Rest like a Champion
By Damodar Roe
Rest + Moderation = Magic
Even when you’re trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, stress and exhaustion can make you tempted towards habits that compromise your values or well-being. You know you will instantly feel better if you fill your mind, mouth, and other senses with all sorts of junk. These kinds of outlets offer some temporary distraction from unpleasant feelings. But they can’t give you the actual healing you need. They also lead to guilt and shame.
But what if you could rest and recuperate without resorting to unhealthy habits?
It’s possible to strike this balance by resting while also having some clear boundaries that help you stay healthy. In other words, you prioritize activities that will replenish your energy, and at the same time, practice some moderation with your recreational activities like screen time, eating, and so on.
Here is the step-by-step Manual on how to rest like a champion.
1
Clear Standards
The ability to make decisions and stick with them is called determination. Your determination becomes much stronger when you decide on clear goals and standards ahead of time. It saves you from the draining activity of debating yourself back and forth about what to do in the moment when the desire arises to do something questionable. You’ll be mentally prepared and resolute, rather than conflicted and unsure of yourself. This practice of deciding ahead-of-time how you’ll respond to your own impulses is called precommitment. By deciding in advance what to activities to deny, delay, or discipline, you take control of your desires and set yourself up for success.
Deny: Some activities are inherently addictive and undermine your integrity or well-being. Though they may offer momentary pleasure, they ultimately drain your energy and create cycles of craving rather than true fulfillment.
Delay: Some activities are enjoyable and not harmful on their own, but they become distractions when indulged in too soon. Reserving them for the right time—after responsibilities are met—keeps them from interfering with your priorities.
Discipline: Some activities are essential to life and well-being, but without moderation, they can become excessive or self-defeating. Practicing balance ensures they nourish you rather than control you.
You might not be able to perfectly execute the standards that you aim for yet, but don’t let that stop you from clearly categorizing different activities on their own merit. You can always break down big ideals into smaller steps, and then work your way up to them. After all, it’s better to make consistent progress than to give up just because you’re not perfect.
2
Create Structure for Work and Rest
Once you’ve established clear standards for rest time, the next step is to structure your time in a way that supports those standards. Without structure, even the best intentions can fall apart under the pressure of impulses, distractions, or fatigue.
Productive work and genuine rest both require intentional boundaries. When you structure your time, you eliminate the uncertainty and decision fatigue that often lead to procrastination or indulgence. You can set specific times for focused effort and specific times for rest and recreation—knowing that each has its place.
Finishing your work before taking a significant break is crucial because your mind won’t be able to truly relax if your subconscious is preoccupied with unfinished tasks. Resting like a champion only comes after you cross the finish line. That doesn’t mean everything needs to be perfect, but the essential elements of your work and responsibilities should be taken care of. This allows you to enjoy your downtime without guilt or lingering stress.
Practical ways to structure work and rest:
Work First, Rest After: Aim to finish important tasks within designated windows of time, such as your workweek or the morning and afternoon.
Evenings for downtime: Set aside evenings for low-effort, rejuvenating activities like reading, spending time with loved ones, or watching a movie.
Break with intention: Short breaks during work help sustain focus, but they should refresh you rather than distract you. Avoid getting sucked into mindless scrolling or instant gratification.
Weekends for rejuvenation: When possible, treat weekends as a hard stop for major responsibilities. Use this time to recharge, engage in fulfilling hobbies, and connect with others.
Structure doesn’t mean rigidity; it’s about protecting what matters most to you. When you make time for focused, meaningful work, you earn your rest. And when you schedule real rest—activities that actually replenish your energy rather than drain it—you make it easier to resist the pull of empty, addictive distractions.
By setting clear start and stop points for both effort and rest, you train yourself to live with intention rather than reacting impulsively to whatever feels easiest in the moment.
3
Give YOurself Permission to REst
One of the main barriers to resting effectively is the belief that you need to justify it. We’ve internalized the belief that our worth is tied to our productivity, and there’s no room for rest in the struggle to be good enough. A big part of healing is allowing yourself to rest despite such irrational thoughts, recognizing that you deserve it. Ironically, this will make you a better contributor anyway. So schedule time for rest, and when necessary, say “no” to extra commitments so that you regularly have time for rest.
While dedicating time and effort to your career is important, it’s equally crucial to invest in your personal life. Nurturing relationships, pursuing hobbies, and taking time for self-care can rejuvenate your spirit, reduce stress, and enhance your productivity. By making a conscious effort to prioritize personal time, you create a more fulfilling and harmonious life. Remember, true success is not just measured by professional achievements, but also by the richness of your personal experiences and the joy you derive from them.
Developing better habits doesn’t require any skills you’ve never done before. You just have to apply the same discipline you show at work to also improve the quality of your personal lifestyle. Balance screen time with reading, treats with mindful nutrition, and all sorts of self-indulgence with taking the time you need to actually take care of yourself.
4
Feel Your Feelings
If you’ve tried before to replace bad habits with good ones, then you must be wondering what the secret is!
Good habits generally will not give you the same instant rush as bad ones. Healthy choices take some time and effort up front but they give you a sense of meaning even in the moment you make them, and much more substantial rewards in the end. Therefore, if you’re still attached to getting an easy and powerful rush, you won’t find what you’re looking for with good habits. You’ll be disappointed, you won’t stick with the plan, and instead, you’ll go back to what you’re used to. But there is a secret that will empower you to make the habit changes you want.
The secret is to feel your feelings, even when they’re uncomfortable.
As counterintuitive as it is, rest requires some effort and even some discomfort sometimes. This is because it’s about getting better and not just feeling better. You can feel better immediately simply by distracting yourself with easy pleasure, but getting better requires some intentional choices. It takes more effort to make your bed and do the dishes on your days off, to make yourself healthy meals, and to do some yoga with deep breathing rather than spacing out on Twitter or Tik Tok. But when you accept how you feel and do what you need to do, then you no longer have to distract yourself with bad habits. Even though you might not “feel better” as quickly, you will get better, and when ‘feeling better’ does come, it will be far more substantial.
Treat the whole effort as an experiment. By viewing your efforts as an opportunity to observe and learn, you remove the pressure of immediate success and open yourself to gradual, meaningful progress. You can tell yourself:
“Today I’m just going to accept how I feel, make healthy choices, and see what happens.”
5
Don’t Scratch the Itch
In order to rest in a sober mood, you will need to not act on every impulse or thought you have. The part of your brain meant to help you do this is the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of rational thinking and executive function. Executive function refers to higher functions of your brain like goal setting, impulse control, mental flexibility, and focus. As you unwind and care for your body, you may feel drawn toward extremes of laziness or self-indulgence. This is why keeping your executive function engaged is essential. Instead of letting your impulses dictate your choices, you can gently guide yourself toward actions that genuinely support your well-being. For example, when you wake up and feel the urge to stay in bed scrolling or indulging in comfort-seeking behaviors, you can recognize the impulse without acting on it. Instead, you choose what will leave you feeling truly refreshed—like getting up, taking a shower, and making a nourishing breakfast before easing into your day.
6
Practice Mindfulness
We tend to be so absorbed in our likes and dislikes that we’re not very aware of our direct experiences. Instead, we’re more focused on our judgements about our experiences, and caught up in stories about how we should feel. But this judgement doesn’t change anything for the better. In fact, the more we’re preoccupied with thoughts about the past or future, comparing our performance to other people, or feeling bad for ourselves, the more we miss opportunities in the present moment to make life better.
Take a step back and look at the truth. These are all just thoughts. The actual reality is all around you. It is here right now. Let your awareness take in the full spectrum and texture of your experience without telling yourself too many stories about it. Then gradually let your awareness settle inside yourself, becoming aware that you are aware, and noticing what it feels like to breathe and be alive right now. Whatever comes to your awareness, whether pleasant or unpleasant or neutral, simply notice it and how it affects you, like drops of water into a pond.
By going deeper into your experiences rather than running away from them, you will realize that being alive is not as bad as your mind portrays, and you have the strength to deal with it. More options will open up for you than you would have realized if you were reacting your likes and dislikes.
7
Practice Self-Care
Through the practice of Mindfulness, you will gain insights into what your body and mind truly need to thrive. Engage in activities that genuinely promote your well-being, whether it’s taking a walk in nature, enjoying a warm bath, or spending quality time with loved ones. Remember that rest is a crucial component of self-care. Allow yourself to recharge by incorporating practices such as napping, deep breathing, stretching, or meditation into your routine. These relaxation techniques can help soothe your mind and body, centering you and rejuvenating your system for the demands of everyday life.
8
Meditate on Your Heroes
The practices in this article might be challenging. If you actually attempt them, at some point your mind might protest, “What’s the point of all this? Why don’t we just do what we’ve always done?” You might be able to persevere for a short time by brute willpower. But at some point you need a good reason to keep going with the practice of impulse control while you rest.
Meditate on your heroes. When you find people you respect and carefully study their character and what makes them the way they are, you will gain a very clear understanding of what you value in life. When you do your best to be more like your heroes, you will respect yourself.
The world is full of meaningless distractions and cheap allures that will get in the way of becoming more like your heroes. But when you see that giving these things up is part of your own journey toward greatness, then you will have a good reply when your mind asks, “What’s the point of this?” Resting like a champion is an essential part of a healthy life in the pursuit of greater integrity and meaning.
Thanks so much for reading!
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