PERSONAL GROWTHThe Strategic Value of a Pause
by Darrah Brusteindarrah.co
We tend to think of pauses as inconveniences: the glitch in our momentum, the delay in our plans, or the thing we’ll get to ‘once life slows down’. but life has a funny way of inviting them anyway. Sometimes gently. Sometimes not.
Whether the pause is chosen (a spacious week off, a cleared calendar, intentional reflection, a deep breath during a heated meeting) or forced (illness, burnout, job loss, childcare chaos, tech issues), the invitation is the same:
A pause doesn’t need to be seen as an interruption to your life or strategy. It is a strategy.
Inside the space you didn’t plan for (or the space you chose) is where pattern recognition, clarity, recalibration, and truth have room to surface.
Why Pausing Matters (Especially Now)
Most people start January sprinting. New goals. New energy. New spreadsheets. But the people who create the most meaningful growth (the sustainable, aligned kind) don't confuse speed with alignment.
A pause gives you:
- A Pattern Reset: When you stop doing everything automatically, you can finally see which habits and commitments are actually working for you and which are legacy obligations you've outgrown.
- Nervous System Neutrality: Decisions made from urgency rarely create the life or business you actually want. Regulated people make clearer choices.
- Time to Zoom Out: Without space, you can't see the signal from the noise. A pause turns down the volume so you can hear your own voice again.
- Course-Correction before the year gets away from you: It's easier to shift 3 degrees now than 30 degrees in October.
Signs You Might Need a Pause (Even if You're Resisting It)
- You keep trying to push the same rock up the same hill.
- Everything feels like ‘one more thing’.
- You can’t articulate what you want next without hedging or caveating.
- You’re seeing the same issue show up in different areas (a clue there's one underlying root).
- You’re physically or mentally fried but still negotiating with yourself about resting.
If the Pause Is Forced…
Reframe it as intel.
Forced pauses reveal what was unsustainable, unclear, unaligned, or overdue for change.
They surface truths you wouldn’t have slowed down to examine on your own. They clarify what actually matters because the nonessential falls away.
The pause wasn’t the problem: the pace was.
If the Pause Is Chosen…
Claim it fully.
A chosen pause is one of the most powerful tools you have as a leader, entrepreneur, or human designing a values-aligned life. It’s the space where you reconnect to the why beneath the what. Where your next move emerges without forcing.
This is where Vision is Born.
Where Capacity is Rebuilt.
Where you remember who you are and how you want to feel as you build what’s next.
A Few Questions for Your January Pause
Choose one or all:
- Where am I operating on autopilot instead of intention?
- What have the past 90 days been trying to tell me?
- If nothing was wrong and I was simply in a transition, what would shift?
- What am I gripping that I could release without losing what matters?
- What’s the smallest, kindest adjustment that would create the biggest relief?
Your Pause Creates Your Trajectory
This year will ask things of you: clarity, courage, presence, leadership. Those capacities aren’t born in motion. They’re built in the pause.
Whether your pause arrived by choice or by circumstance, use it strategically.
Let it be the moment you reorient toward the life and business you actually want, not the one momentum sneaks you into.
And when you start again, do it with intention, not inertia.
About the Author
Darrah Brustein is a prolific writer, interviewer, and coach for high-performers and entrepreneurs. Her motto, “Design your life, build a career to fund it, and a network to support it,” has inspired millions to reach higher and dream bigger.
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