How doing less will do more for your business growth

Deacon Bradley: 0:00

So if you're a business leader listening to this right now, it's gonna feel a little like opposite land, like, up is down high is low. And I absolutely just love this topic because of that. So we're gonna challenge you today. Welcome to the sharp business growth podcast, the show for CEOs who want to create healthy business growth. I'm your host, Deacon Bradley, alongside justice Murray. And on today's show, we're going to clear up some confusion around a really important aspect of leading your business. We're gonna be talking about rest today. Rest. And before, if you're thinking like, Hey, I'm gonna tune out, I don't got time for rest. This is for you. And just as as I look over in the studio here, right above your head, you probably didn't notice this. Yeah, there is a big blue book called rest. Yeah, yeah. So this is a topic. I love this topic. I think it's really important. I think you love it. Even more than me. And I have seen you lead so many business CEOs through this topic, and just show them essentially shine a light on this and show them how to do it. I'm one of them. Yeah, yeah, it's just so cool. So I'm super pumped about this. Talk a little bit about rest. Okay,

JUSTUS MURIMI: 1:29

so we have to remember that this podcast is for CEOs. And I would say even more so high performing CEOs. So here's the assumptions that we have. You work hard, you're very productive. You lead strongly, you know what you want. So with those are the assumptions, we're not assuming you're lazy, we're not assuming that you're having a hard time finding stuff to do. We're, we're assuming there's a lot on your plate, that you like getting things done that you like leading you like growth,

Deacon Bradley: 2:05

you probably had enough initiative, that you created something out of nothing. And that thing is, like really successful and doing a good job right now. And that's a very unique person.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 2:19

Yes. So we're taking that into consideration. When we talk about this. I know as as a CEO, that you're probably when you hear the word rest, something in your subconscious is saying laziness. Here's why most CEOs are extremely hard on themselves, I would say it's a muscle that they have burnt out. One of the things that separates high performing CEOs from other ones is that they hold themselves to a much higher level, that is a good thing. But if that muscle is used all the time, it will burn out. So how do you alleviate that? rest? What does rest look like? It's different for every c e, oh, this is not a this is exactly how you rest, I can give you some examples of what rest looks like. But I want to really push this. I'm passionate about this. Because this is where I see a lot of CEOs struggle because they go, how could I ever do this? When I'm asking for my team? To do so much more? How could I? How could I ever do this? Whenever we have so much things we need to accomplish? And my question would be how will you be able to do all of this if you do not rest? So where do you get? Where does your energy come from? How does your brain operate at a high level? When is recovery happen? Imagine you're a high performing athlete, how much time do they take resting? How much money do they spend on resting? Well, why? Because they want their bodies to perform at a high level for a long period of time. So for how long do you want to perform at a high level as a CEO? You have to rest?

Deacon Bradley: 4:10

So let's do this. Let's let's kind of take this in little chunks. Yeah, I had a really great experience. You kind of walk me through this. It's made a huge difference in my results and just my experience of life and business. I know you've done this with loads of other CEOs. Let's one byte at a time. Let's start with like, What does rest look like for you? Forget about if it's possible or not like how would somebody unpack this? What How would they think about like, because my rest looks different than your rest?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 4:42

Yes. Yes. I'm jealous of your restaurant. very jealous of your rest. So I'm an extrovert. I I like hanging out with a select group of people. I like having great conversations. And so my restless Looks like spending time with the right people, eating some great food, having great conversations. I also like to go and go on a walk. I like to think I often will come back from my three mile walks with a lot of really great ideas. So my rest looks really different from Deakins rest. I also want to add just a little bit is like, rest doesn't necessarily mean more sleep. Like

Deacon Bradley: 5:31

or self care. Yeah, like, Oh, I gotta go. I have to buy a sauna.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 5:40

Exactly. Know It, like, the rest is one of those things. That means a lot of things to a lot of people. You should come back from breast feeling more invigorated, more clear, more at peace. It doesn't mean you got more sleep, even though I would highly encourage that you do get some more sleep,

Deacon Bradley: 6:01

or maybe that you took a huge chunk of your calendar that is now dedicated to meditating. Yeah. When you're not somebody who gets a lot of energy or satisfaction from that?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 6:11

Yes, yes. I have a I have a friend who? Absolutely. He leaves a nonprofit organization. And his rest is to go wakeboard. That's his rest. He gets fired up. It's exciting to him. He looks forward to it. He comes back to work a different person. Because he goes, man, I got to be on the water. today. I got to go wakeboard. I'm good to work on these other things. Because I got this thing. I got to do this. I feel great. And his team is like, hey, he got to wakeboard today, like, this is good.

Deacon Bradley: 6:47

He live in Austin by any chance because I just I'm looking for some friends who want to rest with. I was throwing that out there. Yeah, he lives a Dallas. Sorry. Oh, man. One. So I really love this this concept of and this is something I talked to a lot of business leaders that I work with privately. I always want to find out what gives them energy. Justice. You and I when we were working together, we talked a lot about like, what gives me energy? Yeah. And that was, you know, it's kind of a weird way to approach rest, because you usually think the opposite like what do I do when I expend no energy? That's rest? Yes. But we're kind of like, No, what? Like, we were just having a conversation in my kitchen before we recorded this with Cameron, my wife and and you were, I could see you. We weren't talking about this topic. But you were really interested in what fires her up. Yeah. And it's so interesting that that can, it can be restful.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 7:48

Yes, rest gets a rest is often associated with do less. And honestly, it really should be more about be more intentional about what gets you going, like, be more intentional, make space for those things. That puts you in a state of, ah, this is awesome. This is great. I love this. I gotta I mean, I've got a friend who runs a big organization that he's actually about to exit. And he likes to sit and read books. I would never want to do that. Like just to sit for hours and read a book. But when he comes back from that he's a different person. He's ready to go. And I would almost say the reason he's able to grow this organization so big and exit it is because he took that time to just go You know what, I'm gonna take a weekend go to a cabin, read a book. And he came back with new ideas. He came back with new vision it was it's cool to watch. I sit back I go. He made time for himself. This is great.

Deacon Bradley: 8:56

I love I love that rest does not mean doing less was like a huge that's a writer downer. For me, yes. It doesn't mean doing less. It's like what gives you energy? And what would you say to somebody cuz I know this. This person's listening right now. Yeah. Who says my work gives me energy? I need to spend more time doing my work. That's how I got here.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 9:21

Yes, I'd say let's take your ego out of this equation. Like, I get it. You enjoy what you do. That is great. I bet LeBron James really enjoys basketball.

Deacon Bradley: 9:37

I hope so. And I think it shows when he plays. So I think that's a fair point.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 9:41

Yes. And he spends a million dollars a year on his body. Why? And he goes on vacation, and he buys super expensive wines and hangs out with his friends. Does that mean he doesn't enjoy basketball? Not at all. Because he values basketball so much. He wants to go take time out And focus on his body and go hang out with friends and rest his body. Why? Because he cares about that thing so much. So if you really care about your work, and you really enjoy your work, then go do other things that allow your work to continue to be something that you look forward to. Sam Walton, if you get a chance to read his biography, he would go out and go duck hunting, like our pheasant hunting, why he'd go He goes, all I do is I work I hang out with my family, and then I go hunt. And that that's what I do analysis time to go walk in the woods, and and let his brain go. And just rest and not think about work. Did he love what he did? Oh, my gosh, read this book. And you'll wonder if you care about your work enough, even if you love it this guy was obsessed with with Walmart with building this gigantic business. But even he knew I've got to get out. I've got to go spend some time in nature. I gotta go duck on. So if he needs it, how much more do you

Deacon Bradley: 11:02

I love that the LeBron James. That just how he lives his life, I think was such a clear example like, yeah, I mean, a few people probably love basketball as much as him. Yeah. But look how much he's devoting to not playing basketball. Yes. So he can play basketball better?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 11:20

Yes, absolutely. It's it. I often and again, when I'm sharing this, I'm preaching to myself as well. It's not like I've achieved this pinnacle of rest. And I'm blasting Well, most weekends, and there's a cycle to it with rest. It takes me a whole day to get into a place of rest, usually, and then I'm resting. So you're gonna be stir crazy with that first. It's just like when you go on vacation, if you run a business, the first three days are kind of miserable, because you're thinking about all the things that you should have done before you left. What is the team doing? Oh, my gosh, I've got all these other ideas that I haven't communicated. Then on the fourth day, you're like, oh, look around. The beaches of Mexico are not that bad. Like, this is great. I finally see them. Oh, wow, look at my wife. She looks great. Oh, I enjoy talking to her. This is amazing. But it takes you a while. And so resting is a practice that you get better at over time.

Deacon Bradley: 12:19

That's a really good point. So step one, let's unpack what rest looks like for you. You know, you might not see a path to be able to do it yet, but that's okay. Yep. That's a question like, that's okay. Yeah. It's okay to like, think about rest. And also feel like that nag in the back of your mind. Like, yeah, but I can't do that. And we'll talk about that in a second. But right. Yeah, that's essentially like, unpack this for you. And I remember going through in coaching, going through and actually like writing these things down. And, and one of the things that that really came up big for me was play. And, like, I just love to play. And so like, Yeah, let's go hit some balls at Top Golf. Yes, I bought an Xbox, which we played for probably 30 minutes before we recorded this episode. We were resting. That's what I'm up to record. So yeah, I yeah, justice. You. You really sold me on this when I found out that I didn't have to just go meditate. or lay in bed or take more naps? Yes. It could be really fun. And life giving and energizing. And, yeah, and so yes, I practice export a pack a practice resting regularly now.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 13:41

Yes. I love it. It reminds me This reminds me of you. Okay, I was a pastor. And when we tell, especially men, hey, you need to pray more. It was like you could watch just all excitement leave there. They're just like, What? Oh, and it was like, great. I gotta go sit in a room, I gotta light the candles. And then I gotta get on my knees. And I got to think about all the things that I need to tell God. And he's probably mad at me, and all this stuff. And then I need to ask for a bunch of stuff. And who am I even really talking to? And then we go like, hey, like, what is your day look like? Do you drive to work? Yeah. We'll just talk to him in there. Five minutes. Do you go on walks sometimes. Just have a conversation. Oh, so I don't have to like have this whole setup. No, I

Deacon Bradley: 14:22

don't need a special room.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 14:23

Yeah, exactly. Great. I gotta go hire someone to come add on a room.

Deacon Bradley: 14:28

Put it right next to the sauna. Yeah,

JUSTUS MURIMI: 14:29

exactly. So don't overthink about it, like rest is not this Kumbaya experience. It's something you should be looking forward to. That's exciting.

Deacon Bradley: 14:38

I love that. So step one we've got you're getting an idea in your own mind. What does the rest look like? be intentional about this. Think about it. Write the things down because you're going to forget them. Yeah, and I really want them written down for this step two, which is now you have to find a way to go do it. And in this part justice, I'm going to be the guy Who can't do it? And throw some excuses out? And you did? Can you just help me get past some of these? Yes. Okay. Just as I'm running a busy company here, we did some millions this year. I've got a team. I don't have time for rest.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 15:17

Yes, I love this. I would say, Do you have time not to? And how big do you want to grow your business? Look, I want to double this year, great. I love that. If you want to double this year, then you need to take some time out and think and get active and get your brain stimulated and rest so that you can come up with the best ideas to lead your team. Because guess what? doubling your growth is more of what is going on right now, including the pain points. So how are you going to think about how to alleviate those problems? Guess how much more you're going to promote more people, and they're going to be meeting with you on a more regular basis? How are you going to lead them? What are they going to need from you? So it's more work? Do you want your brain operating as the way it is now with double work? Or do you want to be more active, more stimulated more ready and showing up in a state where you're like, I'm prime, I'm ready to go.

Deacon Bradley: 16:13

Okay, that was really interesting. Because I just threw a big goal out there. I hear this a lot. We want to double revenue this year. And you double down on how much I needed to rest. And so in my mind, I'm like, I don't have time for this. I have to work twice as hard to get twice as much revenue. And you're basically saying, Oh, my gosh, full full stop. You need rest even worse than I thought,

JUSTUS MURIMI: 16:40

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And look guys like this. We could talk about the science of it. Or I can just tell you about people that took it seriously. Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, read their books, you often will hear about how they went on walks. Why would they go on these walks? What do you think happened on these walks when they're walking by themselves? They weren't carrying their laptop with them. They often weren't going with a large group of people.

Deacon Bradley: 17:05

What an entourage behind them, like taking notes.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 17:08

Yes, exactly. No. And Warren Buffett would come home every night. And he does this every night. And he'd play games on his computer every night until I gotta

Deacon Bradley: 17:18

tell you, that makes me feel good.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 17:22

So this isn't just coming from someone that's like, Look, really take care of yourself. As much as That's true. It's because I love studying the greats. I love studying the greats. And they have this practice of rest, the greatest thinkers, Einstein, they have this routine of doing things that they love that aren't associated with what they do, that are stimulating. And for all of us, like we need to have our brains, our minds, our bodies stimulated, because who you are now is not who you need to be for your team, a year from now, or to get the results that you want. You're going to have to be a different kind of leader.

Deacon Bradley: 18:04

There's something a business leader that you and I have both worked with a good amount. And I hear you say this to them so much that like I don't actually hear you say it to them. But you said it enough that it's almost become this like inside joke that he has shared on numerous occasions. He's like justice called me. And he said, or I got this text from justice. and unpack this for me, because what you always tell them is he say, Are you walking in the woods? Yeah. What makes you What do you notice that makes you say that to that leader?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 18:37

Yes, I noticed that they are overthinking things. I noticed that they are stepping in that's a great question. They are stepping into how mode when I start noticing that a CEO is talking about what's the best way How could I do this? I've started doing these other things when I see them chasing after shiny objects. When I see them in a fear mode or like a fixed mode. I'm going Oh, they're they're they're grappling for things. They need to get like peace they need to get restful, they need to get clear. You go walk in the woods, you go walk on the beach, do ideas are just going to drop in how many times guys, when you're in the shower, you get a great idea. How many times when you're just on a run or on a bike ride, you're like, Ah, this idea just came out of nowhere.

Deacon Bradley: 19:33

Okay, justice. I'm CEO rest naysayer guy back back again. And you're just describing this these symptoms were that you're noticing when you need to say hey, why don't you go walk in the woods. And it's like, oh, they're too into the in the weeds. They're noticing these problems are in how fix it mode. CEO naysayer guy is thinking right now. But if I'm walking in the woods Like the house just on fire while I'm walking in the woods, like who's gonna solve the problem? I don't know how to reconcile this in my head, but it sounds nice. But how does this like work in real life?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 20:12

Yeah. So here's what I want to do. Like, I want to give you a vision of your business running on its own without you. How does that feel? For you have the time freedom to do the things you love? Knowing that your business will grow actually grow on its own? How much of that future? How much of that future? Can you come up with while you're in the weeds?

Deacon Bradley: 20:38

Basically, none.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 20:41

Exactly. So I hope you're not trying to grow your business. So you can do more of the things that you're doing now? I hope not. Oh, right. And so where are you going to get the brain space? To think about even the question I just asked, you probably haven't thought about that on your own? How could my business grow? without me? Meaning, it's on autopilot. And it's growing? And I'm not there every single day? How could that happen? Go in the woods with that question, and see what results start to come up because your brain is your brain is coming up with the easiest way to solve a problem. Like, it just wants to fix it. Right. And so as a coach, I know that better questions get better answers. But we're often not asking ourselves the right questions. It takes getting outside ourselves and being challenged on our thought process. You're even just doing it yourself to actually get the answers that we want. Rest involve that rarely do I leave a coaching call or coaching conversation, not giving someone something to go take and process on their own it because it's like, there's too much more, there's too many answers waiting to be discovered. On the other side of this.

Deacon Bradley: 22:01

I'm going to connect a couple dots here. And you tell me if I'm thinking about this, right? We were just so CEO, naysayer guy, the antagonist in this podcast, which I am playing, is struggling with this concept of getting out in the woods, getting space getting restful, while there's a fire going on in the house. And I'm thinking back as you were sharing what you were sharing about the importance of that, I'm thinking back to the the podcast we did on vision. And one of the things that we talked about in that was how there's the struggle of CEOs getting out of the weeds enough to create a vision, because they have to like turn all the knobs and push all the buttons because there's just a lot going on. Yep. But in that podcast we shared. Hey, when you have that vision, you don't have to be the one pushing all the buttons. So here's my connection. This is happening in my brain in real time, justice, tell me what you think. Yeah. When I'm walking in the woods, and I'm creating vision, and I'm strengthening that I'm just getting some space. Maybe I don't have to be the guy with the fire extinguisher. Yep. When I get back,

JUSTUS MURIMI: 23:13

yes, absolutely. You're thinking about it, right? And you're not going to find the person that puts the fires out. If you're in the fire the whole time. You actually need to get outside of it. And think, who, who could do this. And so some of you are addicted to the fire. I was actually talking with a CEO two nights ago. And I go someone here is addicted to creating problems. And there's a guy was like, Yeah, I am. I create a lot of these. And I was looking over at the two team members that he had. And they were like, Yeah, okay. And I. And so a lot of times, you're not you getting away from the business is going to make you go, I see what created the fires. I see how they got there. I see what needs to happen, I see who might need to get fired. I see who actually needs to get promoted to help solve these problems that I never would have thought of, because they weren't going to raise their hand. But I actually need to put them over this new project that's creating fires. So yes, you're absolutely right.

Deacon Bradley: 24:19

I love it. I'm getting a it's getting really clear in my head now not just rest. So started the episode and it's like rest saunas and, and hot rocks, and hours of meditation and like Who has time for that? Right? And then as this picture is becoming really clear, the importance of it and how that actually really impacts my business. It's not just that some weird woowoo theoretical fuzzy level like that was a really clear picture. Yeah, you just painted so I believe that now. I have one last CEO naysayer, right in question. Yeah. I want you to unpack for me. If If there's a fire in the house, and it's hard to put out there, like we've got problems, yep. And I'm off resting. What will my team think

JUSTUS MURIMI: 25:12

your team will actually come up with solutions. For a lot of these without you if you give them clear direction before you go rest. So there has to be a communication of how you want things to operate while you're resting, then leave, which means you're giving them trust, you're giving them authority. So if you go into rest, and go, Hey, guys, I'm gonna go rest, I'm going to take the day, I'm going to take a couple days. And then you're like, just reach out to me if you guys do anything, if anything comes up, let me know. Not Not good. not healthy. You're still the savior of the company. If you go, Hey, guys, I trust you with these things. I'm gonna go take a rest. Do not reach out to me, unless it's this kind of problem. If there's anything above your paygrade, I've already talked to Susie, she'll answer your questions. If Susie feels like it's an emergency, she will reach out to me, I think you guys have got it, I will I trust you to solve these problems. If you try to solve a problem, and it gets worse, I will not hold you responsible. I trust you guys, I'm gonna go rest. I'll talk to you later. And you will be surprised how quickly they can work without you. You will see exactly like the all stars will rise up, the leaders will rise up and people that you thought would be trouble will rise up. And then there'll be people that will just be lazy. And we all like, you know, about 10% of your, your team is not the best. And you'll see that but it'll be worth the time you take out to rest.

Deacon Bradley: 26:48

I love this. This is something that I have worked for business leaders that were terrible at this. It made it harder for me to do my job. Yep. So I'm kind of hearing this at two levels. One as as kind of like the number two in the company and how important it was for me, I could sense on the CEO wasn't going and resting. And two is like a CEO. And just recognizing and placing a high priority and a high value on rest. And as I kind of mentioned in the beginning of this, this is something that you've helped me a lot with Personally, I know you've helped a lot of CEOs with this. And just my my, my personal anecdotal experience, like my business has accelerated a huge amount, just from me, resting and not pushing it. And by the way, I've had a lot more fun. Yep. While I was doing it, my life is it just looks totally different, is totally different. And I'm super excited, super grateful. Is there anything else that you want CEOs to take away from this conversation or, or know about rest?

JUSTUS MURIMI: 27:54

Yes, start small. And give yourself grace in this you'll go, you'll try to rest. It'll be it'll be really hard. And then you'll come back and go, that didn't work? No, you're just learning how to rest. So it's, it's a muscle that you have to strengthen. And you have to learn and at the beginning, you will be bad at it. So then start small, hey, maybe say hey, in the on Wednesday, Hump Day, I'm going to take a two hour lunch instead of a one hour lunch. And I'm going to go work out or I'm going to go on a walk. I'll let the team know. And then over time, you'll go, Hey, two years from now I could as you see how well this works. I could see you like a CEO. I know right now. Take the last week of the month off every month.

Deacon Bradley: 28:42

That is that is so cool. That's that's really inspiring.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 28:46

Yep. So ask yourself this question. What would have to be true for me to be able to take the rest that I really want to take, and the company to grow while I'm out.

Deacon Bradley: 28:59

I'm going to have to have you add one more thing on to this is like I'm sensing some resistance. Because again, this was me. So just anecdotally this week, yesterday was like a rest day for me. Yeah, I had, we're kind of celebrating something we went out. We went down to hopdoddy got some burgers. I got I got a beer there. And they served them in these like gigantic goblets. And so between all of the giant hamburger bun and the beer like I basically laid on my floor, yes. And watch the movie after that on a work day. And like that was rest for me. And I guess the the you were saying, hey, what would have to be true for me to be able to do this. And I think the thing that you have really encouraged me on and that I don't want people to put up resistance around that I'd like you to speak to a little bit is the thing that has to be true. Like it can't be when I get to whatever revenue level or when my business is x successful like this. This is important. If it's day one for you. Yep. Um, so yeah, just talk a little bit about that, because I know you've worked with all levels of CEOs. Yes. And I think that is something that I would have been the guy saying, when I get to 10 million, then I can rest.

JUSTUS MURIMI: 30:12

Yes. No, this is great. The best way for me to for you to think about this is who is the most valuable team member you have on your team? They came to you right now and said, I want to be able to take one hour or one day out of the week and go rest so that I can better perform for you. You might have a few hesitations. But at the end of the day, you wouldn't want to lose them. So you'd say, Yeah, okay, let's try this out. Let's see how it works. You are 10 times more valuable than that person. So your mindset needs to change. And if you don't start now, you will never start, like, routine is king. So if you don't start now, the problems that you're going to see what you're doing double the revenue you have, are only going to make it seem like that much more that you cannot take it. So do not wait for the future. Start now. Again, communicate why to the people that need to know and do it, just start doing it and you'll start to see results. You'll feel a little guilty at first, but you will see results and you need to take your you take your value very seriously.

Deacon Bradley: 31:27

Thanks for joining us today on the sharp business growth podcast. Be sure and subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. Even when you're resting, visit a sub sharp business growth.com we have loads more resources there that we'd love to share with you guys to help you grow your business. Please go out, find rest. If you think you can't, it is a belief that you need to change. So first things first, go figure out what rest looks like for you. It's different for everybody. And then we unpacked a whole bunch of excuses. Man, I love unpacking these because I've been every single one of them. I bet you have to I bet you hurt yourself in some of those. So go rest. See you next time.