Hi Reader,

I went on a retreat last month. When you arrive, they take your phone, electronics, and anything 'smart'. You're left with a pen, paper, some other people, and an environment that feels like the digital equivalent of 1986.

They have one emergency number you can give to your friends or family. If something direly important happens, they can call. Only my immediate family and one staff member had that number.

Nobody called.

It was glorious.

To be without distraction, without knowing in which particular way the world was on fire that day, to know that my family and my team are more than capable of functioning well without me, and to watch the sun rise, and the birds chirp for days on end, was so refreshing.

Which led me to think that so much of the noise, tension, and stress we experience is noise, tension, and stress we manufacture. And that, somehow, we believe we need to be at the center of this tornado we generate.

A lot of us think we're more needed than we are.

It reminded me of one of my favorite verses from the Apostle Paul: "You are only fooling yourself. You are not that important." (Galatians 6:3).

So many leaders I know can't ever stop because they've created a world in which they're needed for everything.

Five days in a remote location with no devices reminded me I'm not that needed, and that peace is glorious.

My phone has gotten less use since I've been back.

I'm guessing you're catching a break this summer, but when you come back, how much of the whirlwind you re-enter is self-manufactured?

AI Can Hand You Hours Back

But there's a catch.

You might think clearing the inbox triage, the meeting prep, and the admin work would give you more of your best work. It won't... your peak hours are capped at four or five a day, and that's biology, not scheduling.

So the time AI frees up? A recent Harvard Business Review study found most people just absorb it: faster pace, broader scope, longer days. The tool that promises your life back quietly takes more of it.

In this new blog post, I lay out a better way to spend your reclaimed hours (and why the real question isn't how to fill them, but whether you have the discipline not to).

Steps to grow this week

Cheering for you,

P.S.You are very important to God and to the people who love you. The insane stress we tend to create... less so.

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