The Rest Challenge
A two-week challenge to learn how to rest.
For people who are good at getting things done. And not so good at resting.
As seen in
If you only stop when your body makes you, this is for you.
Being bad at rest usually has nothing to do with discipline. Somewhere along the way you learned that rest was something you earned after everything else was done, and everything else is never done. So you scroll until midnight and call it unwinding, or take a whole weekend off and come back just as tired.
The Rest Challenge is 14 days of short daily lessons that help you understand why rest feels so hard and then build it into the life you already have. You don’t need to quit your job or disappear to a cabin. You need a few minutes a day and some honesty with yourself.
Starting Monday, November 2, a new day opens each morning. Each one has a short video from me, usually 2 to 5 minutes, and a page in your journal. You can print the journal or fill it in on your computer. It’s where you’ll answer the prompts and keep track of what’s shifting.
There are 14 days of lessons and 2 implementation days, where we stop learning and you actually do the thing.
You’ll also be in a private Slack community with everyone else doing the challenge. I’ll be in there every day answering questions and talking with you.
What we’ll cover
Why rest feels so hard
We start with where the idea that rest has to be earned came from, and the voice in your head that still believes it. Then we look at the difference between resting and numbing out.
Your own rest patterns
Sleep is only one kind of rest. You’ll take an assessment to find where you’re most depleted and use it to build your own rest menu. You’ll also learn what running low looks like for you, so you catch it sooner.
Doing it in real life
This is where rest starts fitting into an actual Tuesday, in two-minute and ten-minute versions, not just a weekend alone. You’ll learn how to interrupt the cycle while it’s happening and how to ask the people around you for what you need. On the last implementation day, you’ll put rest on your calendar like a real appointment.
Making it stick
Changing how you rest can bring up more than you expect, including questions about who you are when you’re not producing. We’ll talk about that, and about what to do when you fall off, because you will, and that’s part of it.
Bonus: live call with me
Tuesday, November 17 at 7pm Central
A live call for everyone in the challenge. I’ll share more about my own process of learning to rest and answer your questions.
Add a small group call
$100, limited to 10 people
At checkout, you can add a one-hour small group call with me. I’ll share more of my story and how I build rest into my own life, and you’ll be in a room with people doing the same work. It’s good company and good accountability for keeping this going after the challenge ends.
This is for you if you’re the one everyone counts on and you can’t remember the last time rest felt restful.
It’s also for you if you sit down for five minutes and start drafting tomorrow’s to-do list in your head.
Hi, I’m Elizabeth Bodett Dresser.
I’m a licensed therapist (LCPC) and the founder of Still Oak Counseling, where I work with high-achieving adults dealing with perfectionism and burnout. Learning to rest is a big part of the work I do with people, and it’s work I’ve had to do myself.
Starts Monday, November 2. Doors close when the challenge begins.
- 14 days of short video lessons and journal pages
- Private Slack community with me every day
- Bonus live call, Tuesday, November 17 at 7pm Central
- Optional small group call at checkout, $100 (10 spots)
The Rest Challenge is an educational program, not therapy, and joining does not create a therapist-client relationship.