Let it Rest

A message from Chris...

As we’ve shared recently in our blogs and through social media posts, we have a wall of images in our office that represent our teammates’ “Coins”. This display has become a great reminder for all of us of the depth of our full-time staff and our team of Expert Facilitators, and what we all value.  

In this week’s blog, our colleague and Director of Curriculum, Chris Friday, gives us a glimpse into his values, and shares some of the currency beneath one of the images he chose.

Chris is an industry leader in curriculum development and in the use of improvisation and game dynamics to help elite organizations, corporations, and teams improve their connection to self, others and purpose. Some of his clients include Deloitte, The US House of Representatives, USO, Pittsburgh Pirates, Gatorade Sports Science Institute, IMG Academy, and all branches of the US Military, including Joint Special Operations Command. Chris attended the University of South Florida to study Marketing and is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association.

Chris has been with Game On for over 17 years now, and we're so appreciative of the creativity, perspective, and positive humor that he brings to our team.

- Steve Shenbaum

I love a good steak! 

And, to me, there’s really no arguing the fact that the best cut is a ribeye. Preferably, a bone-in, cowboy ribeye! That beautiful marbling. A great crust on the outside. Warm, tender, and juicy on the inside. When it’s done right, it’s hard to beat. 

Of course, everyone has their own opinion about how to get there. Some people keep it simple with salt and pepper. Others swear by their favorite rub or seasoning blend. Some cook over a screaming-hot open flame. Others prefer the patience of a reverse sear. And then there are those who finish their steak in a cast-iron skillet, basting it with butter, garlic, and herbs. There are a hundred ways to cook a steak. 

But no matter which cut you prefer or how you prepare it, most grill masters agree on one thing: One of the most important parts of cooking a great steak isn’t actually cooking it. It’s letting it rest. 

When that steak comes off the heat, the temptation is to immediately cut into it. It looks good. It smells good. You’re hungry. Why wait? Because it needs time. Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and gives the muscle fibers a chance to relax. Cut into it too soon, and much of what makes that steak tender and juicy ends up running across your cutting board instead. Sometimes I wonder if we’re all that different. 

Think about how much of our lives are spent preparing, producing, performing, and moving. We get ready for the day, answer emails, solve problems, take care of people, and navigate difficult conversations. We race from meeting to meeting, commitment to commitment, and responsibility to responsibility, often moving so quickly from one thing to the next that we barely have time to process where we’ve been before focusing on where we need to go next. 

And every once in a while, life throws us directly into the fire. Yet when we finally come off the heat, what do we often do? We move immediately to the next thing. 

Our culture tends to celebrate the hustle. We talk about working harder, doing more, staying busy, and maximizing every minute. We wear “busy” as a badge of honor. Rest can start to feel like something we have to earn, or even something we should feel guilty about. 

But rest isn’t the opposite of productivity. Rest is part of the process. 

Just like the steak needs time away from the heat, so do we. Rest gives our bodies and minds an opportunity to recover. It can help restore energy, reduce stress, improve focus, support creativity, regulate emotions, and give us greater capacity to handle whatever comes next. 

And maybe most importantly, rest can help us become more present and more patient with our families, more engaged with our colleagues, more thoughtful in our responses, more creative in our work, and more available to the people who matter to us. Taking time for yourself isn’t necessarily taking something away from everyone else. Sometimes it’s exactly what allows you to give them your best. 

Here’s where I think we sometimes misunderstand rest. We picture rest as lying on the couch, taking a nap, or doing absolutely nothing. And sometimes, that’s exactly what we need. 

But rest can also be active. It can be doing something that reconnects you with yourself. Something that gives you energy instead of requiring it. Something you genuinely enjoy… not because it’s productive, impressive, or useful, but simply because it’s part of who you are. 

At Game On, we often talk about these things as our Coins. Coins are the people, places, experiences, interests, and passions that make us who we are. They’re the things we value and the things that fill us up. 

When we’re trying to identify our Coins, we often start with five categories: 

• Family: The people who matter to you… parents, siblings, grandparents, spouses, children, extended family, or the people who have become family. 
• Pets: The animals you love, grew up with, have now, or maybe hope to have someday. 
• Food: Favorite meals, family recipes, restaurants, traditions, or in my case, a perfectly cooked ribeye. 
• Travel: Favorite destinations, meaningful vacations, places you’ve explored, or somewhere you’ve always dreamed of going. 
• Bonus: Hobbies, interests, music, movies, sports, fishing, reading, history, art, gardening, woodworking… whatever makes you lose track of time because you genuinely love doing it. 

These aren’t just five nice categories. They’re a window into what fills us up. That’s why it’s so important to tap into our Coins, because they often reveal something deeper about how we rest, recharge, and reconnect with ourselves. 

For one person, rest might be sitting on a boat with a fishing pole and nowhere else to be. For someone else, it’s playing guitar. It might be cooking dinner with your kids. Walking the dog. Reading a book. Working in the yard. Watching an old movie. Going to the beach. Traveling somewhere new. Sitting around a table with people you love. Your version doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. The important thing is knowing what fills you up and then being intentional about making room for it. Because it’s easy to know your Coins and still never spend them. 

We can say family matters while constantly allowing work to interrupt family time. We can say we love music but never pick up the instrument, or that being outside restores us while spending every free moment staring at a screen. We can say we love traveling but never create the space to get away. Knowing what restores you is only the beginning. The real challenge is being intentional about making time for it. 

Maybe that’s the lesson hidden in a great steak. There are seasons when we need to prepare. There are moments when we need to turn up the heat. There are times when we need to perform, push ourselves, solve the problem, meet the deadline, or simply get through what’s in front of us. 

But we weren’t designed to stay over the flame indefinitely. At some point, we have to come off the heat, let the fibers relax, and give ourselves the time and space to recover. It’s in those moments that we can reconnect with the people, experiences, and things that fill us up and prepare ourselves for whatever comes next. 

• So think about your Coins. 
• What fills you up? 
• What helps you come off the heat? 

And when was the last time you intentionally made room for it? 

Because sometimes becoming better for the people around us doesn’t require doing more. Sometimes, like a really good ribeye, we just need to let it rest.