The Nap That Felt Illegal

“Exhaustion doesn’t make you noble. It makes you brittle.”

There was a Tuesday afternoon when I took a nap instead of answering emails.

I woke up slightly disoriented and immediately reached for my phone, as if I’d committed a minor crime.

No emergency.
No collapse.
The world had continued.

Rest can feel suspicious when you’re used to producing.

But exhaustion doesn’t make you noble.

It makes you brittle.

Letting rest be part of leadership doesn’t weaken your authority.

It protects it.

Sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is close your eyes for twenty minutes and trust that nothing will implode.

— Slash