If you’re a long-time reader of this newsletter, you know now is the time I like to end the year with rest and reflection.  It’s been a tough year for many and reflection may be difficult to lean into right now.  Still useful, but difficult. But if you have been grinding through 2025, what you really need is rest more than anything.

Also, you may have caught a few related themes in this newsletter this year.  The key theme has centered around hiking your career trails (instead of trying to find a linear career path).  Allow me to lean into the trail metaphor one more time.

 With that in mind, let me gift you some ideas to help you rest easy.

The Gift of Stopping (Not Just Slowing Down)

Many of us have become obsessed with productivity.  With generative AI, that obsession jumped to a level of insanity (See “Meta tells workers to go 5x faster with AI”).  When you are hiking on your career trail and exhausted, you don’t speed up your pace.  You also don’t slow down.  You stop, sit down, take off your gear, and rest.  So as we pass through the holiday season, can you give yourself an hour to just rest?  No screens.  No planning.  No self improvement.  Just a place you can enjoy.  See the video below for an example.

The Gift of Unnecessary Detours

Most advice on reflection focuses on “what worked” and “what to improve” and maybe that’s not what you need right now.  What if what you really need is a side trail that serves no purpose other than enjoyment?  Is there a project or hobby you’ve been wanting to try just for fun?  No ROI and no resume impact.  

In 2017, my youngest son became curious about metal forging after watching the show Forged in Fire.  We took a class together and learned to make some simple tools.  My son still makes some of his own tooling.  I just found it deeply satisfying to pound on the heated metal with a hammer.  I may fire up the forge again.

The Gift of Being a Poor Career Trail Companion (Sometimes)

Many reports in 2025 talk about burnout.  I’ll not go into all of the sources, but it may not be work related.  Also, this is the season where many people want to gather for holiday events.  For some these events are energizing. For an introvert, these events add a series of stress points to an already stressful year.

Consider when you hike on the trail with someone, you might need to say, “I’m stopping here, but you go ahead.  I’ll meet you at the next stop.”

It’s not rude.  It’s about being honest about what you need when you have reached capacity.

For me, I’m saying no to holiday gatherings this year except for family.  While I generally enjoy connecting with people and hearing their stories, this introvert needs a season of quiet.

The Gift of Rest as a Strategy

Most of us consider rest as something we have to do when we can’t go on.  In my early career, I was infamous for pushing myself to exhaustion and I would always be sick by the end of the year.  I dropped that habit long ago.

It was at this same point in my life I did more long distance cycling.  I could do 25-40 mile rides without a problem.  But I wanted to go further.  I learned from those who were doing far longer, multi-day rides that you plan for rest days.  Rest days don’t just allow for recovery.  It’s when your muscles actually build strength.

What if we could do this for our brain?  What would strategic rest look like for each week, each month, and each quarter?  How might we plan and protect our rest days to build “brain muscle”?

The Gift of Letting Go (Release)

Finally, if you have been grinding through 2025, is there anything you can stop grinding on?  Is there something that’s not really helping you?  It may be something at work or a side project.  Maybe it’s even enjoyable, but it burns much of your time and effort.

For me, I was developing a side project that was turning into a side business.  It was taking several hours a week to keep this project going.  It might turn into something with an ROI, but it would require more time.  I didn’t have more time to give.  So that project is on pause.  As soon as I made that decision, I felt a huge wave of relief.  In the following weeks, I found I had more time to just pause and reflect.

What might you release for 2026?

Accept the Gifts, Re-gift, or Leave Under the Tree

Just to be clear, I’m not saying you try all of these things.  Which of these gifts seem useful?  What will allow you to breathe a little easer in 2026?

Or, maybe you can’t take any of these gifts right now?  Do you know someone who can?  Forward this email to them.

Regardless of which of these gifts you choose to open or re-gift, I hope you have peaceful and restful holidays.

Stay human my friends,

Mark