If summer is the exhale, these next two weeks are your chance to remember how to breathe.
Truth for high performers:
Have you discovered that you didn’t lose your edge—you lost your awe. It is so easy for busyness to become the brand, while joy gets outsourced to “later. However, play isn’t a perk. It’s the reset that restores judgment, creativity, and intimacy.
What a “packed-executive-grade play” can look like:
- Micro-adventure (90 min): leave from your front door—walk, bike, row, paddle—no phone, no metrics.
- Wonder hour: museum, gallery, bookstore. Experience interesting things you don’t control.
- Skill swap: teach your child/partner a craft; let them teach you one.
- Yes-and dinner: phones off; each story must start with “Yes, and…” (laughter required).
- Solo jazz: 20 minutes of unstructured movement—stretch, dance, swim, float—let your body lead.
As fall moves in, design your 14-day Play Sprint – you can even keep it throughout fall if you like…
- Pick a theme if you want: Curiosity, Connection, or Calm.
- Block the rhythm: 3 × 90-minute blocks/week + one 2-hour “wonder window” on the weekend.
- Name the rules: no metrics, no photos, no posting. Presence over proof.
- Invite a co-conspirator: spouse/child/friend—put their joy on your calendar.
- Protect the boundary: if it isn’t a true emergency, it waits.
Make it measurable:
- Sleep: +30 minutes average.
- Mood/energy check: 0–10 at lunch and 8pm (aim +2).
- Creative output: count ideas cultured, not emails cleared.
- Family signal: one sentence from a loved one that begins, “I noticed you…”
3-minute micro-reset (do this before your next call)
- Inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 6—five cycles.
- Ask: What would be fun or beautiful about doing this well?
- Drop one unnecessary sentence from the meeting you’re about to lead.
A gentle dare:
Protect one Play Sabbath (half-day) or full, before Labor Day. No outcomes. Just aliveness.
