Episode 189 Transcript

Heather Porter (00:06.382)

Hello rebels and welcome back to episode 189 This is our final episode of the year cannot believe it can't believe we're here and before we take a break and return in February with a like a refreshed version of this show I want to leave you with something that feels important to say right now This is not going to be an episode about tactics planning growth strategies probably a lot of the things you've already been exposed to

 

as you step into 2026 and you're getting ready for the year ahead. This is something much more foundational, something that has come up time and time and time again with all, well, not all, but most conversations with the guests. Most people don't actually know how to rest. And many of us still believe we have to earn it. I came across a line recently that stopped me in my tracks when I was reading it online and it said this.

 

anyone can push through, it takes real strength to pause. That hits, doesn't it? Between interviewing founders, leaders, creatives, and everyday human beings building extraordinary things, one pattern keeps showing up. People are tired, not because they're weak, but because they've been carrying more than a human was designed to carry. And the world keeps

 

cheering them on. Love the hustle, you're killing it, you can handle so much. But what looks like strength is often just someone's limit being crossed over and over and over again. It's not resilience, it's survival mode with better branding. And my amazing assistant and sort of co-producer of this show, Prue,

 

she's probably listening or looking at the transcript right now. She was saying to me she's like my god I work so hard and I should be taking time off. I should be taking like four weeks off over the holidays and I'm like yes you should you should do it but I could tell she felt guilty about it and I think that's most of us you know it's taken me a long time to like truly go I have a Saturday I'm just gonna not check into work and not think about work.

 

Heather Porter (02:32.01)

So, you know, the thing is this, like, if we keep having our sort of limit being crossed over and over again, we're stepping into like this really tricky place, right? And the people who sit in front of this mic with me, even the most accomplished business owners over the last few years I've interviewed, keep telling me the same thing off air. I don't actually need more motivation and no, because they built really amazing things.

 

I need someone that can just tell me I can stop. It's funny how we look for permission, right? Real rest, the kind you don't perform, you don't need to explain, you don't need to justify, is becoming like a rare thing. We live in a culture where rest has to be like productive rest or well-timed rest, where it has to be earned or has to be planned or has to be hidden.

 

And during the holiday season, the pressure is going to get louder and louder for a lot of us, especially those of us that have our Black Friday sales and our Cyber Mondays and our holiday promotions. We're going to hear the words, finish strong, push through last sprint of the year. And what if instead we reframed the end of the year as something much gentler? What if the most radical thing that you guys could say is, I'm done for now. And that's enough.

 

I'm done for now and that's enough. Because here's what I've learned from talking to so many of the guests on the show, the people doing really meaningful work never create from exhaustion. They create from presence and I hear that over and over and over again. And rest does not make you fall behind. It puts you back into alignment. Which brings me to this show. We are gonna take a break until February.

 

not because things are falling apart, but because space is very intentional for this time. And there are new things coming next year with this show, deeper direction, more clarity, more meaningful conversations. And instead of forcing the next version of this podcast to just appear early next year, I want to give it and myself an actual pause. And if I'm going to talk about rest and alignment, I need to live that too. So

 

Heather Porter (04:53.225)

We're letting the next chapter breathe before we build it. And as you move into the holidays, here's something I hope that you carry with yourself. You don't have to earn your rest. Not this season, not next year, not ever. You're not meant to be on all the time. You're not meant to live at a sprint. You're not meant to be a machine. And doing less doesn't mean you're falling behind.

 

So instead of pushing through the fatigue, try this instead. End the year with softness instead of speed, with awareness instead of urgency, with rest instead of performance. Let rest be your reset, not your reward. Let space be the thing that helps you return to yourself and let quiet be where clarity finds you again. Thank you truly, truly, truly for being here for this year.

 

I am really grateful for you listening, learning and thinking with me as we go through this journey together. This show is what it is because of you right now listening or watching this over on YouTube. And we'll be back in February, but until then rest, reset and let yourself be human again. And remember strength is not measured by how much you carry, but how you're willing to honor

 

your limits. Alright, see you in February. Bye!