Hey, it’s Rafic.
Welcome back to Peak Performance Insider.
Before we talk about goals, systems, or planning for next year…
we need to talk about something most high performers ignore:
Rest. Real rest.
Not collapse.
Not distraction.
Not escape.
Rest.
This year moved fast for me - big milestones, big shifts, big responsibilities. And like many of us, I had moments where I pushed right through without stopping to breathe.
That’s when I realized something important:
You don’t get clarity in motion.
You get clarity in stillness.
Every time I slowed down - even for a moment - the fog cleared.
Not because I tried harder.
But because I stopped trying at all.
Today is about the skill most people don’t train:
Rest as a performance tool.
📌 Today’s Agenda
✅ Why rest is a prerequisite for growth
✅ The hidden cost of “being on” all the time
✅ What real rest looks like for high performers
✅ 3 simple ways to recover without slowing your momentum
First time reading?
🔗 Best Links - My Favorite Finds
🧠 Personal Growth & Mindset
🔹 How to Rewire Your Brain and Heal Disease | Dr. Joe Dispenza
A powerful conversation about the brain-body connection, healing, and how your habits shape your internal state. Perfect for year-end reflection.
👥 Leadership & Influence
🔹 Stop and Celebrate Your Wins | Harvard Business Review
Leaders move so fast they rarely pause — this piece shows why taking time to acknowledge progress isn’t indulgent, it’s strategic.
📈 Productivity & Habits
🔹 How to Simplify Your Life | Tim Ferriss
Tim breaks down how to strip away noise and make decisions that reduce overwhelm. Great timing for heading into the new year with less mental clutter.
💪 Health & Wellness
🔹 Red Light to Improve Metabolism & Harmful Effects of LED | Huberman Lab
Metabolism, recovery, circadian health — this episode dives into how light exposure affects your energy and long-term well-being.
✍️ Deep Dive: **Rest Isn’t the Reward
It’s the Requirement.**
In high-performance culture, we’ve normalized “go mode.”
Always planning.
Always fixing.
Always solving.
Always optimizing.
But here’s the truth I had to learn the hard way:
You can’t pour from a foggy brain.
You can’t lead from a tense body.
You can’t create from a stressed nervous system.
I used to think rest meant slowing down.
Now I see that rest restores the part of you that does the real work:
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your clarity
-
your decision making
-
your inner calm
-
your presence
-
your ability to see solutions without forcing them
This isn’t soft.
This is strategy.
Every breakthrough I had this year came after rest:
-
After sitting still long enough to hear myself.
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After taking a step back instead of a step forward.
-
After breathing, not pushing.
-
After giving myself space to reset before reacting.
The truth is:
Rest isn’t the opposite of productivity.
It’s the foundation of it.
You don’t lose momentum when you rest.
You protect it.
🧭 Try This Week: 3 Rest Practices That Don’t Slow You Down
Rest doesn’t always mean vacations or Sundays off.
It’s often the quiet resets inside your day that make the biggest difference.
Here are the three that changed everything for me:
1️⃣ The 60-Second Nervous System Reset
When your mind starts spinning or you feel yourself tightening up:
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Aim to Exhale longer than you inhale
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Drop your shoulders
-
Unclench your jaw
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Look at something far away
Your body leads your mind.
Relax the body → clarity returns.
2️⃣ The Instant Reset (2–3 minutes)
Between tasks, instead of switching instantly:
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Put your phone face down
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Close your tabs
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Close your eyes
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Take a few deep breahts
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Sit in silence for 2 minutes
- Before moving on to the next task, set an intention of what you hope to achieve or do
This gives your brain a full reset.
You start the next task fresh instead of mentally tangled.
3️⃣ The Weekly Reset (10 minutes)
Once a week, ask yourself and journal on:
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What drained me?
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What energized me?
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What needs to shift next week?
This is preventative maintenance for burnout.
You catch the overload before it hits.
🎁 Gift of Coaching: 60% Off for Subscribers
If this reflection brought something up — a pattern you don’t want to repeat, a change you’re ready for, a goal you still care about — you don’t have to navigate it alone.
As a thank-you for being part of this community:
👉 Newsletter subscribers get 60% off all coaching packages until December 15th.
Coaching isn’t about fixing you.
It’s about giving you the space to:
• Slow down and think clearly
• Understand what you actually want next
• Build structure that matches your real life
If you want 2026 to feel more aligned, grounded, and intentional — not just busier — I’d be honoured to support you.
📧 Reply to this email or email [email protected] with “Gift of Coaching” in the subject line and I’ll send all the details.
🎯 That's a Wrap
You don’t earn rest.
You use it.
This week, take a moment of stillness.
Not to do nothing - but to reconnect with yourself.
Because clarity doesn’t come from grinding harder.
It comes from giving yourself room to breathe.
See you next Monday,
— Rafic Osseiran
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