Step 1: Take Care of Yourself So You Can Serve Others

Mitch’s recovery began with one painful walk down a driveway.

I remember talking to Mitch. He never imagined that finishing well would begin at the end of his own driveway.

After the succession plan for the company he founded went off track in year three, Mitch was ousted by the board of his own company. Exhausted and disoriented, his dreams crumbled. For a while, he mostly just stopped moving.

His wife, Heather, urged him to start walking with her each day. On the first day, his feet hurt so badly he couldn’t even make it to the end of the driveway.

Most leaders don’t neglect themselves in one big decision. It happens quietly. Stress piles up, rhythms disappear, exercise stops, and margin gets crowded out. Then one day, something as simple as a walk feels harder than it should.

But Mitch kept walking. It didn’t seem like much at first, but it mattered. And as he kept walking, clarity began to return. He took a month-long sabbatical and spent 30 days dwelling in the Psalms, reading through the entire book. 

The walking helped his body; the Psalms helped his soul. Brisk daily walking brought clarity to his mind, body, and spirit. The man who could not make it to the end of the driveway was, three months later, walking more than three miles a day.

Step 1 in finishing well starts with the leader, not the plan.

Before you can pass on leadership well, you have to be healthy enough to carry the weight of the transition. This means looking at your daily habits and rhythms of rest and renewal. Before you can finish well publicly, you must learn to live well privately.

Finishing well isn’t just about strategy. It’s about stewardship.

If your soul is exhausted, your body neglected, and your calendar leaves no margin for reflection, prayer, or rest, then even the best succession plan will eventually run into the limits of an unhealthy leader.

For some leaders, that may mean walking. For others, it may mean protecting a weekly Sabbath, taking a real sabbatical, rebuilding morning prayer, or clearing enough margin to hear from God instead of just reacting to the next demand.

Mitch’s recovery didn’t begin with a board meeting, a valuation, or a legal document. It began with one painful walk down a driveway.

Sometimes finishing well begins the same way for us: not with a big decision, but with one small, faithful step toward becoming healthy again.

What is one rhythm you need to restore so you can serve others from a healthier place?