The Power of the Pause
We exist in a culture that rewards the hustle…we see it everywhere from relentless meeting schedules to humble brags about late nights in the office. The grind is real and, often, celebrated. I used to work with someone whose advice was “walk fast and look worried.” It was meant as a joke, but like all good jokes, it carried a hefty amount of truth.
The problem is, humans aren’t made for the relentless pursuit of MORE. In a classic Harper’s article, Mark Slouka calls this obsession the “delusion we inhabit” and suggests, slowing down is necessary, both for our physiological wellbeing and to create the time and space to consider “what we really believe.” His perspective is reinforced by countless studies (e.g.HBR) and books (e.g. The Power of Full Engagement).
And yet, we labor to pause, well, our labor.
The first time I truly understood the power of a pause was when my marriagewas ending. As I’ve written about before, I was barely surviving. The separation was excruciating - more like an amputation than a clean break. I was literally forced to slow down and, frankly, I felt like a failure in way more than just my marriage. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pause on anyone, but in the space between what was and what would be, I sat with myself. I unraveled. And eventually, I rebuilt.
The second time was after I lost a job. One day, I was in the room where it happened, where decisions were made, where my voice mattered. The next, I was outside looking in, and everything felt painfully quiet.
Miraculously, in the silence that followed, I started to hear myself again.
Not the me I had been performing.
Not the me who was holding it all together.
But the me who had been whispering beneath the noise for years: What if there’s something more?
And now, a pause of a different kind. No big, life changing event, no breaking point.
A quieter kind of quiet.
After four years of pouring our hearts into ThePerfectly Imperfect Journey, Sherry and I have decided to take a break. This week marks our 108th episode…an auspicious number in many traditions, symbolizing completeness, the end of one cycle before the next begins.
We didn’t plan it this way, but maybe that’s the point. Maybe life is always inviting us to pause before we’re ready, before we think we should.
So we are listening.
This isn’t goodbye. It’s just a breath. A chance to reflect, to recalibrate, to honor what we’ve built and make space for what’s next.
If you’ve been running on fumes, if you’ve been pushing because stopping feels scarier than going, think of this as an invitation for yourself.
The pause isn’t the end. Sometimes, it’s the beginning of something even better.
I’d love to hear about your experience of taking a pause—a sabbatical, a break, a breath.
What did you discover?
#ThePowerOfThePause #PerfectlyImperfect #Leadership #TakingABreath
