You're Your Best When You're at Rest

We live in such a fast-paced world. Everything is expected to happen NOW, immediately, without hesitation.” C’mon! Get up! Chop! Chop! Move… NOW! No, like yesterday, actually.  Get going!”

 That’s the sort of directive that’s established here in this rapid world we’re in. And because of this haste-ridden protocol we’re accustomed to follow, we become so overwhelmed so easily. I mean, there’s simply so much to do that we can’t keep up. Or at least it feels that way, don’t it?

Right now, you’re probably thinking of about a dozen and a half different things you gotta do and you may even feel you’re wasting time just sittin’ here reading this blog. Maybe you’re even multi-tasking, perhaps doing research in another tab cause ya gotta finish that paper or maybe you’re reading this on your phone while texting people ‘cause you gotta keep up on that social life.

We’re doing a lot of shit, but we aren’t really focused. We’re moving just to move. We’re going just to go. Working just to work. Doing just to do. All this with no real target in mind. Ambiguous ambition, if you will.


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​We’re being active just for the mere dear sake of being active. We tend to believe that ya gotta have some activity in life going on. Otherwise you’ll be wasting time. Wasting time! Oh no! The absolute bane of society here, right? 

Man, I’ll tell you the time you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted time. Being able to do nothing and mean it, well, there’s admiration in that, fellow procrastinator, admiration indeed.  It’s quite a perk to hold the uncanny ability to do whatever you want, even IF that thing you want to do is absolutely goddamn nothing.

Yet look at us. We’re all moving so freaking fast to destination: no where. We’re buzzin’ an hoppin’ around like busy little fucktards. We’re in a hurry, always in a hurry to get things done, to run from one task to the next, never stopping to rest, never taking time to just like, chill once in a while. We lock ourselves in a perpetual state of nonstop momentum. And it frankly, just tires us the fuck out.

We’re left feeling depleted, just worn down entirely. We’re burdened by stress and tormented by the pressure to “pull up your boot straps” and keep going, despite all this lingering stress and headaches we’re experiencing along the way.

And it’s this “better keep up the pace” mindset that makes life seem so dull, a dreary mess, where nothing seems to have a point. Work ‘til you die.

I’m sure you heard that phrase before, but that’s literally what happens if you keep pushing yourself. Don’t push yourself. Pace yourself. Take your time to do things. Slow it down. Way down. And for god fucking sake, take a break once in a while, will ya? Sheesh.









Look what’s happening in our lives. From our work commitments to our responsibilities at home and even our social commitments, we have so much booked in our schedule that we never put aside time to be fully and completely relax -- other than of course, the holidays, which is the one time of year where people do let loose and stop pushing themselves to succeed, as we covered earlier.

We gotta finish that report, we gotta fix the leak in the bathroom, we gotta go meet up with our friends at the bar, we gotta pick up the groceries, pay the bills, e-mail our boss, put the dishes away, take out the dog and the trash, shop for a new pair of shoes, give our parents a call.

Of course, you might have been trying to skip that last one. Point is, there’s always something we’re running around and doing. Always.

But here’s the thing, fellow procrastinator, you’re gonna love this…
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It’s okay NOT to succeed all the time.

Now I don’t mean in the sense that you wind up UNsuccessful. That would be a bit counterintuitive.

Of course, failure is inevitable at times, and more or less part of the learning process, so failure isn’t what makes you unsuccessful either. It’s okay to fail. Mistakes are Meh.

So when I say you don’t need to succeed I don’t mean you need to flip and do the opposite and completely fail. Besides failure is just an obstacle not the end result. I simply mean you don’t have to always “git r dun”, so to speak. You don’t have to constantly be moving about or making things happen, and you don’t have to do it so hastily at that.

You can do…absolutely fucking nothing. At least once in a while, and that’s completely okay. It’s perfectly fine to do nothing. In fact, I’d reckon it’s better to do nothing and feel great about yourself, than it is to do *something* and feel completely wasted.

A wise man once said ““It’s better to have loft and lost than to have never loft at all.”

Stop making yourself so damn busy. You’re *too* busy.

And a lot of people may hear that and take that as a compliment. If they’re told they’re too busy, they’ll be like “heck yeah!” and celebrate it like it's some sort of good thing.

Spoiler Alert: It’s not.

Being “too” much of anything isn’t good. Like at all. Everything *is good* in moderation. Everything is good in balance.

You must balance yourself. Take a step back from your oh so busy schedule. And relax (and not just during the holiday at that!) I know I’ve made that point a lot lately, but I’m trying to get you to see that it is indeed *possible* to let go of all these duties, all these obligations, put them to the side and give yourself a break, without  becoming some sort of failure.





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You don’t fail by resting. You fail by trying too hard and not succeeding. 

What I’m trying to say here is you don’t have to “succeed” as in try to achieve, make progress towards a goal, or otherwise do something productive in order to meet some form of accomplishment all the time.

Certainly, it’s healthy to make progress in your life, but will you just take it, easy, man?
Slow down a bit.

If you think about it, all those little tasks we do throughout the day -- whether it’s vacuuming the carpet or preparing a PowerPoint presentation, or going over a textbook or meeting notesor whatever finicky task you put effort towards  is some effort or attempt to “succeed” in some way.

It’s our intention to move forward in some way, and ya know we feel we gotta do it quickly. Like it’s gotta happen now or never.

I know it’s odd to say not to always “succeed, so let me re-word and put it this way:  you don’t have to *always* be working towards success in order to succeed.

Part of succeeding is resting, taking necessary breaks. Part of succeeding is letting go of your duties and obligations for a bit, while you, get this, do NOTHING. Let your mind rest. Let your body recover. Let your emotions recharge. Become calm. Become Lazy!  It’s the old tortoise and the hare tale. If you run too fast, you’ll burn out, and wind up exhausted but if you take your time, you’ll get there…slow n’ steady.




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To put it in a single word, “Eventually” is what sums up the mindset you need to adapt. Saying to yourself “eventually” you’ll figure it out, “eventually” you’ll get there, “eventually” you’ll make it happen will relieve so much tension and so much stress, as opposed to the single-worded mindset of NOW.

The standard time frame of *anything* happening in society though is instantaneous. With the ability to swipe right to find a date, order pizza at the click of a button, and ask a device sitting on your kitchen counter any question in the world and get an immediate answer, we’ve become so adapted, so used to getting what we want within seconds.

And it’s easy to become addicted to that instant gratification. Because the world arounds us offers access to what we want in just a few short quick moments, we tend to apply that to ourselves and our own means of goals and lifestyle choices.

For example, you don’t want to wait to build a successful career, you want that successful career NOW. You don’t want to take time to build a happy and healthy relationship, you want to find the love of your life NOW. You don’t want to puts around trying to make yourself happy, you want to be happy NOW. 

But here’s the thing, folks…


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Speed causes stress.

Speed is what causes us to be on the edge and so uptight. It is the reason we put so much pressure on ourselves to the point where we’re toppling over trying to carry and lift that burden. 

The more we rush, the faster and harder we crash.

Think about how many arguments you could have avoided if you took a step back to reflect instead of hastily jumping to conclusions.

Think about how many dress-induced panic attacks you could have forgoed had you taken the time to relax instead of constantly moving.

Think about the goals you could have accomplished if you hadn’t burned out before reaching them.

If you really sit down and think about it, the sole reason any of your problems in your life become so overbearing is because you were rushing to try and find a solution, instead of “eventually” finding one…later.

Even if a problem pops up unexpectedly, like your car breaks down or you go through a heavy break up or your best friend dies, while these things happen quickly, it doesn’t require a quick and immediate reaction on your part.

Life is full of unpredictable shenanigans. You have the choice to either jolt up and acton your initial reaction and feeling or take the time to step back, reflect on your thoughts and emotions, then move forward with a strategic decision.





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Acting on your immediate response usually leads to terrible consequences.


​When has it ever helped you to yell immediately when you feel anger? When has it ever been beneficial for you to scream when something stresses you out? When have you ever gained an advantage by doing something out of jealousy?

​Impulse is a terrible habit, yet it's easy to pick up.

In the world of immediate gratifications, we tend to let our emotions take the steering wheel and drive where were going, and, well more often than not, that leads us to quite a messy crash, where we hurt ourselves, we hurt others.

So much pain, so much drama, so much life hassle, worry, and stress can all be avoided, completely null n’ void if we just take the time to relax ourselves, ya know give ourselves a break and allow ourselves to slowly, but surely, find the best course of action in any given scenario.

Now of course, taking your time to do things like solving your problems doesn’t work as a band-aid. It doesn’t just magically heal your wounds and cure the pain.

But it does allow you to properly treat the pain rather than rushing 

Think about a surgeon, he’s gotta take his time, slow n’ steady, in order to perform a successful operation. Imagine if you had a surgeon rushing to get his job done. You wouldn’t want him picking around your body.

He’d cause more harm than help if he was swiftly sharpening his scalpel, then proceeding to go to stab town.

Treat your life like your job is a surgeon, not a racecar driver. Your goal is to be accurate and efficient, not win the race.

Now before we wrap up, I want you to repeat this phrase with me, as it’s the real main takeaway I’m trying to make here. You ready? Here it is:





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I'm my best when I’m at rest

Say it with me now: I’m my best when I’m at rest.

You have to give yourself a day off, a real day off, not a fake day off, where you take the day off from work and wind up spending the day catching up on errands and chores.

Just like your phone needs to be plugged in to recharge its battery, so to do you need to be plugged in (to the couch and at) in order to recharg eyour battery.

You need to embrace your inner sloth, be slow, smooth, and deliberate in all your decisions. And for god’s sake man, take it easy.







​-N8