We definitely are living In a world that glorifies the grind, celebrates 80-hour workweeks, and turns “hustle culture” into aspirational content. However, I want to challenge you to look outside of that and think how you think about high achievement and sustainable success.
The Productivity Paradox
I’ll start with how we view productivity. For example, most of the high achievers I’ve worked with share a common belief: more effort equals more results. Push harder. Sleep less. Say yes to everything. Sound familiar?
I know this mindset intimately because I lived it. Several years ago, I found myself in a perfect storm of overcommitment—launching my business, speaking at multiple conferences, hosting my podcast, and trying to be everything to everyone in my personal life. I prided myself on needing only five hours of sleep and wearing “busy” as a badge of honor.
Then my body made the decision my mind wouldn’t. I collapsed during one of my runs, and thank God there were fellow runners out there with me. The diagnosis wasn’t dramatic—just complete exhaustion—but the impact was profound. Three weeks of recovery followed, during which I learned the hardest lesson of my life: burnout isn’t just harmful to performance; it’s devastating to purpose. I lost connection with why I was doing the work in the first place.
This personal experience transformed how I coach high achievers. I now recognize the warning signs in my clients long before they hit the wall I did. One executive recently told me, “I came to you for performance coaching, but you saved me from becoming another burnout statistic.”
And research consistently demonstrates that the “always on” approach leads to diminishing returns, burnout, and impaired decision-making. Stanford researcher Erin Reid found that managers couldn’t distinguish between employees who worked 80 hours a week and those who just pretended to, suggesting that extra hours don’t necessarily translate to better output.
The Biblical Wisdom of Strategic Rest
It is no secret that my spiritual life is so important to me and is the foundation of how I live my life, So I want to share that long before modern performance science confirmed the need for rhythmic rest, Scripture established this pattern in its opening chapters. In Genesis, we see that after creating the world in six days, God rested on the seventh day—not because of exhaustion, but to establish a pattern for humanity. This divine example reminds us that rest isn’t laziness; it’s a sacred practice that honors our design.
As Exodus 34:21 wisely instructs: “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.” Note the specific mention of “plowing time and harvest”—the ancient equivalent of our modern “busy season” or “critical project phase.” The biblical wisdom here is profound: rest is most essential precisely when we feel we can least afford it.
In my coaching work with Christian executives and business leaders, I’ve found that those who embrace this biblical rhythm experience not just improved performance, but deeper purpose. One faith-driven CEO I worked with initially resisted this concept, believing his competition would outpace him. When he finally committed to a true Sabbath practice, he told me: “I’ve discovered that rest isn’t just about recovery—it’s about remembering who I am and why I do what I do.”
The Biology of Excellence
I truly want you to understand that our brains and bodies operate in cycles, not continuous sprints. For example, our natural performance cycle—consists of roughly 90-minute periods of high energy followed by 20-minute recovery phases. Fighting this natural rhythm doesn’t make us more productive; it makes us less effective — and can lead us into the danger zone.
In my coaching practice, I’ve witnessed this firsthand. One executive I worked with—let’s call her Sarah—was working 14-hour days, skipping meals, and sleeping barely five hours a night. Her performance was declining despite her increased effort. When we implemented a structured rhythm of 90-minute focused work blocks followed by 20-minute rejuvenation breaks, her productivity skyrocketed while her working hours actually decreased. Within three months, she secured the biggest client in her company’s history—during one of those strategic breaks, no less.
Strategic Restoration: The New Competitive Edge
I want to stress to you that what I’m advocating isn’t laziness—quite the opposite. But, know that strategic restoration requires discipline and intentionality. Through my coaching work with some very high-performing executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals, I’ve developed specific protocols that consistently yield results, and I want to share them with you:
- The 90/20 Power Method: This is one of my favorites. I like to guide clients to work in focused 90-minute blocks followed by mandatory 20-minute restoration periods. One founder I coached increased his company’s revenue by 34% in six months while reducing his workweek from 80 to 55 hours using this protocol. The key: during those 20 minutes, no email, no social media—only activities that genuinely restore energy.
- The Sleep Revolution Protocol: This is another one of my favorites, and it is so helpful with productivity all around. I’ve witnessed countless clients struggle with sleep deprivation, I now encourage everyone that I coach to have a two-week sleep reset. This includes a technology curfew, consistent sleep/wake times, and a personalized wind-down ritual. One client, a senior attorney, reported that restructuring her sleep transformed her courtroom performance more than any skill training she’d received.
- The Strategic Incompletion Practice: Yeap another one of my favorites. I love to teach clients to intentionally leave one significant task 80% complete at day’s end, with clear notes on next steps. This technique primes the subconscious to process solutions overnight. A marketing executive I worked with solved a campaign challenge that had stumped his team for weeks after implementing this practice for just three days.
The Leaders Who Rest
What I’ve seem throughout history and with those that I coached and worked with, the most impactful leaders have embodied the principle of strategic restoration. For example, military commanders have maintained the discipline of afternoon rest periods even during critical campaigns, recognizing that their decision-making abilities would deteriorate without restoration. Successful visionaries schedule regular periods of complete isolation—ranging from daily meditation to quarterly retreats—to disconnect from operational demands and reconnect with their innovative capacities.
Many of the most successful organizations have institutionalized this wisdom as well. Companies across various industries have implemented scheduled closures, not just as cultural practices but as strategic business decisions that ensure restoration for their people. Research consistently demonstrates that these organizations experience lower turnover, higher employee engagement, and better customer satisfaction scores than their always-open competitors.
The Biblical Perspective on Achievement
Scripture offers a profound corrective to our contemporary obsession with constant productivity. In Psalm 127:2, we read: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” This isn’t dismissing hard work, but rather reframing how we view achievement.
The biblical concept of Sabbath isn’t merely about physical rest—it’s about restoration in its fullest sense. As one theologian puts it, “For Jesus, Sabbath is mostly about restoration. Has a cow fallen in a well? Lift it out! Has a woman been bent over for 18 years? Straighten her up!” In my coaching practice, I help leaders understand that strategic restoration isn’t just ceasing activity—it’s engaging in the activities that make us whole.
One Christian entrepreneur I coached was initially resistant: “God blessed the work of our hands,” he argued, “so shouldn’t I be working constantly?” Over time, he came to understand that honoring God’s design for rhythmic restoration made him more effective in his calling, not less. After implementing structured rest periods, his creativity flourished, his leadership improved, and within six months, his company launched their most successful product ever.
Redefining Achievement
Finally, the most sustainable form of high achievement isn’t about constant action—it’s about rhythmic alternation between focused effort and intentional recovery. It’s about working smarter, not just harder.
In my years of mentoring, teaching and coaching high performers across industries, and disciplines, I’ve observed a consistent pattern: those who integrate strategic restoration into their routines outperform their constantly-hustling peers in the long run. They experience fewer health issues, maintain stronger relationships, and achieve more meaningful goals.
One of my favorite client transformations involved an entrepreneur who was initially resistant to these concepts. “I don’t have time to rest,” he insisted during our first session. Six months later, after implementing our restoration protocols, he had doubled his company’s valuation while working 25 fewer hours per week. “I wasn’t missing time,” he told me. “I was missing clarity.”
Hebrews 4:9-10 offers a powerful spiritual perspective: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” This passage reminds us that true rest isn’t just about physical recovery—it’s about trusting that our work has purpose and that we don’t bear the weight of the world on our shoulders.
As you reflect on your own pursuit of excellence, consider this question: What if the path to your next level of achievement isn’t doing more, but strategically doing less?
The counterintuitive truth is that your greatest breakthroughs may come not from pushing through exhaustion, but from creating the space for your best ideas to emerge in moments of restoration.
Now go forth and achieve greatness, but remember that your most powerful performance depends on the quality of your restoration—not just the intensity of your effort. As Isaiah 40:31 reminds us: “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
You have a powerful purpose to live in this world. Go forth and live it boldly with your heart, grit, and grace.
Best,
-Dr. Z
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