TEDONA #187
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you.” — Anne Lamott
MINDSET
I took a step back.
No posts. No newsletters. No pressure to “stay visible.”
And honestly… it was one of the best decisions I’ve made.
We live in a world that rewards constant output. Post more. Share more. Stay top of mind.
But what I’ve learned is this:
You can’t pour depth into your work if you never step away from it.
The break gave me space to:
• Think more clearly
• Read with intention (not just for content)
• Reconnect with real life—family, work, conversations that don’t need a caption
• Let ideas mature instead of rushing to publish them
And something interesting happens when you step away…
You come back sharper. More intentional. With something real to say.
Not noise. Not filler. Not “just to stay consistent.”
So if you’ve been feeling the pressure to always be “on,” consider this your permission:
Step back.
Go live.
Refill your mind.
Your voice doesn’t disappear when you take a break—it gets stronger.
I’m back.
Watched
Step Outside
Why Taking a Break Might Be the Most Productive Thing You Do
“Sometimes you need to step outside, get some air, and remind yourself of who you are and who you want to be.” — Teronie Donaldson
A few months back, everything felt… off.
Nothing was necessarily going wrong. Family was great. Work was getting done. Messages were being answered. Things were moving.
But internally, I felt disconnected.
Like I was just going through the motions — checking boxes, staying busy, doing what needed to be done… but not really thinking about why I was doing it.
So I stepped outside.
No phone. No music. No distractions.
Just air.
And for the first time in a while, things got quiet.
At first, it was uncomfortable. My mind was still racing. But after a few minutes, something shifted.
The noise started to fade.
And underneath all of it, I could hear my own thoughts again.
Not the urgent ones. Not the reactive ones.
The real ones.
Questions started coming up:
Is this aligned with where I want to go?
Am I building something meaningful — or just staying busy?
Who am I becoming through this?
That moment didn’t solve everything.
But it did something more important — it brought me back to myself.
We don’t lose ourselves all at once.
It happens slowly.
A little more noise. A little more pressure. A little more time spent reacting instead of thinking. You’re posting, working, producing, staying “consistent” — but somewhere along the way, you stop asking a simple question:
Is this still aligned with who I want to be?
That’s the danger of constant motion.
From the outside, it looks like discipline.
But internally, it can quietly become disconnection.
The Power of Stepping Away
Taking a break isn’t about avoiding responsibility — it’s about reclaiming awareness.
When you step away, even briefly, you interrupt the cycle of constant input. You create space between you and the noise. And in that space, something powerful happens:
You start to think again.
Not surface-level thinking. Not reactive thinking. But clear, intentional thought.
You begin to notice what feels right — and what doesn’t.
What energizes you — and what drains you.
What matters — and what you’ve just been doing out of habit.
That kind of clarity doesn’t come from staying busy.
It comes from stepping back.
Breaks Aren’t Setbacks
There’s a belief that if you slow down, you’ll fall behind.
But behind what?
A pace that’s unsustainable?
A version of success that isn’t even yours?
Taking a break isn’t losing momentum — it’s correcting direction.
Because moving fast in the wrong direction doesn’t get you ahead.
It just gets you lost faster.
Reconnecting With Who You Are
Stepping outside — literally or metaphorically — is a way to reset your internal compass.
It’s where you remember:
What you’re actually building
Why you started in the first place
Who you’re trying to become
Without that connection, all the effort in the world starts to feel empty.
But when you realign, everything changes.
Your work becomes sharper.
Your decisions become clearer.
Your energy becomes focused again.
Step Away to Move Forward
If things feel off, heavy, or unclear, the answer isn’t always to push harder.
Sometimes, the most productive thing you can do is pause.
Step outside.
Get some air.
Create space.
Because you don’t need more noise — you need clarity.
And clarity starts the moment you give yourself permission to step away… so you can come back aligned.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for reading.