Season 9 Episode 28: An Invitation to Rest
Sometimes we need an invitation to rest. Jason highlights the common misconception between rest and high-performance.
SHOW NOTES
Jason introduces Season 9 episode 28 of the podcast, An Invitation to Rest. Welcome back to the podcast on corporate culture and leadership and thank you for listening. We engage thought leaders like CEOs, CFOs, managers, VPs, directors, and more for this podcast. We wish to create content that engages your mind and heart and allows you to step back and think and add some positivity to your life. We deep dive into today’s topic.
We can’t control everything but what we can control is our response. Still a lot of work to do but wanted to remind the audience what is within our control is the temperature we create in the organizations and teams we work with.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
Season 9 Episode 28: An Invitation to Rest
Summary
In this concise but powerful installment of The Thermostat Podcast, Jason V. Barger confronts the outdated myth that non-stop hustle equals peak performance. He argues that true leadership in teams and a thriving corporate culture depend as much on strategic recovery as on hard work. Drawing on research behind the infamous “10,000-hour rule,” Barger reveals that elite performers didn’t just clock endless practice—they also prioritized deliberate rest (12,500 hours) and quality sleep (30,000 hours). By rejecting the “all gas, no brakes” mantra—what he bluntly calls “the dumbest thing ever”—he urges leaders to build rhythms of work and renewal into their organization’s operating system. As July beckons many into vacation season, Barger invites every professional to carve out intentional pauses, not as a sign of weakness, but as a catalyst for sustained engagement, creativity, and accountability in teams large and small.
Notable Quotes
“The best leaders and team cultures in the world are the ones that make time to step back, breathe in good oxygen and calibrate their thermostat.”
— Highlighting why reflection is as vital as action for leadership mindset.
“All gas, no brakes is the dumbest thing ever, because we can’t live that way. And in fact, it doesn’t bring out the best of our performance.”
— Calling out the glorification of grind culture and its hidden costs.
“Around 768 million days of vacation go unused each year in America. That calculates out to about $66 billion of lost benefits.”
— A stark reminder of how organizational mindsets around rest leave employees—and companies—poorer.
“Those who master the rhythm of deliberate practice plus deliberate rest outperform those who just grind away.”
— Reinforcing that productivity and well-being go hand in hand.
“Be a thermostat and breathe good oxygen.”
— A rallying cry for leaders to set the temperature for their corporate culture through presence and pause.
Question to Ponder
- How will you integrate intentional rest into your leadership in teams to elevate both performance and people?
Links and References
Follow @JasonVBarger on social media for even more insights and new video content.
For more insights and practical tips, be sure to check out Jason V Barger’s book Breathing Oxygen. This book dives deeper into the concepts discussed in this episode and provides additional strategies for fostering a positive mindset and effective leadership.
By incorporating these practices into your summer routine, you can breathe new life into your personal and professional endeavors. Remember, as Jason says, “The best leaders, teams, and cultures on the planet stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.”
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
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Remember, the best leaders, teams, & cultures stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.
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ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT
Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.
A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families, or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker, and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.