You know that feeling you get when you’re sitting on your butt, watching a movie or reading a book, scrolling through your favorite Instagram posts or simply staring out the window at something amazing—and you just don’t feel like doing anything else?
And then the guilt kicks in…
And then you start to feel bad that you’re just sitting there, “doing nothing.”
And then you start listening to that insistent internal voice that loudly claims you “really outta be DOING SOMETHING.”
And then it literally feels like crap to be sitting on your butt.
This insidious response sucks out all the delight you’d been feeling mere moments ago, when you were simply appreciating the heck out of sitting on your butt.
So what would happen if you—just once—surrendered to the needs of your butt and STAYED THERE?
The 411
Our biology gives us three solid reasons WHY that’s soooo good for you:
- Without rest and relaxation, we become truly empty shells who can only mindlessly perform tasks—and not very effectively, either.
- In order to be our best selves and produce our best (whatever it is) we have to allow ourselves the time and space to unplug and do something “mindless” so we can recharge our batteries and refill our energy tanks.
- Every living thing requires rest to thrive. Even the ocean has to ebb in order to flow!
So Why Rest? Why Now?
Why am I bringing up all this “rest” stuff in today’s Playbook?
Ahhh. That’s a great question.
Rest has actually been my secret weapon for the past several weeks—prompted by my having to lay low with COVID—and it’s given me the courage to send you my most personal Playbook, ever.
Truth be told, in order to put together the details I’m sharing this week in our global Community, I really had to take my own advice and surrender to the needs of my own butt, simply snuggling on my couch—for over a week.
Because I really had to catch my breath and check whether I was ready to go public about something that I’ve kept intensely private for my whole adult life, especially for all 34 years of my business: that is, my political views. Although I’ve personally worked for presidential candidates before, I’ve never made them public or discussed them outside of my personal life.
Here’s why my views are no longer merely my own: over the past two weeks, the political situation here in the US has changed so radically that we’re having a national conversation that’s nothing like anything we’ve ever seen before.
That means we have to be ready to pay attention in ways we never have before and get into action in ways we never have before.
So I have to say right up front that the two (major) candidates in this election hold two radically different views about where they want to take our country. That’s why I’m going public right now and admitting that I’m putting everything I have on the line to make sure that only democracy survives election day.
MAN! I have so much EMOTION about what’s happening around me right now that I simply can’t sit still and keep quiet, despite all the cultural taboos to never discuss politics or religion in public.
Although I’m unapologetically breaking every one of those rules, I’m also channeling my emotion into action—of course, in three ways:
- Starting with admitting my feelings to you, modelling what I hope to inspire—more people who are unafraid to pay attention, speak up and take action in the service of our country.
- Locally and nationally, I’m working with democratic activists to make sure that everyone in this country has all the information they need to make an informed decision on election day (or better yet, through early voting), and
- Every week for the next 90 days, I’ll be sharing one of my focused strategies from Everyday Communication Sorcery to help us maneuver our way through what looks to be a gut-wrenching battle for the Soul of this country, on the global stage—because what happens in the US has an impact around the world. (What looks like a US thing is really a global thing.)
And that brings us right back to our conversation about rest—because we have to get really good at resting if we want to have a prayer of using 100% of our brain to maneuver successfully through this unprecedented time.
We have to get really good at catching our breath, and at recharging our batteries.
We have to get really good at saying “NO” to a number of things, including “I will NOT get off my butt…YET.”
So when we do get up—we have 100% of our brain fired up and we’re ready to get into action.
The Power of Resting
Since 2010, neuroscientists have uncovered more about the power of resting than anyone ever knew before.
Most folks don’t love neuroscience the way I do, so I have to admit I’m a total neuroscience GEEK. For the past 3 decades, it’s been my passion to discover (and in some cases invent) a number of cool—and quick—neuroscientific brain hacks for smoothly maneuvering through a wide variety of situations that cause most people the biggest aggravation.
Meanwhile, let’s get back to why our butts have so much fun on that couch:
The reason why resting is the number one secret to success in any venture is because your ability to rest signals to your body that you’re SAFE.
When you’re SAFE, you have
complete and total access to
100% of your brain.
My cool neuroscientific brain hack for maneuvering through this election cycle—as well as maneuvering through anything that’s personally causing you aggravation—is rooted in three neuroscientific facts:
- We humans are wired for safety.
- We have the ability to decide whether anything we face is “good” or “bad.”
- Once we know we’re safe and we’ve decided that our circumstances are “good,” we have full access to 100% of our brains—and an increased capacity for rest.
Now let’s break that down so you can see how useful this one hack is for maneuvering through life—even in the midst of a big election or any big challenge.
And hey—we’ve been here for a while today, so let’s tackle only the first fact right now and then the other two next week. (Trust me, this one fact will give you everything you need right now!)
- We humans are wired for safety.
Our conscious mind is programmed to keep us safe wherever we are—PLUS keep us on the lookout for any incoming danger. (The third thing we’re wired for is to identify optimal sexual partners—so how about we skip that one for now…).Being safe is the gateway to being able to use 100% of our brain—and here’s why: unless we’re safe, we can only focus on our survival in the moment. Three biological instincts help us do that: fight, fly or freeze. When we’re in survival mode, we have NO ACCESS to our brain—because thinking will slow you down when your life’s on the line! Most importantly, we can’t rest until we’re SAFE…
Bottom line: if we can’t rest, then we can’t THINK.
If we can’t think, it’s very hard to VOTE.
Election Hack: Pay attention and stay informed.
That’s the most effective way to stay SAFE so you can claim your brain for this election. There are so many things going on right now that have never happened on the planet before—and I totally get it that some of them seem so outlandish that you can’t even believe they’re REAL. No worries—all you need to do is pay attention, ask questions and make sure you get your rest.
Thanks so much for being here—now here’s something really powerful to take with you:
If you are one of the 50% of Americans
who have never heard of Project 2025 —
here’s the shortest, clearest explanation about it that I’ve seen: https://tinyurl.com/4djh4y9v
Thanks so much for helping me get the word out about Everyday Communication Sorcery and this election by forwarding this Playbook to everyone you think would benefit from it. Loving you so dearly!
