This is the final essay in this introductory series … and the beginning of everything else.
There's a moment I remember with crystalline clarity.
I was sitting in my car after another ten-hour day in a toxic workplace, staring at the traffic ahead of me, knowing I still had a 90-minute commute before I could even think about unwinding. And when I got home, I’d probably need to put in another hour or two of work, before I could do that.
My body felt like a stranger's, running on agitated adrenalin. And somewhere in that familiar fog of exhaustion, I realised I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt like myself.
I was achieving everything I thought I wanted, working for a “reputable” brand, helping things run smoothly, keeping everything in check. But I was just ticking boxes, and completely disconnected from my own rhythm.
I was tap dancing to someone else's tempo, trying to keep up with a beat that was slowly killing me.
Piled on top of this came personal challenges, putting strain on my close relationships.
Stuck in that car, I knew something had to change, I just didn’t know how to make that change. So, instead, I persevered.
The culmination, months later, was that my body eventually called time out, as bodies tend to do when we ignore them long enough.
Burnout came to call.
But that breakdown became my breakthrough.
It forced me to confront a truth I'd been avoiding:
The system wasn't broken by accident.
It was designed this way.
And I wasn't alone in feeling lost within it.
Over the years since founding Creating Cadence, I've had countless conversations with people who think their burnout story is unique to them, their industry, their personal failings.
But here's what I've learned…
We all have the same painful story.
We've all been programmed to believe that work should consume us, that rest is weakness, that our worth is measured by our output.
We feel guilty when we try to buck the system — flexible working, setting boundaries, four-day weeks, etc. — when these approaches are actually far better for business and ourselves.
I’ve said it before… we're not broken, the system is.
But Creating Cadence on Substack isn't another productivity newsletter to help you hack the system.
This isn't about optimising your way to happiness or hustling harder for success.
This is about something quieter, but more radical.
Helping you connect with your natural rhythm in a world that profits from your disconnection.
The Permission You've Been Waiting For
Before we talk about what Creating Cadence will become here, let's talk about what you're allowed to want.
You're allowed to work at your own pace, even when everyone else seems to be sprinting.
You're allowed to prioritise depth over breadth, quality over quantity, meaning over metrics.
You're allowed to not have everything figured out. Leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about creating space for better questions.
You're allowed to change direction without justifying every pivot to people who weren't walking your path anyway.
You're allowed to create imperfectly, because your next breakthrough lives in the pauses between notes, not in the relentless pursuit of flawlessness.
Most importantly, you're allowed to build something that matters, because it's yours (and it doesn’t have to be perfect).
What I’m Really Talking About Here
When I say "cadence," I'm not talking about time management or productivity tips.
I'm talking about the rhythm that helps set the pace that makes everything else possible.
This is about the difference between performing “productivity theatre” and actually producing something meaningful.
In this publication, we’ll explore the inner game of leadership that is rooted in wellbeing and creativity, i.e. the stuff they don't teach in business school or productivity courses.
We’ll be covering…
1. The courage to lead with your whole self.
We'll consider what it means to make decisions when you're still figuring things out, the imposter syndrome that haunts high achievers, and why the loneliness of leadership is inevitable, but navigable.
2. The art of creating with intention.
We'll dig into why most creative advice fails creative thinkers, and why your best work isn't created in spite of your limitations, it's created because of them.
3. The hidden cost of “always on”
We'll investigate the mythology of overnight success, how to work with your natural rhythms instead of against them, and what happens when you stop trying to optimise everything.
4. The quiet rebellion against hustle culture.
We'll examine the exhaustion of performance productivity, the art of strategic rest, and why finding your actual creative rhythm matters more than hitting arbitrary metrics.
5. The human side of professional growth.
We'll explore how to build relationships that sustain rather than drain you, and why some of your most important work happens in the spaces between official projects.
But here's what makes this different:
We're not just talking about these things in theory.
We're exploring them through the lens of lived experience. The messy, imperfect, deeply human reality of trying to create something meaningful while staying connected to who you are.
The Stories That Shape Us
I learned about the cost of disconnection the hard way. More than once.
Even after I'd founded Creating Cadence, even after I'd written extensively about the importance of sustainable rhythms, and delivered multitudes of talks and workshops on the topic, I still found myself falling into old patterns.
When I decided to write and self-publish my book in 2023, I approached it with the intensity of a perfectionist. I poured everything into the writing. My blood, heart, and soul went into every page, because I knew this information needed to reach people I couldn’t physically get to.
What I didn't realise was that writing the book was only the beginning. Marketing and promoting a book is essentially running another business in itself, alongside your day job. But I'd spent all my energy on the first act and arrived at the second completely depleted.
There I was, advocating for sustainable working practices, while burning myself out on my own creative project that advocated for sustainable working practices!
The irony wasn't lost on me.
But then I realised, I was still learning to pace myself, still discovering that knowing something intellectually, and putting it into practice in one part of your life or work, are very different things from living it consistently across all facets of your life.
This is the work we're all doing, learning to practice and implement, slowly, consistently, and repeatedly, in small steps over time.
We need to extend to ourselves the same grace we'd offer a friend, to remember that sustainable success isn't built on heroic effort, but on adaptable, intentional rhythms, that enable us to show up consistently, be that in big or small ways.
The Rhythm of Real Change
The goal isn't to find work-life balance. Balance implies a perfect equilibrium that frankly doesn't exist in real life.
I feel so strongly about this that I wrote a whole post about it.
The goal is to find work-life cadence:
Work-life cadence is a rhythm that allows for intensity when it's needed, and recovery when it's necessary, that honours both your ambitions and your humanity.
This will be a place where we explore that rhythm together.
Where we acknowledge that leadership is sometimes lonely, that creativity is always vulnerable, and that building something meaningful requires vision and patience (and a strong foundation).
We'll talk about the practical stuff. But we'll also dig into deeper questions:
What does it mean to lead authentically in a world that rewards performance?
How do you maintain creative integrity while building a sustainable business?
When is pushing through resistance productive, and when is it self-destructive?
What You Can Expect
Future editions of Creating Cadence will offer:
Real talk about the challenges we don't usually share with others.
The fear of irrelevance that keeps creative thinkers awake at 4 AM. The weight of making decisions that affect other people's lives. The tension between wanting to be helpful and needing to protect your own energy.
Practical frameworks that account for human complexity.
Not life hacks or productivity tricks, but sustainable approaches that work with your psychology, not against it. Tools that help you make better decisions, have difficult conversations, and build momentum without burning out.
Stories and insights from others walking similar paths.
Because none of us is doing this alone, even when it feels that way. We'll explore how other leaders, creators, and change-makers have navigated similar challenges, what they've learned, and how their insights might apply to your situation.
Permission to work and create differently.
In a culture that glorifies the grind, we need regular reminders that there's another way. That sustainable success is not only possible, but preferable. That your wellbeing isn't selfish, it's strategic.
The Invitation
Here's what I'm really asking you to consider:
What if the way you've been taught to work isn't the only way?
What if the productivity advice that never quite worked for you wasn't wrong because you were implementing it poorly, but because it was built for someone else's rhythm?
What if leadership isn't about having unwavering confidence, but about making thoughtful decisions in the face of uncertainty?
What if creativity isn't about relentless output, but about creating space for ideas to emerge and evolve?
What if success isn't about optimisation, but about alignment, with your values, your natural rhythms, your long-term vision for what you want to build?
Creating Cadence is for the people who suspect there's a different way, but haven't quite found it yet.
It's for the leaders who want to lead with integrity, the creators who want to create sustainably, and the change-makers who understand that the most radical thing you can do in a culture obsessed with speed, is to move at your own pace.
It's for the people who've achieved things they thought they wanted and discovered they felt empty afterwards.
People who have realised that climbing the ladder faster doesn't help if it's leaning against the wrong wall.
It's for everyone who's ever felt like they were performing their life rather than living it.
The Beginning, Not the End
This is the final post in our launch series, but telling you about the Cadence Manifesto is really the beginning of everything else.
Over the coming weeks and months, we'll explore all of these themes in depth. We'll get practical about implementation and honest about obstacles. We'll celebrate progress and acknowledge setbacks.
Most importantly, we'll remember that finding your cadence isn't a destination, it's an ongoing practice.
Some weeks you'll feel perfectly in sync with your rhythm. Others, you'll feel like you're stumbling through someone else's song. Both are part of the process.
The work isn't about achieving perfect balance or optimal productivity. It's about building a life and career that feels sustainable, meaningful, and authentically yours.
It's about creating with intention, leading with integrity, and remembering that your humanity isn't a bug in the system. It's the feature that makes everything else worthwhile.
There’s a music industry term about playing "in the pocket."
It's that moment when musicians lock into a groove so natural, that the music seems to play itself. Not forced, not rushed, not fighting against the beat, just flowing in perfect sync.
That's what we're looking for.
Not perfection, but alignment.
Not speed, but pace.
Not balance, but cadence.
The rhythm is calling. Are you ready to listen?
Thank you for reading all the way to the end of this long post. I’ll be back in two weeks with the first essay in our main series.
If this resonates with you, I'd love to have you join us for the journey ahead. Subscribe to Creating Cadence and become part of a community that believes working more sustainably is not just possible — it's revolutionary — and it’s foundational for our success over the long run.
And if this strikes a chord, please share it. There are others out there who need to hear that there's another way, who need permission to find their own rhythm. Let's help them find us.
Want to work with me? Here’s how…
Private Advisory: 1 to 1 sessions. I work with a select group of entrepreneurs and founders to help them transform how they work (and build more flexible workflows for their business). Get in touch: hello@creatingcadence.co
Cadence Masterclasses: the next batch of online webinars are coming up in October 2025. Find out more here.
Cadence Catalyst: Join a carefully curated group of entrepreneurs and founders for an 8 week strategic mastermind. This is for high-achieving strivers seeking to create more space in their work life for sustainable success.
Register your interest for more info.