If you listened to the last episode, you know we're digging into the three places misalignment tends to show up in your business. This one's about depletion, and the question I want you to sit with is simple: are you tired, or are you depleted?

They're not the same thing, and knowing the difference matters. Tired responds to rest. You sleep, you take a break, you feel better. Depletion doesn't work that way. You can sleep for a week and still feel off, because depletion is mental, emotional, decision fatigue stacked on top of physical exhaustion, and it shows up as numbing out, disconnecting, or scrolling instead of working.

In this episode I walk through the three places depletion tends to come from in a business owner's life like, caregiving or chronic health seasons, toxic hustle (when busyness stops being seasonal and becomes the norm), and striving in your own strength instead of resting in God's provision.

If you've caught yourself wanting to rebrand, change your tagline, or redo your homepage out of nowhere, that's worth a second look too. Sometimes that urge isn't growth, it's a knee-jerk reaction to feeling depleted and that things are out of control. Alignment Audit:

If you want a clearer read on where your business is aligned and where it's not, take the Business Alignment Audit at https://selahstudios.co/alignmentaudit. It only takes a few minutes.

Related Episode: Episode 115: Are You Burned Out in Your Business? Maybe Not: https://selahstudios.co/115

Let's Connect:

Website: https://SelahStudios.co

For years I called it burnout. Tired, unmotivated, running on empty. Burnout was just the word that fit, so that is what I used.

I am done calling it that.

In this episode, I am walking through what I have learned after eighteen years in business and with the help of a counselor during a difficult season. That what feels like burnout is often something else entirely. It is misalignment, and it shows up in three specific ways: depletion, disconnection, and growth your business has not caught up with yet.

I am not talking about burnout as an abstract idea. I am walking through a recent project of my own, one that stressed me out for weeks before I finally had the words for what was actually going on, and what changed the moment I named it.

Depletion is not the same as disconnection, and disconnection is not the same as outgrowing your business. Each one asks for something different, and none of them are solved by simply pushing through or resting harder.

If you have not listened to the rest series yet, start with Episode 109. Then come back here, because this episode builds directly on what rest makes possible.

Curious whether what you are feeling is burnout or something else. Take the Business Alignment Audit at https://selahstudios.co/alignmentaudit, and join me for the next episode as I start digging into the pillars of building a business that actually fits you.

Related Episodes: Episode 109: Kicks off the series "Rest & The Entrepreneur" https://selahstudios.co/ep-109-entrepreneurs-rest-rest-isnt-a-luxury-its-a-business-strategy-the-5-types-youre-missing/ Episode 114: A special panel discussion, "Permission to Rest for the Chronically Capable Entrepreneur" https://selahstudios.co/ep-114-permission-to-rest-for-the-chronically-capable-entrepreneur/ Let's Connect:

Website: https://SelahStudios.co

You already know how to keep going. This episode is for the part of you that doesn't know how to stop.

In this special Selah Sessions panel replay, you'll sit in on an honest, unscripted conversation with three women who have each had to relearn what rest actually means, not the Pinterest version, the real one. Diane Cunningham Ellis, Danielle Ralston, and Dr. Melissa Oden join Marta to talk about the seasons they ignored their bodies until their bodies stopped giving them a choice: addiction, an MS diagnosis, a season that ended in the ER with blood pressure numbers that should have killed her.

If you've ever felt the weight of being the responsible one, the capable one, the one who holds it all together, you'll find yourself in this conversation.

What You'll Learn

• Why "chronically capable" women tend to ignore the warning signs their bodies are sending them, and what that costs over time
• How each panelist defines rest beyond sleep: through play, community, boundaries, and simply asking for help
• Why self-care became a checklist item, and how to shift toward rest as restoration instead
• What it looks like practically to work from a place of rest day to day, not just in theory
• Why Christian women in particular struggle with permission to rest, and how scripture actually models rest

Related Episodes

Ep. 109: Series intro, burnout, and the "chronically capable entrepreneur" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/109-rest-isnt-a-luxury-its-a-business-strategy/id1691564245?i=1000775125976

Ep. 110: Mental rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/110-youre-not-lazy-youre-mentally-maxed-out/id1691564245?i=1000776091006

Ep. 111: Emotional rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/111-why-you-need-emotional-rest-and-what-it-feels/id1691564245?i=1000777031944

Ep. 112: Physical rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/112-you-are-the-asset-and-physical-rest-is-how-you-protect-it/id1691564245?i=1000780200890 Ep. 113: Spiritual rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/113-spiritual-rest-you-can-do-everything-right-and/id1691564245?i=1000783095364

Links & Resources Mentioned

• Selah Sessions Panelist Information & Links: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xRl8al2cCXMNQ5FWaFre_hUs7CpIecsP/view?usp=sharing
• Gentle Business Mastermind: https://gentlebusinessmastermind.com
• Business Alignment Audit: https://selahstudios.co/alignmentaudit
• It Starts With Rest quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz

You've done the work. You've built in mental rest, emotional rest, physical rest... and yet maybe you still feel like something's off. That gap is real, and it has a name: spiritual rest. In this final episode of the rest series, Marta walks through what spiritual rest actually means for entrepreneurs and how something as simple as prayer, journaling, or community can reconnect you to the why behind your business.

In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To

• What is spiritual rest, and how is it different from mental, emotional, or physical rest?
• How often should I be reviewing my business purpose and vision?
• What does prayer as a "business meeting with God" actually look like in practice?
• How can community support spiritual rest, not just accountability?
• Do I need an hour a day for this to count, or can five minutes work?

Related Episodes

• Ep. 109: Rest Isn't a Luxury, It's a Business Strategy (the 5 types you're missing)
• Ep. 110: You're not lazy, you're mentally maxed out
• Ep. 111: Why You Need Emotional Rest (and what it feels like when you don't get it)
• Ep. 112: You Are the Asset and Physical Rest Is How You Protect It
• Coming next: a special panel episode from the Selah Sessions, featuring three guests discussing what rest looks like across different seasons

Links and Resources

• Take the rest quiz: https://ItStartsWithRest.com/quiz
• Journaling for business podcast series
• Gentle Business Mastermind

If you've ever felt like physical rest just means "go take a nap," this episode is going to challenge that. Continuing the series on the types of rest entrepreneurs need, you're diving into physical rest: what it actually looks like, why you've likely learned to ignore your body's signals, and how to start listening again, even when it feels a little strange at first.

You'll hear about the practice of the body check, the idea of "restivities," and why pacing (not pushing) is the path to sustainable success. Plus, a reminder that you are the asset of your business, and what it means to actually treat yourself like one.

What You'll Learn

• Why physical rest is about more than sleep, and what else your body might be asking for
• How to do a simple body check to start tuning back in to what you need
• What "restivities" are and why they matter more than passive downtime like scrolling or TV
• Why capacity isn't fixed: it's resource dependent
• How pacing (taking the time, making the space, finding your pace) leads to sustainable success

In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To

• Why do I keep ignoring what my body is trying to tell me?
• What does physical rest look like beyond "just get more sleep"?
• How do I actually start listening to my body when it feels unfamiliar or even uncomfortable?
• What's the difference between rest and restivities?
• Why does pushing past my limits keep catching up with me?

Related Episodes

• #109 - Rest Isn't a Luxury, It's a Business Strategy (the 5 types you're missing)
• #110 - You’re not lazy, you’re mentally maxed out
• #111 - Why You Need Emotional Rest (and what it feels like when you don't get it)
• Coming up next: spiritual rest, followed by a special panel discussion on finding the rest you need

Resources Mentioned

• Take the Rest Quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz

You know that feeling when you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong, you're just... off? That restless, angsty feeling that shows up out of nowhere, especially in the middle of a busy season or a caregiving stretch? That's often a sign you're missing emotional rest, and it's easy to miss because we don't always know to look for it.

In this episode, part of the ongoing series on the five types of rest, you'll learn what emotional rest actually is, why it's different from mental rest, and how to start building small, doable practices into your life and business to get more of it.

What You'll Learn

• The difference between mental rest and emotional rest, and why they get confused
• Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's definition of emotional rest from her book Sacred Rest
• How setting boundaries with clients, family, and yourself creates space for emotional rest
• Why journaling by hand works differently than typing, and what the research says
• How naming your fear can loosen its grip on you
• Why community and safe spaces to express yourself matter for your emotional health

In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To

• What is emotional rest, and how is it different from mental rest?
• What does it feel like when you're not getting enough emotional rest?
• What are simple ways to build emotional rest into a busy season?
• Why does writing by hand matter for processing emotions?
• How do boundaries support emotional rest?

Related Episodes

• Episode 109: Rest isn’t a luxury, it’s a business strategy (the 5 types your missing)
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/109-rest-isnt-a-luxury-its-a-business-strategy/id1691564245?i=1000775125976
• Episode 110: Mental Rest https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/110-youre-not-lazy-youre-mentally-maxed-out/id1691564245?i=1000776091006
• Episode 112: Physical Rest (coming next)

Links & Resources Mentioned

• Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith - https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Rest-Recover-Energy-Restore/dp/1478921676
• Blog posts about journaling by hand:
  • Journaling by Hand: https://selahreflections.com/benefits-of-journaling-by-hand/
  • Journaling for Business: https://selahstudios.co/category/journaling/
• Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind

You know that feeling of being tired without quite knowing why? Not physically tired, just... foggy, unfocused, maxed out, even when nothing on your calendar looks that demanding?

In this episode, Marta continues the series on rest for entrepreneurs by digging into mental rest: the type of rest that gets skipped most often because it doesn't look like anything on the outside. As a "chronically capable" entrepreneur, you're used to over-leveraging your mind: troubleshooting, coaching, creating, deciding, all day long, without ever seeing how much energy that actually takes.

Marta shares her own history as a self-taught workaholic, what changed when she started treating mental rest as a business necessity instead of a someday/maybe, and practical, doable ways to build intentional mental breaks into your schedule, including a simple practice she uses before every coaching and mastermind call.

What You'll Learn:

>> Why mental rest gets overlooked even by entrepreneurs who take rest seriously in other areas >> The signs your brain is overleveraged: indecision, irritability, spinning in circles, staring at your laptop >> Why capacity is resource dependent, not fixed, and what that means when you feel like you've hit your limit >> Simple, low effort ways to build in mental rest: margin between calls, brain dumps, a capture system, gratitude practice >> The ADMAR practice Marta uses to help herself and clients release mental tension before diving into deep work

In This Episode, You'll Find Answers To:

>> Why am I so tired when I haven't done anything that looks physically demanding? >> What's the difference between self-care and actual rest? >> How do I know if I'm mentally maxed out versus just having an off day? >> What's a quick way to give my brain a break without taking a whole day off? >> Why does capacity feel like it shrinks some days and not others?

Related Episodes:

>> EP 109: Rest and the Chronically Capable Entrepreneur https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/109-your-business-plan-needs-to-include-rest-its-not-a-luxury/id1691564245?i=1000775125976

Links & Resources:

>> Take the rest quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz >> Learn the ADMAR practice: EP 27: You need a simple weekly business examen review practice: https://selahstudios.co/27 >> Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind

Rest… too often we view it as something we have to earn in our businesses. It’s time we change that.

We’re kicking off a new series on rest for what I call “the chronically capable entrepreneur”: the ones who show up for everyone else and in the process forget to show up for themselves.

I’m sharing five types of rest every entrepreneur needs: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and rest from work itself.

What You'll Learn:

• Why "just getting more sleep" rarely solves burnout
• The five types of rest, and why most of us only think about one
• Why you are the most valuable asset in your business, not just the person running it
• How to build rest into your week as an action step, not an afterthought

Related Episodes:

• Episode 1: Why we need to work from a place of rest: https://selahstudios.co/1
• Episode 53: Tired? Learn to rest, not quit your business: https://selahstudios.co/53

Links & Resources:

• Take the What Type of Rest Do You Need quiz: https://itstartswithrest.com/quiz
• Sacred Rest by Dr. Sandra Dalton-Smith: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Rest-Recover-Energy-Restore/dp/1478921676
• Gentle Business Mastermind: https://selahstudios.co/mastermind