A couple of years ago, I discovered a powerful growth formula that I’ll never forget.
The source?
Best-selling author, Ryan Holiday.
You see, I was at a lecture in San Francisco where he was interviewed about how he finds “stillness” while maintaining such a productive lifestyle.
(For context, Ryan wrote 9 books by the ripe young age of 32.)
Not-so-supringly, there were lots of ideas that resonated with me.
…Like when Ryan explained that the reason he’s so prolific comes from his daily writing habit.
In fact, he believes that anyone who puts in the work — 365 days a year — is bound to produce volumes, whatever your craft.
But what I found most interesting was Ryan’s take on “streaks.”
For instance, he told a story about how excited he got when he bought an Apple iWatch because of the notifications telling him the number of days in a row he exercised.
It was motivating.
And even though it was tough at first, he soon found it emotionally easier to keep the streak alive than to break it.
But around day 37, he started to feel like crap.
Yet he kept exercising anyways.
Until at one point, his body felt so bad that he went to the hospital where he discovered that he had mono, which was exacerbated by the exercise.
And then it took him 2 months to recover.
The lesson?
Pushing yourself is important.
…But so are breaks.
“Stress + Rest = Growth,” Ryan said.
And I couldn’t agree more.
White-knuckling it will only get you so far.
At some point, you need to slow down and be still.
Your pen pal,
Matt Rizvi