Good morning!

Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.

The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to enjoy your journey to the finish line.

Did you know…

The Moon looks upside down in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Best Laid Plans

The plan for this past weekend was simple.

Pick up my girlfriend from the hospital on Friday afternoon and get her home safely.

Pick up my RV and put it into storage on Saturday morning.

Decompress Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.

But you know what they say about “the best laid plans.”

I made it to the hospital Friday afternoon, but the procedure my girlfriend underwent was a bit of a doozy.

She had to stay overnight.

I didn’t get home until 11:30pm.

I woke up early Saturday, went back to the hospital, and she was finally released around noon.

I got her home safe and she’s now recovering nicely.

But that meant pushing my RV project until Sunday morning.

So I woke up early again on Sunday, drove out, hitched it up, brought it to storage, and got home around noon.

Then I passed out.

Completely exhausted.

I’m not telling you this to complain.

I’m telling you this because the entire weekend reminded me of something I learned years ago.

I can operate at a very high level, for long stretches, under pressure, with very little rest.

But only under one condition.

I need a finish line.

If I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m good.

For example, when I was in jumpmaster school in the Army, we slept maybe three hours per night for two weeks.

A handful of hours of sleep for a school that qualifies you to make sure paratroopers stay alive when they jump.

The stakes are high.

The margin for error is zero.

With three hours of sleep per night.

Maybe a quick nap during lunch if you were lucky.

But I got through it.

Successfully.

Why?

Because I knew in two weeks, it would be over.

There was a clear finish line.

Now compare that to when I was practicing law.

Then do it again.

Day after day.

Week after week.

Month after month.

At first, it felt fine.

Even exciting.

Until one day, it hit me.

“Wait… where’s the finish line?”

And there wasn’t one.

Just an endless loop.

Sure, I had Sundays. Holidays. Maybe a week of vacation if I was lucky.

But that time wasn’t real time off.

It was recovery.

Catching up on rest I had put on credit.

Handling responsibilities I had pushed aside because work came first.

There was nothing meaningful to look forward to.

That’s when I knew something had to change.

Because I refuse to spend the rest of my life on repeat.

The Lesson

Most people don’t burn out because they’re working hard.

They burn out because they’re working hard with no finish line.

There’s a difference.

You can endure almost anything when you know it’s temporary.

You struggle when it feels permanent.

What’s the Point of All This?

The point is to reflect on the fact that most people are living in a version of that loop right now.

Wake up. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

With no defined break.

No extended time off.

No period where they can fully disconnect without guilt.

And over time, that wears you down.

Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

You stop looking forward to things.

You start counting down to weekends that never feel long enough.

You convince yourself this is just how life is supposed to be.

But I assure you, it’s not.

Even in the Army, when I worked six straight months without a day off, I knew what was coming on the other side.

Downtime.

Real downtime.

Time where I didn’t have to “get up and go.”

Time where if I wanted to stay in pajamas all day and do nothing, I could do it without guilt.

And that made all the difference.

And because I know what makes a difference for me to operate at a very high level, for long stretches, under pressure, with very little rest, I refuse to live a life where the default is no end in sight.

The Final Point

If your life feels like an endless loop, it’s not because you’re incapable of handling it.

It’s because you haven’t defined a finish line.

And if you don’t create one, no one will do it for you.

That finish line could be a two-week cross-country road trip.

A month in a different country.

A weekend off-grid camping.

A planned period where you fully step away from work and reset.

Something real. Something defined. Something you can experience.

Because once you have that, everything changes.

You’re no longer just grinding through your days.

You’re moving toward something.

And that makes all the difference.

A Destination Worth Traveling To

Quote that caught my attention…

“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”

—Maya Angelou

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