Now it’s your turn. If you are still trying to balance your life, let go. Drop the false pursuit of that impossible and foolish goal. What problem has consistently reared its ugly head in your life? Where are you stressed? In your marriage? At work? Your current circumstances? Work through the Rhythm Solution Process. Grab [...]
When I had my “eureka moment” in New Zealand, I had no idea how rich and deep the concept of rhythm would prove to be, nor how beneficial it would be for my life. Living rhythmically has enabled me to achieve significant freedom from burnout, busyness, and guilt. I’ve learned that I can accomplish more [...]
Though living rhythmically will give you a better life, it will not relieve all your struggles or turn everything rosy. We live in a difficult, painful world. Really bad things happen frequently, from cancer to job losses. This side of eternity, life will not be easy. Recognizing the reality of personal and global suffering can [...]
The goal is to have a better life, a life characterized by less stress, more peace, less burnout, more fulfillment, and less discouragement with more hope. How can you put all six rhythm strategies together to make them work for you? Start with your real-life situation. Describe a problem or struggle in your life. You [...]
Roger, my burned-out professor friend, might have avoided burnout if he had practiced oscillation. He ignored his own duty cycles. Life is not a marathon but a series of sprints and rests. If we try to keep a constant pace, we build up higher and higher levels of stress. Humans are not made to do [...]
Coordinated repetition creates cohesion. Burnout does not result from hard work. When we are achieving what is important to us, we are fulfilled. Merely slowing down and taking more downtime will not grant you a better life. It might actually give you a boring life or an insignificant one. If you are feeling burned out [...]
Syllabus shock I remember being a freshman at the University of Texas in Austin and how it felt the first week of school when I encountered syllabus shock. Syllabus shock comes from laying out all the work for an entire semester based on the syllabus for each class. Although I knew better rationally, I felt [...]
Light and dark. Day and night. The moon waxes and wanes. Seasons alternate from winter to spring, summer to fall. We live in a large ecosystem that moves rhythmically in seasons, tides, currents, and cycles. We can fight them or follow them. When we try to live as if natural cycles did not exist, as [...]
Anticipation breeds hope. When you feel stuck in your current stage, know that it will not last forever; the next stage is on the horizon. Nothing stays the same. If you feel you cannot stand to change one more diaper, know that in a few years you will be done. If your teenagers are wearing [...]
You can live full-out without burning out. One of the keys to finding fulfillment is to seize unique opportunities within your current kairos rhythms. When it’s play-off time, go full-out to win. When it’s the off-season, rest and rebuild your capacity. When you are young, with more energy, use it. When you are older and [...]
