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Mario Rainge
Founder of True Method Consulting &
Coaching Solutions. 24-year U.S. Air
Force veteran. Evidence-based
practitioner in organizational
development, leader coaching, and
human performance. Graduate, Grand
Canyon University.
When you think of gaining a competitive advantage, what images come to mind? In highly competitive industries, images of outperforming rivals and outsmarting competitors may surface. But what if the real competitors in life and business are not the rivals we envision — what if you are not competing with people at all?
In reality, you are competing with psychobiological phenomena that activate inside you unconsciously and automatically. Simply put, you are competing with yourself — namely the way you react to, and frame, lived experiences.
How do you feel about going to work? What are the first thoughts that enter your mind on Sunday evening as you mentally prepare for the office, job site, morning meeting, or weekly stand-up? Is it excitement to take on the challenges of a new week? Is it a dread of facing co-workers who drain your energy? Is it nothingness? Research indicates that merely anticipating what the week will be like induces a sense of uncertainty that activates feelings of stress and anxiety (Chandola & Becker, 2025).
Demerouti et al.’s (2001) Job Demands-Resources theory (JD-R) posits that work stressors arise from two processes: the health impairment process and the motivational process. Health impairment occurs because of job design. Workers overexert themselves unnecessarily when a job is not properly designed, or job descriptions are not accurate. Over time, this creates a higher psychological and physical toll, leading to exhaustion. Exhaustion is facilitated by increased workload, longer working hours, and heightened tension with co-workers (Demerouti, 2024).
Motivational process emerges from job resources — energizing elements that increase a sense of self-efficacy through support to accomplish goals and opportunities for professional development (Demerouti & Bakker, 2023). These elements include social support, advancement opportunities, and task variety. When job demands persistently outpace available resources, the result is disengagement and cynicism — two hallmarks of burnout. Now, let’s examine what you can control.
The Wandering Mind: A Performance Threat You Can Control
Occupational and daily life stressors are challengers competing for your competitive edge at work as well as your longevity. The attention we give to stress — and how we frame it — determines the effects stressors have on us.
found that the majority of Americans spend most of their day mind wandering — ruminating about the past and worrying about the future. This state of mental drift is strongly associated with unhappiness and reduced performance (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010).
Applied to performance, rumination and worry deplete the energy needed for sound decision-making and effective problem-solving. Physiological effects include increased blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and heightened cortisol levels. Crosswell et al. (2024) found that even in the absence of acute stressors, mind states of worry and anxiety negatively affect biological systems — contributing to poor health, depleted motivation, and reduced performance. These factors place you and your team at a serious disadvantage.
However, awareness can interrupt the debilitating wandering mind. Intentionally redirecting attention can switch off sustained arousal states and switch on the states that sustain higher performance.
Often, we look for pacifying activities to distract from workplace stressors and demands — activities like socializing, attending events, or leisure entertainment. While these can provide some value in decompressing, they often do not generate the restorative state needed for full recovery at the cellular level.
Parry (2024) found that the unconscious mind can hold onto stress, keeping our sympathetic nervous system (the body’s ready-for-action mode) activated even during deep sleep. So how do we introduce peaceful energy into the unconscious mind to enhance lived experiences, improve sleep quality, and boost performance? A research-backed answer is deep rest.
Deep rest is the physiological and psychological state during which the body recovers and repairs at a cellular level — and it has been confirmed across multiple studies to significantly counter the health risks associated with work stress and burnout.
— Parry, 2024
Deep rest involves contemplative practices that redirect and focus attention. Here is what unfolds in your body when this process begins:
References
The TRUE Method Framework
Applying the TRUE Method to Deep Rest
Pinpoint the specific demands, triggers, or job design gaps that are depleting your energy. You cannot redirect what you have not named. What is activating your stress response most consistently — workload, relationships, uncertainty?
The JD-R model reminds us that burnout is fueled by demands exceeding resources. Take an honest inventory: Where are your support gaps? What resources — emotional, social, physical — need replenishing before you can perform at your best?
Deep rest is not passive — it requires active nervous system alignment. This means choosing practices that engage your parasympathetic system and move you from a threat state into a safe, calm, and connected state. Safety signaling starts from the inside.
Choose one specific, timed practice you can begin today. Spend five minutes in intentional breathwork, step outside into nature, or simply sit in stillness. Consistency over intensity. The body responds to repetition, not perfection.
What can deep rest look like for you? The key aspect of all contemplative states is attention — you have to physically do something that you can focus your attention on. Here are three proven starting points:
Slow your breathing and intentionally lengthen your exhalation. This directly triggers the vagus nerve, activating calm throughout mind and body (Parry, 2024; Crosswell et al., 2024). Start with five minutes.
The Japanese practice of being present in nature — noticing sounds, aromas, and sights — has been proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and non-communicable disease risk (Li, 2022). No forest required: a park, a garden, or your backyard counts.
Slow your breathing and intentionally lengthen your exhalation. This directly triggers the vagus nerve, activating calm throughout mind and body (Parry, 2024; Crosswell et al., 2024). Start with five minutes.
Whether in a forest or your living room, be curious and thankful about what you experience in the present moment, fully immersed in it. The practice of attention itself is the gateway to deep rest.
You are on the go — contributing to your profession, your family, your communities, and the people who depend on you. You make a real difference. That is precisely why you owe it to yourself and the people you serve to be intentional and consistent in devoting time to switch on states of calm, reflection, and contemplation.
With practice, intention, and consistent commitment:
References
Rainge, M. (2026, February 23). Leading change from inside. True Method Consulting & Coaching Solutions. https://truemethodconsulting.com/blog/leading-change-from-inside
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“From Intentions to Impact” · Evidence-Based. Ethically Delivered.
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