S2-Ep5: Creating Sustainable High Performance
Episode 5: Creating Sustainable High Performance (Series Finale)
How do you create high performance that actually lasts? In this powerful finale to our Burnout to Resilience series, Christine Dang and Ras Contractor tackle the ultimate question: building systems—both personal and organizational—that support consistent, long-term excellence without the crash.
This isn't about intense productivity spurts followed by burnout. It's about becoming what Ras calls a "hybrid athlete"—someone who can sprint when needed, go the distance when required, and recover strategically to maintain peak performance year after year.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why sustainable high performance is like training for multiple sports, not just one
How to break the boom-bust productivity cycle that's destroying high achievers
The mission-vision-values framework that prevents organizational burnout
Why discipline trumps motivation every time (and how to build it starting impossibly small)
Leading vs. lagging indicators: the metrics that actually predict sustainable success
How to balance performance demands with wellness without compromising either
Real ROI numbers: hundreds of thousands in business improvement from wellness investments
Why SMEs (small-medium enterprises) are winning the wellness game while corporations retreat
The COVID wellness whiplash and what it reveals about corporate priorities
Strategic planning as "organizational self-care"
Plus, discover:
Ras's morning routine transformation: from rolling out of bed to comprehensive training in just months
How HRV tracking could revolutionize workplace wellness (if companies have the courage)
Why AI + resilience = an unstoppable combination for the future of work
The real reason most change initiatives fail (and it's not what leadership thinks)
Whether you're an exhausted achiever looking to sustainably scale your performance, a leader wanting to build antifragile teams, or someone ready to align your work with your values, this episode provides the complete roadmap from burnout to thriving.
Series Reflection: From understanding chronic stress as a "flexed muscle" to building empathetic narcissism, from toxic culture transformation to sustainable systems—this 5-part journey gives you everything needed to break free from the boom-bust cycle and create lasting high performance.
Key Insight: Self-care at every level—individual, team, organizational. It's not selfish; it's the foundation of sustainable excellence. Take care of yourself, then influence everyone around you to do the same.
Resources mentioned:
Kaizen methodology (continuous improvement)
Leading vs. lagging indicators framework
Mission-vision-values alignment process
Ras Contractor: highlevelthink.com | Instagram: @rasallahcontractor
Thank you for joining us on this transformative journey. Remember: the path from burnout to resilience isn't just about surviving—it's about thriving.
Transcript
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Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Hey, beautiful people. Welcome to the final episode of our Burnout to Resilience series. I'm C Dang and today with Ras Contractor, we're tackling the ultimate question. How do we create high performance that actually lasts?
We've covered so much ground from understanding burnout's impact on our bodies, to practical wellness tools, to building resilient teams and leading through change. Now we're bringing it all together to explore what Ras calls sustainable high performance. This isn't about intense spurts of productivity followed by crashes. It's about building systems, both personal and organizational, that support consistent long-term excellence.
We'll explore how aligning mission, vision, and values prevents burnout, what metrics actually predict sustainable success and how to break free from the boom-bust cycle that so many of us find ourselves trapped in. This is about creating a way of working and living that doesn't just prevent burnout, it actually builds energy, engagement and joy. Let's dive into how to make high performance your new normal, not your emergency gear. Ras, welcome back.
Ras Allah Contractor
Hey, thank you. Hello everybody, glad to be here. If you're watching this, you may notice I've started to look different as these episodes have gone on. Clean shaven, this is actually just the fourth day. So if you're paying attention, just have a chuckle. Or maybe it's not that much. I don't know what the audience is going to think.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So let's get into it, Ras. So let's talk about, let's define sustainable versus unsustainable performance. What does sustainable high performance actually mean?
Ras Allah Contractor
Simple, high performance over the long run. So we talk about marathons and sprints, you know, life's not a sprint, it's a marathon. I mean, technically life is a journey. And so we need to be doing the various things. We're sprinting, we're relaxing, we're running a marathon, we're running a mid-sized race, we're bench pressing heavy weights and throwing things off the shelves. It doesn't matter. But the thing is, you have to be able to do this at a high level over the long run.
So how would you walk into a gym and try to bench 300 pounds for the first time? No, you would start with what makes sense for your body type and you would be having a goal based on your expectations of your body type. So take the same approach to high performance, more like getting things done and the way we take care of ourselves and voila.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I have to say I've learned this the hard way in my corporate days and I'm still learning. I'd push through project after project thinking I was building stamina, but really I was just depleting my reserves. No recovery time, no gradual building of capacity.
What I find interesting about your approach is that it acknowledges high performance isn't about your peak moments. Peak moments is about what you sustain year after year, like a marathon runner who trains to maintain pace for 26 miles, not sprint for 100 meters. Is that why so many high achievers crash? Because we're trying to think of performance as these intense bursts rather than this steady, sustainable progression.
Ras Allah Contractor
So there's a deep dive available here. Think of your progression over time as a very expanded window. So we're talking about like from when you're born to like when you stop breathing, you know, using the light terms. That's where we want to see a progression where you're improving every day and it's continually going up. Now inside that there's going to be troughs and valleys and flat lines and steep climbs and then drop-offs, right? So we actually want to be able to push and then recognize that it's time to recover and then recover and then prepare for the next sprint, you know, kind of like a training camp. And then you have the event and then you have a training camp and then you have the event and you have a relaxing cool down position.
Rather than thinking about like, okay, so marathon versus sprinter, marathon looks very different from a sprinter. Let's imagine ourselves to be hybrid athletes where we train to run hard and long. We train to run hard and fast and quick and short. But we also train to move heavy things and we train to be in uncomfortable positions or move, stay low to the ground without being able to be getting tight, etc. Having mobility, having strength, having speed, having stamina, having power, that's the way we want to look at our journey through life. Because by training all of these elements, then nothing gets left behind, not to mention the mental fortitude, the emotional fortitude, the quickness in thinking. You have to train because as the saying goes, if you don't use it, you'll lose it.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So then with that, how do we break the boom-bust cycle of productivity?
Ras Allah Contractor
Put it this way. This has been a theme through all four episodes. Let's start with that here. Self-care is the first step in the high performance journey and we're talking about sustainable high performance. If you take care of yourself, if you pay attention to yourself, if you connect the mind and the body so that the signals go back and forth and you're able to discern the needs of the mind, the needs of the body, the wants of the mind, the wants of the body, which are often different, then you likely move away from that which is burning you out, right?
So boom and bust is in our DNA. We kind of are programmed to just do and then under stress and anxiety creates needs and desires and outcomes. But at the same time, some people are naturally more disciplined and some of that's nature versus nurture, right? Lots of studies kind of show the child who can say no to the second donut has more success because they're naturally more disciplined. But it's probably a lot that happened in the first few years of their childhood, right? And so if every life skill is trainable, which I believe strongly, I just don't believe everybody's willing to go through the pain to train the skill that is difficult to train. But let's just call it what it is. Discipline is actually the bedrock of high performance and self-care is the first step.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I have to say, discipline used to make me cringe because I thought I didn't have it. But you're right, it's trainable, though it took me years to get it. The breakthrough? Realizing discipline and consistency are partners. You can't have one without the other. I used to do these massive bursts, like I'll meditate one hour daily and fail by day three. What worked was starting tiny. So two minutes daily meditation taught me more about discipline than my dramatic attempts. Consistency built that habit, then discipline became just what I do.
That's why boom-bust is so tempting. We get the high from intense productivity bursts, but haven't built the unsexy foundation of daily practices. Is that what you see too? Like people need to unlearn the all or nothing approach?
Ras Allah Contractor
100%. Put it this way and this is a good story for your listeners if we didn't catch it before. When I was coming out of a window of not being very productive in the morning, kind of just rolling out of bed and going to work, I recognized that the morning was kind of an opportunity because I was getting up just in time to go to work. You know, is that my choice? So I rolled out of bed, did some pushups and then rolled out of bed, did some pushups and then rolled out of bed a few days later and did some pushups and situps or just pushups every day, pushups and situps every day, and then within months, two to three months, I was rolling out of bed and then going to the track, doing a sprint and agility session, and then going to the gym, lifting some weights, and then coming home to shower and heading to work.
So that is what's possible if we take baby steps. And it was discipline, but it started at a small level. So the discipline to stick to the program, the discipline to stick to the small steps that we prescribe that are going to take us step by step to where we want to go. So motivation really means nothing because motivation is not limitless. Discipline, you regiment that, you install that as a life skill, and that's all.
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Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So let's segway into the strategy wellness connection, like aligning personal and organizational goals. How do mission, vision, values work to prevent burnout?
Ras Allah Contractor
I love this question because I actually wasn't really connecting all these things together. Like I did, I do call my program the high performance journey kind of individual, team and organization. But then it would be coming burnouts in my head. It was very much like, you know, burnout to resilience. Anyways, you clarified something which is powerful for everybody to understand moving forward. Because mission, vision, values at an individual, team and organizational level is also pivotal to the long-term journey in high performance. So let's dive into it.
Mission. What is your mission? If you know your mission, then it's easy to get through sticking points. And if you don't know your mission, then it's going to become difficult when things get tough. Same thing for a team, same thing for an organization. So again, you're just rewiring to do hard things, but under the discipline and having that bigger why.
So vision. You have a vision for your life that you're heading towards and your mission is what you're accomplishing towards your vision. So what do things look like when the execution is all done? That's a powerful thing to fall back on when things get tough. And again, at an individual, at a team, and at an organizational level. Now let's talk about values a little bit more, and we've alluded to this in previous episodes, but your personal values. If you understand those, then again, in times that are difficult, you can fall back on your values. You'll understand what's stressing you out. You'll understand what's coming at you that you don't want to deal with, but you probably have to, but you'll understand at least the dissonance.
So again, at an individual team and organizational level, if you understand your values and your values align with the team and the team's values align with the organization, that is a high performing system. You know, in war, you have a mission that needs to be accomplished. And your vision is like the end of the war and your values are like how the team aligns. You know, war is one of the most difficult, like, is there something more difficult to deal with than being in a war? And so if you kind of think about it like that and then roll it back to the fact that like in our lives, we're not at war, we're most likely trying to just accomplish things.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
This is hitting me hard because I spent years burnt out precisely because I had no idea what my mission or values were. I was just doing, really, working hard for the sake of working hard. Your warfare example lands like a soldier endures incredible hardship because the mission is clear. But in corporate life, I was exhausting myself for quarterly targets that meant nothing to me personally.
The value piece is huge. I remember being in environments where everyone glorified the hustle, working weekends, skipping lunch, competing over who slept less. Meanwhile, I valued balance and health, but kept quiet about it. That constant misalignment was like death by a thousand cuts. It wasn't until I got clear on my own mission, helping people live authentically, for example, that discipline became possible. Like suddenly the hard things had purpose. And when my values aligned with my work, chronic stress just decreased, which is really interesting. I wasn't fighting for myself anymore. I was fighting for everyone else. So is that what you've seen? That burnout often comes from that disconnect when we're grinding away at something that doesn't align with who we are or where we're trying to go.
Ras Allah Contractor
Yes, absolutely. So if we're not aligned, we're probably approaching burnout, right? Think of the body's alignment. Like if something's out of place or not as strong as the other side, then we're twisting in that stronger direction and we're twisting away from that weaker direction. And so it's just going to continue and get worse. And then that twisting and sticking is going to cause, in real terms, inflammation. But that could also be at an organizational or internal level, which then will actually cause inflammation because everybody's going to be stressed. And so the weakness doesn't improve unless you strengthen the opposite side. And so when we align our values, that's actually the process of straightening out and knowing that we push forward with both hands because we're not like feeling weird on the one side because, you know, hey, I don't feel good about this. And so you can't actually push.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So what happens when personal and company values clash?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, that's a bad place to be, right? Because you're walking into a situation where you're just constantly stressed because things don't align with your values, right? I could value accountability. I could not value accountability. Just pretend I'm on one side or the other. And in the company and the team that I'm working with, they're the opposite. So I want to be accountable. I want to get my work done, but we're not holding people accountable within the team. And the reason I use that example is that often the problem and what we're trying to solve.
So if I'm there every day and I'm watching people get away with not doing their work, I'm going to feel really frustrated. I'm going to check out, I might just work extra hard. Either way, you're now heading towards burnout because you're either going to be burnt out from being bored and checked out or you're going to be burnt out from trying to keep up for everybody else.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Wow, I think that is almost like, that's such a stressful thing to go through. And so can you share some examples of strategic planning that includes wellness?
Ras Allah Contractor
Sure, I mean it's a really fun thing for me to do and I honestly don't know many companies. In fact, if there are companies that are doing this, please I want to know who they are because I'd love to study them. But I mean ultimately, you know, installing metrics inside the company that allow you to have a better understanding of how people are doing. And you know, I'm joking, I'm pretty sure there are companies doing this. But you know, if you have HRV tracking and resting heart rate tracking, so heart rate variability tracking, resting heart rate tracking, inside the system of how we do our check-ins and how we are aware of each other day to day. For example, I could wake up and say, no, I didn't sleep that well, and so my HRV is a little low, and so I'm a little bit fried. And if the team is aware of that, then they're going to step up and kind of help me out on that, right?
So you know, another example could be implementing a wellness spending account or you could be negotiating a deal with the local gym chain to have people be able to leverage that deal and then incentivizing the usage, right? Because you kind of still have to get people to use the thing. But at the same time, you know, if you include wellness as part of the strategic planning process, right? So that means that part of the strategy of the company moving forward is to have a healthy and dynamic, powerful workforce again, bigger stronger faster and kinder if those are actually goals for the company, it changes the way you see things right.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I think that's so interesting because I don't think I've heard of anyone speaking about HRV anywhere other than working out. I think that's really interesting. So I know you gave an example of that, but how does it really work and why would it benefit folks?
Ras Allah Contractor
Good question. I mean, I could pose a hypothetical scenario. The company is wanting to be wellness focused. And so they say, I come in and I'm like, OK, let's do a few things. So first, in the strategic planning, we all have to agree as a leadership team that health and wellness is a priority. So we're going to make it a pillar of our strategy moving into the next quarter and specifically over the next year. So let's say we're doing an annual planning session. We're planning for quarter one.
Then in that, we do a deep dive into the various ways that within the culture, within the organization, knowing the people on hand and knowing leadership, what are we comfortable tracking to measure this improvement in health and wellness as an organization? And so then, assuming I have carte blanche, I would say, look, let's give everybody wearables, let's get everybody kind of doing a brief journal to start, and let's offer to measure those things for them so that they understand their baseline HRV, they understand the way they're sleeping, they understand their baseline resting heart rates. And then from there, we're installing the self-care as part of the company's rhythm. Just the same way we install weeklies and check-ins and quarterlies and budget reports and opt meetings, we want to systemize the things, the behaviors, the leading indicators that are important for the company to move towards its goals.
So that's a little bit of tactical discussion. Again, it's bespoke because every organization is going to be different. And so you can't really prescribe what you have to do is understand through assessing and then jointly come up with a plan that fits the team.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I love that. Thanks for painting this different perspective when it comes to wellness in a work environment, because I think a lot of our listeners crave this, but also is scared, but doesn't really understand how it would look like. So thanks for explaining that for us.
Ras Allah Contractor
Thank you.
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Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Perfect. So now with that, we are going to go into what we want to talk about is measuring what matters. So beyond traditional metrics, what metrics predict sustainable success?
Ras Allah Contractor
So this is a fantastic opportunity to talk about leading and lagging indicators. So I did allude to this in just the previous part of the conversation. Consider this. A leading indicator tells us how we're doing as we're leading to an outcome. And then a lagging indicator would be an indicator that shows up after the outcome. Let's picture this. It's really important for us to be focusing on what we can do now to improve the next outcome.
If we're overly focused on how things went, it's a little bit late. Simply put, if we focus on the behaviors right now that are going to lead us to the outcomes that we want, and we kind of track those every day, or as much as makes sense within the organization, then we're going to see a trajectory that is way better than only paying attention to how things went, say, over the past three months, and then trying to reset and change things moving forward. Why didn't we deal with this a month, two months ago, three months ago?
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So let me see if I understand this with a concrete example or some examples for our listeners. So say someone wants to lose weight, right? The lagging indicator is the number on the scale at the end of the month. By the time you see it, it's just history. You can't change that. Leading indicators are like daily steps taken, vegetables eaten per meal, hours of sleep, water intake, these are behaviors that lead to the weight loss.
Or in a business context, revenue is the lagging indicator everyone obsesses over, but the leading indicators might be the number of customer calls made, response time to inquiries, employee engagement scores. By the time revenue drops, it's too late. But if your customer calls drop or response time increases, you can course correct it before it hits the bottom line. I think what hit me about your point is that we often stress about lagging indicators we can't control anymore, instead of focusing on the daily actions we can control, like stressing about the last quarter's numbers instead of focusing on today's customer interactions.
Is that what you mean that sustainable success comes from tracking and adjusting these daily behaviors rather than just waiting for the end results?
Ras Allah Contractor
Absolutely, you wrapped it up perfectly with a bow there. It's important, I think, for individuals, teams, and organizations to understand the difference between leading and lagging indicators, because it is a transcendent outcome if you do differentiate. And consider this, the journey is important. The destination isn't necessarily under our control. So why are we so caught up in that destination each time when we should really be making the most of the journey day by day, hour by hour potentially? And so we even have an excellent opportunity to be fantastic today and just kill it. And so if we focus on that and we stack solid days on solid days and sometimes it's not a solid day but we just go to be the solid day the next time, you're going to have solid weeks over solid weeks, over solid months, over solid quarters, over solid years and then you're going to see great results.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So how do we balance performance demands with wellness?
Ras Allah Contractor
You know at one point we have to convince and if you don't already think this it's hard to convince right but wellness is what leads to high performance and high performance is what leads to great profitability and powerful organizations that are dynamic into the end of time. So the studies are there, the data is there, the metrics have been proven, but you know again we get caught up in profitability and cash flow and that is hard to come away from in times of stress.
So in times that aren't stressful, so when we have the opportunity, then it's good to start to focus on this. But if we can't convince an organization's leadership that wellness is going to create the massive ROI that it always does, then you can't really move forward. That being said, everybody can invest in themselves. So yes, if it's not in a corporate profile, then you as a human can influence your team, your family, your life, and actually focus on self-care, discipline and being high performance sustainably.
So protect your time, protect your energy. Don't let the company burn you out at the expense of you because at the end, this is going to sound like a harsh thing to say, but everybody's a number in an organization and when numbers need to be cut, the numbers are cut and that's just how life works. That being said, what can you do to have sustainable power within the organization? Just constantly be a high performer, but without burning yourself out. At the same time, people like to talk about a personal brand. Pump your personal brand. Make sure everybody knows how good you are at what you do and how you do things at a level that people don't understand is possible. You know what I mean?
And so with that, daily tactics, weekly, monthly to be successful. So the daily, weekly and monthly tactics to be successful as a team, for the team to be successful for the company and for the company to be successful. If wellness is tacked onto that daily, weekly, and monthly requirement, it's not something additional. And again, if we're growing in the Kaizen way, it's not something massive to start. It's a little baby step.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
This makes so much sense, like making wellness a tracked commitment rather than a nice to have. I'm curious though, what does that look like in practice? Do you mind sharing what you do personally in your daily and weekly wellness routines or what you've found most people tend to need? I know everyone's different and I think our listeners would love to hear some concrete examples of what these wellness leading indicators actually look like.
Like, are we talking about tracking meditation minutes, workout frequency, sleep hours, or is it more nuanced than that? Because I've seen people track everything perfectly on paper, but still burn out because they're just going through the motions. So what are the wellness practices that actually move the needle for sustainable performance?
Ras Allah Contractor
So let's look at this through leading and lagging indicators again, right? What are the behaviors day to day, week to week, month to month, that are going to allow us to continue moving forward in an effective way? So HRV and RHR would tend to indicate where we're going, but it's also an indication of where we are now. So I'll come back to that. We can't necessarily track everything through wearables, because that also is like very personal. So some people might not be comfortable sharing that information. I wish that wasn't the case, but that is.
But you know, it's like, did you spend some time moving this morning? Or how did you eat? How did you rest? Again, it's too personal. But if in a healthy culture, we want to be open about our lives and we want to share because people will be aware of how we're doing. We just moved into a new house. We're in the middle of a big move. We're in the middle of a big project. We're in the middle of a home rental, whatever it is. Just had a kid, you know, kids going to school, kids going to university. Got a new dog? It doesn't matter. What we're going through personally is going to affect how we're handling the work stuff.
So on my note, I've gone too far. I used to meditate for like 15 minutes regimented in the morning and I noticed that over time it was stressing me out to like try to get this meditation in time. And then you're taking it out on the energy around you. At the same time, I used to get way caught up in like what my HRV and my RHR looked like. And so you realize if I feel okay, my HRV is a little low. I shouldn't change the way I feel just because I saw a number.
So two things to keep in mind. A, it's always going to be very individualized. So we can't just decide we're going to track these things or we're going to track these steps or these processes or people have to do X amount of time in the gym. It's having that personalized plan. And then really the leading indicator is, did you do the thing that you committed to move forward on your wellness journey and did you also get your work done for the week and did you wrap up the things that you said you were going to wrap up? So all of that's important but again we want to make it such that are you taking care of yourself, are you taking care of the team, are you taking care of the company?
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Thanks for explaining that for our listeners. I think, yeah, some of that actually made me think about my stuff. So I've been reflecting as you're talking as well. So my next question is like with that, like what were the most impressive ROI numbers from your clients?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, so it's tough to talk about the work I do because it is fairly personal. I don't really want to be broadcasting details like that. But at the same time, what I can say is that I go in, things improve. And so just kind of look at why. What am I doing? I'm an external party that doesn't have any ties to any of the regular systems and processes and people and functions and job descriptions. So what I'm able to do is actually create from scratch and through that it's different from before but at the same time you just have an injection of energy that is going to create a boost.
You know without me, owners are project managers and nothing changes. With me there's a pipeline of project managers. Without me the team is shrinking and with no end in sight and then with me the team is now growing and becoming high performing. You know with me, leadership and HR is inundated with complaints and problems constantly and write-ups and dealing with issues and without me, they have time to focus strategically on their work.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Yeah, so thanks for sharing that without really giving us so much. But I'm going to push you a little bit more. Like, can you give us some more numbers that our listeners can probably try to understand and kind of relate to?
Ras Allah Contractor
Sure. Okay, so I mean, we'll talk a little bit about maybe my 12 years of freelancing, right? So on average, a workshop's been between a thousand and 15,000. And then on average, a deep dive's like four to five grand. On average, a team build's been like 10,000 to $50,000 when you factor in like the entire scope of the project. But take those numbers and now factor in the reduction in noise, people's jobs coming back, you know, high performers blossoming, leadership development, HR not being inundated, the team now growing and handling bigger and better things, leadership being able to go out and build instead of focusing on being producers in their business.
We're talking, in every case that I talked about, in the long run, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvement to the business itself. So it's hard to argue that even a $50,000 team build isn't going to provide a massive ROI. And you know what, for your viewers, and listeners and whole community. If you reach out and would like to discuss this a little bit more, challenge me, I'd love to because it's a really interesting topic and plus you will have insights that I would like to hear about.
In fact, one of the biggest fails of my career outside of freelancing for 12 years because I was just kind of like always landing projects and that was enough and I wasn't really doing business development, marketing and sales so, you know, not really building anything. I'm just working and creating outcomes and then moving on to the next thing. But you know, in that, if I had structured my pricing on an outcome based contract, you know, my earnings would have been a lot better.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Yeah, I guess that's something that we always had to learn the hard way.
Ras Allah Contractor
Right now, as we're, you know, I have some pricing that I usually propose because I kind of understand the scope of most projects that I work on by choice. But, you know, I always talk no matter what we're doing, whether it's a project or something personal, let's talk about the outcomes. What do we want to see as a result of the things that we and I are going to do together? Are we in the team or this whole group is going to be trying to accomplish?
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I love that. I love how you explained that so nicely for our listeners. Thanks, Ras.
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Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So thanks for sharing those numbers with us Ras and thanks for letting me push you to answer that. The next thing I want to talk about is future proofing your approach like preparing for ongoing challenges for our listeners, for example. So how do we maintain momentum after initial improvements?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, this is the question of all questions, right? Like you've started some cool stuff, how do we keep things going? Because business as usual takes over. And that's individual, team, organization. Doesn't matter what's going on, business as usual takes over. We get busy, we stop paying attention to ourselves, we get stressed, we stop paying attention to ourselves because we got to get more done and all that kind of stuff. So, I mean, ultimately you have to behave like it's always in focus. So, Kaizen means continuous improvement. And so if you're not taking your foot off the pedal, then you're going to see things flow and then it becomes regimented. Then you get used to taking care of yourself after or during stress and that's the powerful window to be existing in.
So things could be structured through internal accountability, new hires, ongoing retainers and scheduling, additional team builds, deep dives, planning sessions, right? So obviously I can stay involved, we have to be very clear about what we're doing and what the length of time and why we're doing it. But it's very easy to set this up internally. You just kind of need a champion for it.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So then what kind of trends are you seeing in workplace wellness then?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, that's interesting, right? So, COVID window, and just kind of maybe just a little bit before that, like wellness was starting to take off. And it's funny because, you know, I'm talking about wellness, you know, back in the 2000s and 2010s, right? So pre-2020, it's starting to take off a little bit. And then through COVID, it becomes a very important thing because it's allowing them to keep the team engaged. And then, you know, 2023 hits and, you know, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and that all goes out the window from a corporate level.
What I did find though is that because it had become corporate, SMEs were picking it up. And so I'm seeing a need for team building and wellness on the SME side. And to be honest with you, that's actually going to be their secret sauce moving forward. Because an SME, small to medium enterprise that isn't sort of beholden to shareholders in conglomerate fashion, is nimble, can install systems and test things out. But if you have physically high performing people in a smaller team that are doing massive things together, that's your secret sauce. So the fact that SMEs are leaning into wellness and team building, I think that's a really great thing to note. And it's good because going back to what am I talking about, I just want the world to know, hey, chronic stress is a problem. You should pay attention to it because your life is going to improve once you start to pay attention to it. And so, hey, if people are listening, that's great for me.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
And just in case our listeners couldn't pick that up, SME, is Small, Medium, Enterprise. Okay. So, as you were saying, like, what do you mean during COVID? Like, every company was suddenly all about wellness, meditation apps, mental health days, we care about burnout. Then inflation hits, economy gets shaky and those same companies are like, actually forget wellness, just work harder. It's that whiplash between we care about your wellbeing and productivity at all costs. Is that what you're seeing? Because that's what I am kind of going through.
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, no, absolutely. So larger organizations are, hey, work and if you burn out, we'll just deal with it then. We need you to get, we need you to produce. And that being said, as I mentioned before, the SME world is actually heading in a better direction. I'm seeing SMEs, small medium enterprises, understand that wellness is possibly their secret sauce to competing at a bigger level. And so it's not all the way through, but I'm starting to see signs that it is. And who knows where this will go. What we're going to do through these episodes is just share information. And if it lands, then we can help you out.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
So how, with that said, how can organizations prepare for future stressors?
Ras Allah Contractor
Strategic planning is important. Consider that the self-care for an organization because often I'll hear or see, yeah, we do that but we haven't done it for about seven months or six months or five months or whatever it is. Strategic planning from an organizational level should be done at the leadership level every three months. But you should be strategic on a regular basis, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly. And so if you take the time to continually dive into the things that are going well, the things that we're worried about, and the things that are coming up that are going to create problems, continue to be curious, open-minded, and cultivate a great culture. Possibly install a culture of Kaizen moving towards being bigger, stronger, faster, and kinder. Then you're going to create a resilient organization, and that's going to be self-sustaining. And so, no matter what comes in the future, we can handle it.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I love that. I hope more companies are to listen to this podcast and then get you to help them out because I think this is going to be something that's really pivotal for any big corporate industries. So that way their employees can produce better.
Ras Allah Contractor
You bet.
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Christine "C-DANG" Dang
We've already went through so many great things that I think our listeners will love. I love it so far. I can't, I've been so excited about this series for quite some time. So the one question I want to ask you is that what's the most important takeaway from our series?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, before I jump into this, thanks for having me. It's been so much fun working on this project with you. And I'm sad that it's ending because these recordings have been a good time for me. For future people who will have the opportunity to be on this podcast, I envy your future enjoyment of the situation. So now that being said, what is the one thing that you can take away from the five episodes that we are now wrapping up on? Self-care at every level. Take care of yourself. Influence that with the people around you in your family, friends, team, department, organization, company. Do that at every level. Do that at every level. But if that's too big, just take care of yourself. Self-care isn't selfish. It's actually the bedrock. Sorry, it's the first step in high performance. We'll go back to discipline being the bedrock.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
I love that. Thanks, Ras. And so where can listeners learn more about your programs?
Ras Allah Contractor
Yeah, so I'm pretty easy to find. Website, www.highlevelthink.com. I'm on LinkedIn, so Ras Allah Contractor. I'm on Instagram, Ras Allah Contractor. If you go to the website, you can ping me through the various options there. Set up a chat, happy to talk within the boundaries of a schedule. But you know, I'm pretty easy to find.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
And the one thing that I wanted to ask you is, and I'm really excited about this answer, is that what gives you hope about the future of work?
Ras Allah Contractor
You know what? What gives me hope is the learnings that are coming out right now. It's clear, chronic stress is a debilitating disease that is going to slowly kill you and that is very clear now to people who are looking for it. Number two, AI is beautiful. AI plus resilience is unstoppable. The fact that we can leverage technology to get things done faster, it democratizes the whole world. And so if you want it, you can do it.
We'll continue to share information. The more you know, the more you can deduce what's good for you and what's not in your long-term interests. So the more you learn, the more you dig, try to understand who benefits from the information that you're consuming and the perspective that you're consuming. And then try to distill it and understand if you know what your values are, you know how you need to take care of yourself, you know what's good for you and the people around you, you can start to see the dissonance in the messaging versus the real thing that is actually going to be beneficial.
And here's what I want to make sure people understand. Everything that I talk about is out there for free and you can ask for it and I will just give you documents. This is not something that I'm trying to create a barrier to entry or a moat around. I only want to get involved with like really fun situations where there's like an opportunity to do something great. So if you want information, just ask, it's there, it's searchable, and that I think is the coolest thing about the future moving forward.
Christine "C-DANG" Dang
Ras, I can't thank you enough for this incredible journey. From understanding the science of burnout to practical tools, from team dynamics to leadership and now sustainable high performance, you've given us a complete roadmap for transformation. What I love most about your approach is it's not just about doing more or pushing harder. It's about aligning our actions with our values, understanding our bodies and minds, and creating systems that support us rather than deplete us.
So to everyone who's been with us through this series, you now have the tools to break the boom-bust cycle. Remember, sustainable high performance isn't about perfection, it's about consistency, alignment, and giving yourself permission to be human. And I encourage you to revisit these episodes whenever you need a reminder or want to go deeper into specific areas and please share the series with someone who might be struggling with burnout. Sometimes the right information at the right time can change everything.
For all the show notes, transcriptions, and resources from today's episode, head over to c-dang.com. And if you're curious to learn more about Ras, visit his website at highlevelthink.com. You can find Ras on Instagram at Ras Allah Contractor.
Thank you all for joining us on The Dang Good Show. Remember the journey from burnout to resilience isn't just about surviving, it's about thriving. Stay aligned with your values, stay connected to your purpose, and as always, stay dang good. Much love, C Dang, signing out.
