Rest - the missing piece of entrepreneurship
It's Saturday and the weather isn't favorable for outdoor activities. So today is the perfect day for... rest. I may finally be able to catch up on Christmas movies… but I may also have just heard me ask myself, “How much longer do you think you’re going to endure this doing nothing?”.
I don't rest well.
Tell me I'm not alone!
I love what I do at Rock Solid! It is a true passion of mine – not a heavy to-do list of mundane tasks. But too much of a good thing can still be too much!
As entrepreneurs and business leaders, I'm not sure we consider the importance of rest - or if we consider rest as part of our work strategy at all. Even when my to-do list is managed, my mind is still effectively at work. So let's talk about this!
Why is rest important?
What happens when we ignore it?
What does ignoring it say about your faith?
How do we shift this mindset and get this piece in order?
1 & 2 are simple. Thousands of pieces of advice exist out there about why rest is important and what happens when we ignore it.
Stress comes and creates health issues.
Relationships are burdened, if not broken.
The quality of our work declines. Productivity wanes.
Burnout.
If you’re like me, you’ve not only read all of this before, but you may have experienced these things for yourself as a business leader.
However, #3 above is different.
You may be asking, “Tracy, are you really going to turn this into a ‘Doing Business God's Way’ post?”
Yes, yes I am!
If we are failing at #1 and #2 above, maybe it's time for a mindset shift! If we’ve read all the things and are still creeping up on the last stage of burnout, then something isn’t working. Maybe it’s about more than “self-care” or “work smarter, not harder”? Perhaps we’re learning that the “hustle-and-grind” mindset only looks good when we’re scrolling by social media posts.
If we are working long days and into the weekend, it may be a sign we need to shift our mindset and learn to work from a place of peace, rest, and trust.
Mindset shift #1:
~ You don’t “got this”.
~ You’re not smart enough or strong enough to push through.
~ Only God brings true peace and success to your work!
We must have PEACE in our businesses. This will only come as we understand that working in our own strength and wisdom is not enough and it never will be enough. Each and every task will feel heavy and strenuous.
Saying the hard thing:
When we are not working with a mindset that God’s got us in our businesses, that He desires to lead and guide us in our work lives just like every other part of our lives, then we won’t have peace or rest. When what motivates us is our personal success, our bank accounts, our image, or the results we produce when striving, then our focus is on ourselves. Our business, our work, our results become our providers. Our wisdom, talent, skills, and knowledge have now become the things we rely and depend on to sustain, entertain, and cause us to thrive. Friend, those are fickle things. They may work for a minute, but they are not dependable.
When we allow this mindset shift to happen, as uncomfortable as it may be in the beginning, we begin working with a mindset of rest and our work then becomes an act of worship. Trust and obedience in the Lord now drives us rather than striving for results. We trust and obey as He leads, we lay down the unbelief-driven, overwork mindset and declare that God is our Provider. The results are now in God’s very capable hands and THAT is dependable.
Do you have faith in God or are you trusting in, relying on, and cleaving to your own tenacity and grit, wisdom, intelligence, experience, education, money, money-making abilities, or charisma?
This is the only place I found the ability to rest. Yes, I still struggle to sit and watch TV. Yes, I have days where I overwork with the “5-minute mentality” or “just-one-more-thing” mentality. But the exhaustion at the end of those days reminds me quickly to stop, pivot, and refocus. When we recognize these defeating behaviors, we must reprioritize immediately.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” ~Jesus
Matthew 6:33
For me personally, this means front-loading my days with prayer, praise, study, or reading God's Word. Some days I have 15 minutes and some days I have an hour or more. It’s not about checking a box and proving to the Lord that I was obedient. I don’t do this because I’m skittish of discipline or trying to earn His favor. I NEED time to sit with my Father and talk to Him. I need to hear what He has to say and where He is leading. I need to get my focus right and steady myself on the rock-solid foundation that ONLY He provides. I don’t know what the day may hold, but He does. There are also days when I wake up and just need to praise Him… He is indeed a Good, Good Father.
This may work for you or it may not. Please hear me loudly when I say that this may not work for you! I think we sometimes get hung up on the “how” rather than just talking to God and discovering the “why”. Some people can’t sit and read for hours and some can. Different doesn’t mean wrong. Maybe you’re a worshipper and you need to sing to Him. Maybe you’re in the middle of a group Bible study and you have daily assignments to do. Great! Maybe you have to begin work very early and it’s better to read or pray at lunchtime. When I was still working as an RN, I used my lunch hour for that every day! Just talk to God - He knows! Don’t get stuck assuming someone else’s formula should work for you exactly as it does for them!
Mindset Shift #2:
~Rest, don’t quit.
Exhausted. Frustrated. Drained. Drowning. I hear these words week after week when I am interviewing potential clients. Let me be honest for a minute… I hear those words escape my own lips when I’m not listening to the Lord and keeping my focus where it must be - on Him!
These words have become common labels, almost badges of honor for entrepreneurs and business leaders. So what's different if you're building or operating a business with the Lord? How do we shift this mindset?
We're still going to work hard. Don't think I'm going to tell you that God's going to send some magical fairy to do all the things. Nope. But I am going to tell you that if you're striving, clawing your way through the day, frustrated, on the verge of tears, and living for vacation, you need a mindset shift.
Business Leader, if you're building hand in hand with God, trust Him to lead you. He knows your needs, He knows your weaknesses, He knows your strengths... AND He knows what He's called you to! That's why you have those incredible skills, gifts, and talents!
So yes, we will be working hard. We will be working smarter.
… and then we will rest.
Have you ever felt that if you don’t get this last thing done right now things are going to fail or break?
Have you ever felt like if you don’t do it yourself, it’s not going to happen or be done perfectly?
Saying the hard thing:
God does not drive you with whips on your back and heavy chains on your ankles. He doesn’t place ridiculous burdens on you that cause you to work from a place of strife. As a matter of fact, He tells us that where there is strife, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16) If you find yourself working with the mindset that you need to do more, be more, work harder, climb higher… then it’s time for a mindset shift.
So… working from a place of peace and rest … what exactly do I mean?
I had to learn this when I chose to obey God and start Rock Solid VA. I do not have a business background or any business education. I felt like the only thing I could do was obey God as he led and do each task as if doing it unto Him. Knowing now what He has grown Rock Solid into in only 5 years, that mindset seems incredibly simple… almost too simple. (I can almost hear eyes rolling.) But, it was my ONLY strategy and remains my only strategy as we’ve grown into a 7 figure business.
What does this have to do with peace and rest?
I simply did what God showed me to do daily and TRUSTED Him with the rest. The next day, I got up, trusted God with what He showed me to do, and got to work. Did I trip along the way? Of course. But knowing that I didn’t know the answers or what tomorrow would bring and knowing that God did actually conveyed all the peace I could ever want and it drew me back each time my eyes would wander and my focus would get off track. The only thing I knew for sure was that if I followed the Lord’s leading in all things, everything else would work out.
You see, He is my Provider, My ONLY Provider. He provides me with peace and rest when I am walking with Him. It doesn’t matter where we walk, it doesn’t matter what He’s asked me to do, it doesn’t matter when we encounter trials and difficulties. He is Peace and in Him, I can rest no matter what task is at hand.
Check-point!
In your daily work, pause for a minute and consider if you feel driven in the task at hand or led. Is there peace in your mind and in your atmosphere? Do you feel negative things like “you’re the only one who works this hard”, “only you seem to be able to get things done right”, or have you unknowingly stepped up on that hamster wheel of comparison? Friend, Jesus will never drive you. He leads gently but firmly, he guides you with love, and He empowers you for each thing He calls you to do. If you’re feeling driven, it’s time to stop, pray, refocus, and reprioritize!
When you're working in YOUR strength on YOUR plans, it's going to continue being difficult and heavy! Surrender your time, your talents, your ideas, your strategies... all of it at the feet of Jesus and invite the Lord to step in and lead the way! Then follow Him - no matter if you understand or not, follow Him.
Working with a REST mindset is not results-driven. It is obedience-driven. Simply put, it is an act of worship. Overwork is a form of unbelief or doubt. Consider where you've tripped over this thing. Say it out loud. Discuss it with God in prayer, repent, breathe! Follow Him.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives blessings to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:1-2
