Anyone else getting their booty kicked by the end-of-year, holiday, coo-coo-bananas craziness?

This time of year is dense. There is so much happening, all at once.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve emailed you about an exciting opportunity I had to present to the breast health oncologists at RWJBarnabas Jersey City Medical Center (no, they are not paying me to say that).

During the presentation, I pulled out my model pelvis and started explaining pelvic floor anatomy. At one point, I paused, looked directly at the room, and said:

“Look at me giving an anatomy lesson to surgeons and oncologists! I’m definitely going to post about this on social media.”

They did not laugh (#cliniciansontheirlunchbreak).

But the moment stuck with me.

Because… look at me giving surgeons and oncologists an anatomy lesson!!!

I worked really hard to get here. And I worked really hard on that presentation too! Not just to be accurate, but to be clear, embodied, and useful. My goal wasn’t to impress them. It was to make it incredibly easy for them to say yes to collaboration and to creating more accessible resources for underserved patients.

And it worked.

Now pause. I promise I haven’t lost the plot. There’s a method to this madness.

When you want to build strength, you apply intentional stress to the system.

That can look like…

• Lifting heavier than you usually do
• Doing more reps than you usually do
• Preparing for a presentation at a higher level than you usually do

That intentional stress creates controlled breakdown — in muscle fibers, in habits, in patterns, in capacity. Technically speaking, it’s damaging.

And then,this is the part people skip, you have to recover.

Because if you keep applying stress without allowing repair, integration, and adaptation, you don’t get stronger. You just get depleted. Or injured. Or burned out.

This doesn’t just apply to muscles.

It applies to your nervous system, your leadership capacity, your ability to tolerate complexity, and your ability to stay embodied under pressure.

Which is why I intentionally booked a long weekend away by myself.

Yes, by myself.

Not because one presentation took me out. I used to perform eight shows a week, I can handle a single talk.

I went away BY MYSELF to recover and integrate the cumulative growth of 2025: new collaborations, higher stakes rooms, and work that requires me to show up sharper, clearer, and more embodied than ever.

Recovery isn’t a break from growth. It’s the phase where growth actually locks in.

Most people try to muscle their way through dense seasons like this. High performers know better. They cycle stress, recovery, and integration on purpose so the effort actually counts.

I am not letting this year’s growth go to waste.

And if you’re feeling the weight of this season too, maybe the question isn’t, “How do I push through?”

Maybe it’s:
​What needs to integrate so this effort actually becomes strength?

Feel free to message me with your response. Or write about it in your journal! OR send this post to a friend and start a conversation about it.

As always, I’ve got your back. I’ve got your front. And I’ve got your undercarriage.