we become increasingly aggressive and impulsive. Blood pressure rises, inflammation goes haywire, muscles become sore, the mind is distracted, and digestion suffers. You are always on edge, agitated, and rarely sleep well. Rest and rejuvenation begin to quiet the sympathetic activity, transitioning you to a more parasympathetic response. The fastest way to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system is using the diaphragm to breathe; this is called diaphragmatic breathing, or belly breathing. We will discuss this later in the chapter.

If you slam on the brakes, you will eventually need to hit the gas. If you are just wide open on the gas, eventually you will need the brakes. Figure 8.2 shows you how to respond based on your stress reactions. Remember stress is ultimately what you tell yourself or, in this case, how you react.

Mindset 2: It Is the Lack of Recovery That Is Breaking Us Down!

The first half of conquering stress is controlling your reaction to stress and understanding the difference between real and perceived forms of stress. However, positive self-talk, belly breathing, and good reactions don’t always cut it. The other half to this coin is implementing small periods of rest throughout your day.

Most people who know my dad, Chris Johnson, consider him an eternal optimist. The glass of life is always half full from his vantage point. He is always portraying a positive outlook on life and situations, and making people around him feel better about themselves. This attitude can take you a long way as discussed earlier. But Mr. Positive can’t always rely on that tactic to get him through every situation.

Recently he shared with me his travel experience coming back from Hong Kong. He conducted a weeklong course and was ready to come home. His trip consisted of three stops: Hong Kong to Seoul, South Korea; Seoul to Seattle; and Seattle to Detroit. This around-the-world trip is part of the job, and like many who travel, can become normal and very manageable. But this trip went from tough to miserable. With a five-hour delay before his flight to Seattle, Dad and the rest of the passengers were starting to lose it a little. It was very early, nothing was open, and there was nowhere to sleep to take the edge off the 11-hour trip that awaited them. Most people on this flight just laid down across the concrete floor, ate junk food, watched movies, and complained for the next five hours. Dad was just as stressed as the rest of the passengers and knew belly breathing and mindfulness wasn’t going to slay this colossal stress monster. He noticed that there was a spa that opened at 6:00 A.M. and if you got a massage you could also take a shower. For the next hour, he relaxed with a nice massage and a rejuvenating shower, with the last 30 seconds being cold. The next leg of his journey went from unbearably dreadful to positively pleasant. There’s always a creative solution to manage stress—you just have to look in the right places.

We can learn a great deal from the rigorous training program of the United States Navy’s primary Special Operations Team, the Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, and Land). The SEALs are an elite fighting team that works under extremely high levels of stress. What is fascinating about the Navy SEAL training is how quickly they break down potential SEAL candidates. After only a few hours, days, or weeks, 75–80 percent of the SEAL candidates have dropped or washed out of the program. Most of the candidates were extremely motivated, many were extremely strong and in great shape, but one by one the SEAL instructors broke them down with merciless efficiency. How do the SEAL instructors do it? Stress!

The SEALs know if you load up on stress and take away ample recovery, most people will crack and want to give up. The SEAL instructors deprived candidates of sleep, sometimes allowing them as little as two to three hours a night; limited their food and water; and created an extremely uncomfortable environment. They also put the candidates’ bodies through an exhausting regimen of running, swimming, and climbing through inhospitable conditions. On top of this extremely demanding physical stress, the emotional stress was even greater—threats to SEAL candidate survival were everywhere and many of the candidates actually believed this gauntlet of pain would kill them, and truth be told, it could! Why are the Navy SEALs looked upon as one of the elite fighting organizations in the world? Capacity! The Navy SEALs have immense capacity to handle stress. They can handle almost anything that comes their way without diminishing their performance.

One area we found extremely interesting in the Navy SEAL training is that candidates who possessed a strong purpose—a powerful why—had the greatest chances of becoming a Navy SEAL. This can also be said for the most successful organizations. A strong purpose is forged from the resilience of experience and wisdom. In most organizations, the amount of stress is nothing like Navy SEAL training. But over time, drip by drip, stress can and will take its toll on our health and performance. The most effective antidote for chronic stress is rest and rejuvenation; it will allow you to weather any storm that comes your way.

What Is a Hormone?

Hormones are chemical messengers that coordinate physiology and behavior, by regulating, integrating, and controlling our bodily functions. Think of your hormonal system as a beautiful orchestra, all working hard to bring balance and harmony to the mind and body. Hormones, like other systems in the body, are affected by stress. When most people think of hormones, they generally think of sex hormones or steroidal hormones, which regulate metabolism, inflammation, immune function, salt and water balance, sexual characteristics, and the ability to fight off illness and heal the body.

The volume of questions we receive surrounding hormones has exploded over the past few years—questions regarding low energy, little or no sex drive, erectile dysfunction, muscle loss, thinning of hair, and brittle bones. All of these unhealthy symptoms are the more visible signs of hormonal imbalance.

We also receive many questions asking our opinion on hormone replacement therapy. Many times, doctors recommend hormone replacement therapy due to patients’ imbalanced hormones—specifically testosterone. Testosterone levels are a good indicator of how the body is aging for both men and women. In response to these questions, we first say that we are not doctors. Next, we start asking some deeper questions: How is your sleep? How would you rate your current stress level? Do you have rest and rejuvenation strategies plugged into your daily routine? Do you consume high-quality omega-3 fats on a daily basis? Do you consume foods high in selenium and zinc? Do you use body-care products that contain parabens? Are you currently exercising and more specifically doing strength training? Do you consume any forms of anti-inflammatories, ibuprofen, or acid blockers on a daily basis? Are you currently taking any prescription medications such as a statin for lowering cholesterol? Many medications can compromise your hormonal balance, and most people are not even aware of the cascade of side effects that may take place by taking some of these medications. Let’s begin with the basics: Hormone therapy may be an option down the road, but it is not the place to begin your journey improving your hormonal balance.

Let’s try to manage this issue upstream instead of dealing with the waterfall of side effects later on. Chronic stress has a powerful impact on your hormones, especially cortisol and testosterone. Cortisol is a stress hormone and testosterone is a building or sex hormone. If your stress hormones (cortisol) are fired too often, then your building hormones (testosterone) will be compromised, leading to an imbalance of testosterone. This is one reason we try to help people understand that even if they start down the hormone therapy path, it may not be a very effective strategy due to the high levels of stress hormones circulating in the bloodstream (Figure 8.3). Integrating rest and rejuvenation strategies into your daily life, along with quality nutrition and daily movement, is the fastest way to get your hormones back into balance. The human body has a powerful ability to heal if given the right resources.

Case Study

A few years ago, I received a phone call from a senior executive of an organization that On Target Living was working with. Greg was an extremely fit and healthy 53-year-old male and was taking no medications, but was concerned that his testosterone level was low.

Greg was a little frustrated and still not completely convinced there was an organic solution to improve his testosterone level. I assured him, from my own personal experience, that Greg could boost his testosterone level by developing a systematic process of how he RESTS, EATS, and MOVES.

We began our training by learning about hormones and getting enough rest. We began discussing his sleep patterns and why getting enough sleep is critical for creating hormonal balance. We then discussed implementing micro and macro breaks into his day, week, and month. We then dove deep into his nutritional habits. It was not what Greg was currently eating that was the problem, it was what he was missing. We added a balance of healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fats, along with foods high in selenium and zinc. We then modified his strength training routine by adding a change in intensity levels each month to stimulate his testosterone. Slowly, step by step, Greg followed the process until these habits turning into daily rituals.

Nine months later I received a phone call from Greg informing me that his blood test came back with 120-point increase in his total testosterone—Greg was extremely happy to share the news with me!

Many months later while Greg was introducing me as a keynote speaker at his National Sales Conference he begins to tell his story. He tells the audience about his low testosterone level, how he met with me, and how he started following the process to improve his testosterone level. But here is the kicker—I never asked Greg his WHY—why was he so concerned about his low testosterone level? I just assumed like many men in their 50s Greg wanted to be his best. While on stage Greg started going deeper and sharing his personal life. Greg told the audience he and his wife were having trouble getting pregnant and Greg thought his low testosterone level could be part of the problem. To the shock of the entire audience, including me, Greg announced that his wife was pregnant with their first child. Today, at age 58, Greg and his wife have two beautiful children. Never underestimate the power of the human body to self-correct when given the right formula.

Here is a snapshot of Greg’s new plan to boost his testosterone level:

1. Sleep: increased the amount of sleep by 45–60 minutes each night—targeted eight hours five to six times per week; also decreased the temperature in the bedroom to under 65 degrees and no electronics one hour prior to bed.
2. Diaphragmatic or belly breathing: one- to two-minute breathing breaks, two to three times each day.
3. Epsom salt bath: one to two times per week for 10 minutes.
4. Frozen wheatgrass cubes: four cubes each morning.
5. Spirulina/chlorella: 30–40 tablets spread throughout the day.
6. Cod liver oil: two tablespoons per day.
7. Flaxseeds and hemp seeds: two tablespoons two to four times per week.
8. Pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts: two tablespoons each day.
9. Breakfast: oatmeal or millet, frozen dark cherries or berries, cacao nibs, variety of nuts, and plant-based milk.
10. Strength training: changed amount of reps each month—month 1, reps of 5 with high load; month 2, reps of 8 with moderate load; month 3, reps of 13 with a lighter load.

After 9 months Greg had increased his testosterone to 498, an increase of 120 points!

Now it’s time to learn how to build your capacity by plugging sustainable rest and rejuvenation strategies into your daily routine.

This is our REST methodology (Figure 8.4). These are simple, straightforward strategies and tactics that can be easily implemented throughout your entire organization, building a culture of greater health and performance!

1. Breathing

One of the most powerful and effective methods to bring more balance, rest, and rejuvenation back into a person’s life is to learn how to breathe using the diaphragm, or as many people call it belly breathing. You learned in Chapter 5 the calming power of breath awareness for focus as well as how important the diaphragm muscle is to the human body. Your abdominal muscles help move the diaphragm and give more power to empty the lungs; this is one reason maintaining a strong core is essential for more efficient breathing and greater health. There are two types of breathing—chest breathing and diaphragmatic, or belly, breathing. So, what is the big deal about diaphragmatic breathing? Diaphragmatic breathing can decrease the workload on the heart and lungs by over 50 percent, balances the autonomic nervous system, lowers blood pressure, relaxes the mind, improves sleep, and helps keep your pH in balance. If you happen to be a chronic chest breather, you put more stress on your heart and lungs, and you probably have less energy, problems sleeping, and hormonal imbalances.

The science behind diaphragmatic breathing is predicated on balancing the autonomic nervous system. Whenever you take a slow breath using the diaphragm, the vagus nerve that is attached at the base of the diaphragm fires up into the brain signaling the parasympathetic nervous system (brake) to turn on and the sympathetic nervous system (gas) to turn off, giving the mind and body a little relaxation break! Heart rate goes down, blood pressure drops, digestion improves, and energy increases. Your brain waves slow down and emotions become more balanced.

How do you know if you are a chest or a diaphragmatic breather? If you take more than 12 breaths per minute, you are most likely a chest breather. A typical chest breather takes 22,000 or more breaths per day, as compared to a diaphragmatic breather who takes 9,000 to 13,000 breaths per day. It is pretty simple to see how much more efficient diaphragmatic breathing is and how much less stress it places on the entire body. Is it possible to learn how to become a diaphragmatic or belly breather? For sure; in fact it is one of the first strategies we teach at our live events, retreats, and coaching sessions.

Here are five easy tips to help you begin the practice of diaphragmatic or belly breathing:

1. Lie on a flat surface, foam roller, or bed. Bend your knees or place a pillow under your knees. Put one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest, and close your eyes and mouth.
2. Breathe in slowly through the nose so that your belly moves out against your hand. Your chest should not be moving. As you take a deep breath, your belly expands out, and as you exhale your belly will come back in.
3. Feel the coolness of the breath through the nose (breath awareness). By focusing on your breath, your mind will begin to clear and your entire body will begin to relax!
4. Practice this exercise every day for one to five minutes.
5. If you want to practice diaphragmatic breathing while standing or sitting, follow the same principles and maintain good posture.

Diaphragmatic breathing and breath awareness is your first step in learning how to control your mind. Performing diaphragmatic breathing can be extremely therapeutic and with regular practice can become your standard way of breathing and on-demand stress reduction.

2. Sleep

One of the most powerful ways to improve your health and enhance performance is to get a good night’s sleep. What is sleep exactly? Sleep is a natural state of rest for the mind and body. Being awake is catabolic (breaks you down) and sleep is anabolic (builds you up). Sleep boosts your immune system, balances hormones, builds up energy, and bolsters brain health. How many times have you walked into work with your eyes glued shut and barely functioning because you didn’t get a good night’s sleep? Having an occasional night when we do not sleep well is very common, especially as we age. Very rarely do you hear about sleep problems with our kids! The heavier demands of adult life always find a way to throw a wrench in our sleep cycle.

Getting quality sleep has become a major health problem around the world today. Lack of sleep destroys the mind and body. Poor sleep can lead to many health-related problems such as heart disease, hormonal imbalances, obesity, headaches, high blood pressure, dementia, Alzheimer’s, poor digestion, imbalanced pH, joint pain, and chronic inflammation. Lack of sleep ages the human body very quickly. One of the fastest growing groups of medications today is for sleep. The answer to getting a better night’s sleep does not come in a pill bottle!

So how do we begin our journey toward getting a better night’s sleep? Did you know that before the invention of the electric light bulb in 1879 most people were averaging over 10 hours of sleep per night? Today that number has dropped under six hours per night! Is it possible to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep? Let’s begin by learning more about normal sleep as this may help you recognize what you may be missing in your quest for a better night’s sleep.

For an activity that we all participate in every 24 hours, most of us know very little about sleep. There are four stages of sleep that we cycle through every 90–120 minutes (Figure 8.5). Stages 1–2 prepare the body for deep sleep, which happens in Stage 3. During Stage 3, the human body goes into full repair mode—hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and growth hormone are all busy repairing the damage done by the rigors of the day. Stage 4 is REM sleep (rapid eye movement). In this stage the brain is healing itself. REM sleep is when we dream; as the night goes on we get into REM sleep more quickly. This is one reason why it is so important to get 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep—so you get enough REM sleep. If you are sleeping 4 to 5 hours per night, you get very little REM sleep. By simply sleeping 8 hours per night, you may double the amount of REM sleep (Figure 8.6)!

Why has getting a good night’s sleep become such a challenge? Greater daily demands creating higher levels of stress can lead to various forms of insomnia. Too much alcohol, energy drinks, caffeine, processed foods, and certain prescription medications all may negatively affect the quality of our sleep.

How to Sleep Better

• Step 1: Value sleep. Step 1 sounds simple, but do you truly recognize how important getting enough sleep is in your overall health and performance? Respecting the value of sleep is Step 1! Sleep is one of the best investments to make in yourself.
• Step 2: Establish and maintain a circadian rhythm. Keeping a regular sleep schedule is critical in maintaining a synchronized circadian rhythm or cycle—conditioning the mind and body to expect specific sleep and wake-up times. Try to consistently go to bed and wake up at the same times, even if they aren’t ideal at first. Also, try to add an additional 30 minutes to your sleep schedule!
• Step 3: Get sunlight. Absorbing natural sunlight a few times per day helps stimulate the pineal gland to regulate the production of your sleep hormone, melatonin. During the day melatonin is low, but as nighttime approaches and darkness sets in, melatonin levels rise. As melatonin levels increase, drowsiness sets in. If you are inside all day long, your pineal gland may have a difficult time recognizing day or night, leading to an imbalance of melatonin production. Getting 20–30 minutes of sunlight, especially in the morning or early afternoon, has a powerful impact on melatonin production. Also, a healthy gut releases a good amount of melatonin, which we address at length in Chapter 9.

Stress is also a killer for melatonin production. As cortisol levels increase, melatonin levels decrease. Another reason why having rest and rejuvenation strategies is essential for optimal health is that performance and getting a better night’s sleep are not mutually exclusive; you can’t have one without the other!

• Step 4: Set up your sleep environment. One of the keys for getting a good night’s sleep at home or on the road is creating a great sleep environment.

• Darkness—make your environment dark. Light kills melatonin! This includes various electronic media—blue light emitted abundantly in our daily lives from TV, laptops, and smartphones. All of these light sources increase cortisol levels and disrupt circadian rhythms, which leads to poor sleep.
• Quiet—keep your environment quiet. Some relaxing sound or white noise can also be helpful in drowning out noise.
• Cool—keep your sleep environment cool. Keeping the temperature at 60–65 degrees plays a huge role stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, making the body slow down and relax.

• Step 5: Have a caffeine curfew. Don’t drink or eat caffeine after 2:00 P.M.
• Step 6: Engage in diaphragmatic breathing and breath awareness. Diaphragmatic breathing coupled with breath awareness relaxes the mind and body.
• Step 7: Increase mineral intake. Magnesium is the mineral of relaxation. It can help with headaches, blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and staying asleep. Green foods such as wheatgrass, spirulina/chlorella, kale, spinach, and leafy greens are extremely high in magnesium. Cacao nibs, coconut, oatmeal, chia and flaxseeds, white figs, raisins, and an Epsom salt bath (absorbed through the skin) prior to bed are all great ways to get more magnesium into your body.
• Step 8: Move daily. Daily movement has a way of burning up the stress hormones, allowing a calming effect post-exercise. Move your body daily to improve the quality of your sleep!

3. White Space

Building white space—planned recovery—into your day is essential for optimal health, increased capacity, and greater performance. Here are a few white space activities you can plug into your life:

• Massage
• 24-hour vacation
• Day at the spa
• Electronic break
• Cold shower
• Epsom salt bath
• Classical music
• Belly breathing
• Movies

4. Meditation

Having you ever had some amazing insights while taking a shower, driving down the highway, or going on a long walk? What is it that allowed your mind to open up? Most likely it was because your mind was relaxed and free and was able to search for the answer and solution you needed. This is the benefit of meditation. Meditation allows you to quiet the mind. Meditation is a conscious relaxation exercise, with the goal of clearing the mind, creating peace and serenity, and opening yourself to greater insights. Start your meditation journey by paying attention to your breath. Find a quiet place, sit upright with good posture and hands resting on your thighs, close your eyes and mouth, and focus on your breath.

Three Levels of Deep Relaxation

1. Structural or muscular—tension-release exercises, imagery techniques, massage
2. Autonomic—regulation of the lungs, 2:1 breathing technique, diaphragmatic breathing
3. Concentration—meditation (internal), gazing (external)

Deep Relaxation Leads to the Following

• Reduced stress and tension at work
• Increased balance and flexibility
• Strengthened immune system
• Flexible mind for creative problem solving
• Heighten sense of awareness
• Intuition and perceive others more clearly

5. Stretch/Foam Roller

Plug into your day a 30- to 60-second stretch break multiple times each day. The standing wall extension, standing upward and downward dog, and half-moon against the wall are three easy stretches that cover lots of ground in a short amount of time. (Chapter 10 will show these exercises.)

Also, using a foam roller for one to two minutes each day can improve your posture, decrease muscle tension, and help you feel rejuvenated. Try it whenever you need a little extra boost to get through the day!

6. Nature

Take a walk in nature. Look and listen to all the beauty around you. Stare at the moon or clouds. Start to understand your place in the grand scheme of things and put your life into perspective. Despite the fact that all of our lives are consumed with endless distractions that create more stress and anxiety, the endless universe continues to hum along with magnificent efficiency. Once we start viewing ourselves as mere blips on the cosmic radar, instead of having everything in our material world orbit around us, the weight we carry on our shoulders begins to lessen. Nature allows you to get lost in the moment and just be.

Take the time to build more rest and rejuvenation into your daily life. Pick one area you would like to improve upon from the preceding strategies and commit yourself to it. We all need to recharge our proverbial batteries to bring our best selves into the next day. We need to clear the cache and push the reset button on stress. Don’t underestimate the power of rest and recovery for supercharging your organization!