Leading Without Breaking

If you’ve been feeling heavy, exhausted, or stretched beyond your limits, you’re not imagining it. The weight of this work is real. The relentless cycle of injustice, the never-ending demands of leadership, the expectation that we will keep showing up, keep pushing forward, keep holding it all together—it’s enough to break even the strongest among us.

For those of us leading and advocating in spaces that were never built with us in mind, we carry more than our fair share. We carry the emotional labor of holding space for others while wondering who will hold space for us. We navigate workplaces, industries, and communities where we are asked to lead but not be too loud, to advocate but not be “too much,” to disrupt but not make anyone too uncomfortable.

And on top of that, we still have to deal with life. Family responsibilities, grief, global crises, and personal struggles that don’t pause just because we’re “strong.”

I want you to hear me when I say this: You were never meant to carry all of this alone.

The systems we push against were designed to exhaust us, to drain us of our energy, to make us feel like rest is a privilege we haven’t earned. But that is a lie. You do not have to prove your worth through exhaustion. You do not have to burn yourself down to keep the fire of the movement alive.

Because the truth is, if we do not care for ourselves, we cannot care for our communities. If we do not allow ourselves space to breathe, rest, and replenish, we will collapse under the weight of the very work we are called to do.

This is not about abandoning the fight. It’s about ensuring that you are still standing when the next battle comes.

Rest as Resistance: Reclaiming Our Energy

Let’s be clear: rest is not weakness. Rest is strategy.

Rest is how we stay in the fight without losing ourselves in it. Rest is how we resist the systems that want us exhausted, defeated, and disengaged.

Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry reminds us, “Rest is a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.”

And yet, so many of us struggle with allowing ourselves to rest. We have been taught—explicitly and implicitly—that our worth is tied to our productivity. That if we stop, even for a moment, we are falling behind. That to be seen as serious, capable, and committed, we must always be doing.

But let me ask you this: What would it mean to unlearn that?

What if we saw rest as a birthright, not a reward? What if we stopped treating exhaustion as a prerequisite for impact? What if we recognized that our ability to dream, to create, to build, to lead—requires energy that must be replenished?

Rest is not just about sleep. It is about restoration. It is about stepping away from the noise, creating boundaries that protect your peace, reclaiming your time, and refusing to allow yourself to be consumed by urgency.

This is your permission to pause.

How to Keep Leading Without Losing Yourself

The work will always be there. The fight for justice, for equity, for inclusion—it is ongoing. The question is, how do we stay in it without letting it break us?

Here’s where we start:

?? Redefine Productivity Productivity is not about how much you can squeeze into a day. It’s about impact. It’s about sustainability. It’s about showing up fully present and fully capable, not running on fumes. Start measuring success not by how exhausted you are but by how effective you can be without depleting yourself.

?? Say No Without Guilt Every yes has a cost. Every commitment drains something from your reserves. You cannot do everything. And that doesn’t make you less committed—it makes you wise. Your time, energy, and presence are valuable. Treat them that way.

?? Build in Recovery Time After big projects, after emotionally taxing work, after speaking truth to power—schedule time to recover. Leaders who last are leaders who know when to step back before they fall apart.

?? Surround Yourself with People Who See You Not just people who admire the work you do, but people who see you beyond the work. Who remind you that you are valuable even when you’re resting. Who encourage you to take breaks, to take care of yourself, to not fall into the trap of overextension.

?? Normalize Joy in the Fight There is a reason why enslaved people sang, why the Civil Rights Movement had laughter and music, why Black joy is revolutionary. Joy fuels resilience. Joy is what allows us to keep going. You are allowed to experience joy—even in the midst of hard work.

The Work Will Continue—So Must We

This work is urgent. The fight for justice is real. But so is your well-being.

The forces that oppose justice are counting on us to burn out. They expect us to keep grinding until we collapse, to keep fighting until we have nothing left to give. What they are not expecting is for us to choose ourselves.

Rest is an act of refusal. Refusal to be used up. Refusal to be discarded. Refusal to be consumed.

So today, I challenge you: Choose yourself. Not at the expense of the movement, but in service of it. Because you cannot sustain the fight if you do not sustain yourself.

?? What will you do this week to refill your cup? Drop a comment, and let’s hold each other accountable.

And if this resonated with you, subscribe to Empowered Voices—because we are not doing this work alone.

With intention and rest,

Dr. Kim Davis

Founder & President, Five/6teen Consulting

Empowered Voices Bookshop is Here!

Exciting news! Empowered Voices Bookshop is now live—a virtual bookshop connected to Five/6teen Consulting. Through our affiliation with Bookshop.org, we’re curating a selection of books focused on empowerment, rest, leadership, and personal growth—while supporting authors and independent bookstores.

Our first collection, Nourish & Rise: Books for Empowerment, Rest, and Personal Growth, includes:

• Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
• She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
• Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
• I’m Not Yelling by Elizabeth Leiba
• All About Love by bell hooks

…and more! Explore the bookshop and support authors and small businesses:

?? Empowered Voices Bookshop

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.