Conversations with Customers: Thank You for Modeling Rest

This week, a customer thanked me for something I’d never been thanked for before.

On the heels of one of my most mentally and personally exhausting weeks that I can remember, I chose to rest, a lot. We closed the shops early, some days we didn’t even open at all. I hate inconsistency, and immediately shame myself for not being reliable or for letting our customers down. It’s a narrative that plays in most of our heads, I think. “If you’re not going to give it your all, why do it?” (Which, by the way, is just hustle culture’s way of saying, “you’re not allowed to rest. Rest is selfish and weak.”)

But then she thanked me.

She said “thank you for modeling rest for the community”.

And that phrase has stuck with me all week long for a few reasons…

Rest, especially in the world of entrepreneurs and business owners, means you’re missing out. You’re not working hard enough, you’re losing sales, you’re not successful enough. Rest isn’t seen as fuel for the “hustle”, but rather, the lack of hustle itself.

And when you rest, people notice. Regardless of how they view it, they notice, because it isn’t the norm.

The same mindset is perpetuated against pretty much all of us, in this hustle culture world that we live in. Moms are shamed as disorganized, lazy, or uncaring if they rest or take a needed break away from kids. Men are seen as weak or inadequate “providers”. Students don’t value their education if they take a break or, god forbid, a year or two away. Employees are discouraged from taking time off. It’s a cycle that perpetuates more and more burnout, ironically, in the face of endless work.

So, in case you needed the reminder as much as I did:

Take the break.

Close up early.

Schedule in your rest.

Say no more often.

Create space, instead of filling it.

Give yourself permission to breathe deeply and just be. Rested.

And afterwards, thank yourself for modeling rest for others.