In Ask Coach Tony, you can put my Operation Melt coaching to the test by asking me questions about how to achieve your goals.
Because a question asked by one is often a question had by many, I am regularly sharing these answers via the Operation Melt blog.
Are you ready for a dad joke?
I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. My dad joke may be groan-worthy, but it's worth every penny you paid for it, right?
Gravity is one of the most fundamental forces in the universe, and if you remove it you get gravy.
A High-Achiever’s Unexpected Secret to Unparalleled Performance
Two separate events this week have caused me to reflect on a topic that doesn’t receive enough attention amongst our community of high achievers. The topic: the importance of rest.
First off, today was my first run after taking a four-day break. I took the break because I developed knee pain (from sleeping, believe it or not), and I didn’t want to risk running on it. So, I took several days away from running and, almost fully recovered, returned to my running routine today.
My return from my running break resulted in a few surprises. All my “easy” run performance metrics – speed, endurance, heart rate – were better than before my break. My fitness tracker also informed me that my rest caused my running fitness to achieve “peaking” status, meaning I’m in ideal race shape. My run also resulted in my VO2 score, a measurement of my cardio fitness, increasing by one point after months of stagnation.
It was a great, productive run!
Secondly, this week is the kick-off of my annual family vacation at Indian Lake in northwest Ohio. My wife and I have been taking this vacation week together since our honeymoon, and we’ve been married twenty-three years today. We spend this week relaxing and having fun with my wife’s extended family. We have nightly dinners, boating excursions, poker nights, board games, bonfires and many other fun, family-friendly activities.
Each year, as my brain disengages from my day-to-day routine, my vacation usually yields a plethora of new ideas (blog topics, books, coaching breakthroughs, topics to research, etc.) that fuel the second half of my year.
These are two (of many) examples of the power of rest making me stronger (or better) than I was before resting.
These examples shouldn’t be surprising. In human physiology, we build bigger muscles during rest periods. Workouts create micro-tears in our muscles, which rebuild larger during rest periods.
So why does rest get such a bad reputation?
The Cult of “Busy”
In my book, Reflections on Leadership, I talk about the “Cult” of Busy; here’s a summary of this phenomenon:
It seems like everybody is busy, too busy and has no time to invest in some pretty important things. These things include personal development, developing others or caring for their own health. How is it possible that everybody is this busy?
I explain, “When somebody talks (or brags!) about how busy they are, they are usually saying one of the following: ‘I matter’…. ‘I am super important’…. ‘I’m afraid.'”
This cult of “busy” has led to the demonization of rest.
When being “busy” becomes the ultimate status symbol or indicator of importance, people consider resting and not being “busy” as being less important. Who wants that?
The result has led to the birth of hustle culture, zero days off movements and, in the running world, extensive daily running streaks that result in injuries. For some members of the cult of busy, a sports injury from overuse is the ultimate status symbol.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Life Hack: Rest Day Mindset
The 2024 Summer Olympics begin this week and will feature elite athletes performing at an elite level. Every one of these athletes knows the value of rest days. They could not continually maintain and improve their performance without ample rest.
It is simply not possible to perform at an Olympic level without a blend of training and rest. As alluded to above, skipping rest and continuing to push your body to perform at a high level is the recipe for injury. My trainer, Teresa (click here to read her interview, Achieving Big Gains in Bodybuilding and Life – Secrets Exposed), has a saying, “Either you choose your rest day or your body will choose one for you!” Truly, anything overused will start to hurt!
Still feeling uneasy about a rest day?
Do rest days still feel like half-assing your goal?
I have a secret brain hack for you to help rest days feel more comfortable and valuable to you.
The trick to accepting rest days into your life is to change how you think about them as a concept. You can accomplish this by reminding yourself of one essential rest day truth.
A rest day is NOT a day off from accomplishing your goal; they are part of the process.
Pro tip: This reminder would be an excellent addition to your BFF exercise cards (see Want To Be Happier… You Need To Talk To Your BFF).
Do you need help incorporating rest days into your goal-crushing routine? This sounds like a job for coaching, and I would be honored to help you learn to love your rest days. Let’s chat about how coaching might help you live the life of your dreams today.
I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you!
Meet Coach Tony
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
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