Let’s get real about renewal. We’ve been treating it like a solo project—something you do alone on your yoga mat while the rest of the world keeps sprinting toward burnout.
This approach is doomed.
Here’s why: Your personal renewal practice is constantly fighting against the collective madness around you. It’s like trying to meditate in the middle of a rock concert.
It really isn’t perfecting your morning routine—it’s changing the water you swim in.
What would this look like?
- Have the awkward conversation with your partner about needing unstructured time that isn’t filled with chores or social obligations. Schedule it like it matters (because it does).
- Be the weirdo at work who actually takes a lunch break without your phone.
- Create a group chat that’s explicitly slow—where nobody expects instant responses and deeper thoughts are welcome. Call it your “Low Urgency, High Importance” space.
- Challenge your friends to a “Boring Sunday”—no plans, no productivity, no posting. Just existing without agenda. Compare notes on how uncomfortable and necessary it felt.
- Start a neighborhood tradition where one night a month, everyone puts their phones in a box and simply hangs out. Bring food. Talk. Remember what humans did before screens.
Here’s the thing about collective renewal: It feels risky. You’re essentially saying, “Hey, what if we all agree to stop playing this exhausting game that we’ve been fed for a bit?”
But that risk creates the space where genuine connection happens. Where new ideas emerge. Where you remember what actually matters.
The most powerful renewal isn’t the solo recharge that gets you ready for more of the same grind. It’s the shared experience that makes you question if the grind was necessary in the first place.
Sometimes it’s not about adding more, it’s subtracting less because in reality, less is more.
Next time you feel depleted, don’t just book a massage. Look around and ask: Who else needs this reset? What system around me needs rewiring?
That’s where the real magic happens.
Joe DiAndrea 