Leadership Sovereignty Podcast: Career Growth and Promotion

You took the vacation. So why do you feel like you need another one?

In this episode of the Leadership Sovereignty Podcast, host Ralph Owens and co-host Terry Baylor continue their conversation with Amethyst Roberson — executive coach and emotional intelligence strategist. This is Part 4 of 5 of their conversation with Amethyst.

Amethyst breaks down the difference between rest and reset — two things most leaders treat as the same thing and pay a real price for. She introduces the bear hibernation framework, the body keeps score concept, and a practical five-senses grounding practice you can use at your desk today. Ralph shares a candid moment about craving stillness without knowing how to create it — and how intentional recovery is the missing piece in most high performers' daily routine.

What you will learn in this episode:
- Why sleep and reset are two completely different biological processes
- The bear hibernation framework and what it means for how you recover
- How your body keeps score of every unmanaged stress response
- A five-senses grounding practice you can do in 10 minutes at work
- Why protecting your reset time is what increases your capacity — not reduces it

This episode is for you if:
- You come back from vacation and still feel depleted
- You grind from morning to bedtime and wonder why your performance is plateauing
- You lead a team and want to model sustainable high performance
- You are a high achiever who has never been taught how to intentionally recover

👤 View Amethyst Roberson's guest profile

🧾 Chapters
  • (00:05) - Introduction to Leadership Sovereignty
  • (01:01) - Rest vs. Reset
  • (05:18) - The Importance of Intentionality
  • (07:14) - Your Body Keeps Score
  • (10:55) - Enhancing Your Capacity

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📄 Full Episode Transcript

Creators and Guests

Guest
Amethyst Roberson
As a Licensed Professional Therapist, National Certified Counselor, and a seasoned educator in mental health and personal growth, she helps individuals and organizations navigate emotional wellness challenges. Her approach empowers clients to master their mental health, clarify their goals, and create actionable strategies for sustainable growth.

What is Leadership Sovereignty Podcast: Career Growth and Promotion?

The Leadership Sovereignty Podcast, hosted by Ralph E. Owens II and co-hosted by Terry Baylor, is a career acceleration platform

Leadership isn’t just a skill — it’s a career strategy for professionals seeking growth, influence, and promotion.

Hosted by Ralph Owens, Chief Information Officer, and Terry Baylor, CEO of a healthcare technology startup, the podcast delivers practical, real-world leadership strategies you can apply immediately. Each episode focuses on increasing visibility, navigating corporate dynamics, preparing for promotion, and leading beyond your title.

Expect short, high-impact conversations designed to help you think, act, and position yourself like a senior leader before you’re given the title.

You’re not just an employee. You’re the CEO of your career.

New episodes are released bi-weekly.

Terry Baylor:

Why after we supposedly have taken a rest, we're like, man, another vacation.

Ralph Owens:

We just grind all day long until we go to sleep, and that can't be healthy.

Amethyst Roberson:

The difference between rest, rest is actually sleep, is going through a physical process that we need to get up every day to be rejuvenated versus this hibernation, this reset is we

Ralph Owens:

Welcome to the Leadership Sovereignty Podcast, where professionals learn to navigate challenges at work through the power of leadership principles. I'm Ralph Owens, Chief Information Officer in the financial services industry alongside my cohost, Terry Baylor, the CEO of a healthcare tech startup. Together, we've spent decades building teams, transforming organizations, and coaching individuals through the moments that define their careers. We unpack the mindset, strategies, and habits that help you lead with confidence, expand your influence, get promoted, and increase your income. Now let's dive into today's episode.

Ralph Owens:

All right, Terry, you wanna take us to the next topic?

Terry Baylor:

Yeah, so I really like this topic, right? Let's just dig right into it. The difference between rest and reset, right? Why after we supposedly have taken a rest, we're like, man, I need another vacation.

Amethyst Roberson:

From the vacation.

Terry Baylor:

This is a new concept from rest versus reset, because a lot of times we believe when we take that vacation, we've reset. But what's really going on here?

Amethyst Roberson:

That's good. I'm laughing because that just happens. My ten day vacation came back, time to get busy again. I mean, there's definitely a difference clinically and physically and rest is sleep and giving our bodies time to really go through the cycle and the process. I'm not like a sleep expert, but we have to go through the process of sleep, getting into REM sleep and getting to the point where we are fully rested, disconnecting from all the AI world, all of technology, setting the space up, the room up so that you are at optimal rest versus reset.

Amethyst Roberson:

And I talked about this a little bit when we talked before in terms of like the bear effect, the hibernation effect where hibernation for There's a few animals, probably about four or five animals that hibernate and we're familiar with the bear, right? And so the bear is actually not asleep. The bear is in such a calm state that And here's the reason it's sleep. It's sleep because during that season, what that bear needs to eat, the snow is on the ground, it can't get to what it needs for nourishment, right? So it has to bring its body to a certain state so that it's not craving those things.

Amethyst Roberson:

It's not going after those things. So to me, the difference between rest, rest is actually sleep, is going through a physical process that we need to get up every day to be rejuvenated versus this hibernation, this reset is we bring our pulse down, we do meditation. There's so many different things that you can do to bring yourself into a calm state so that your body, your mind, your spirit is not craving. Church, we talk about that in that fasting state,

Terry Baylor:

where

Amethyst Roberson:

our body's not craving certain things so that we have kind of an open ear that we didn't have before then. It's not that So don't go near that bear, that bear not asleep. Right?

Ralph Owens:

Right, right.

Amethyst Roberson:

Don't come at me with an attitude or in real life, don't deal with me because you see me in this restorative reset state because I'm not sleep, I'm just in a place where I'm recovering. That has to be for us, okay, a bear does it, but for humans we have to be intentional about it. So that's why vacations can work, but it has to be a set intentional experience of bringing the physiological part of you all the way down through meditation, through breathing, the spa, whatever it is to bring that down. If your jaw is clenching, your shoulder is still struggling and hurting, you breathing fat, if you feel fragmented, you're not in that state of reset. So that's kind of how I usually address those two things in the leadership role, it's bringing your team to that space.

Terry Baylor:

That makes a lot of sense. That makes a Because lot of sense, most of us, Ralph, when we go on vacation, we start another job. It's another It's everywhere.

Ralph Owens:

Basically. Basically. Man, that is

Amethyst Roberson:

so I'm radical with it. I'm taking my computer and everything, so I got to Yeah, get better at

Ralph Owens:

that is so powerful though. Yeah. I'm trying to think in my own Well, guess as I've gotten older, I've craved it. Didn't know how to label it. Would tell my wife all the time, I'm like, Man, I don't want to

Ralph Owens:

go on no more cruises. Just too Right?

Ralph Owens:

I just

Ralph Owens:

want to go to a resort somewhere where I

Ralph Owens:

could just sit there and just look at the sky. Right? And I think I was just craving that ability to disconnect from everything. Be calm, you know? But now I'm thinking to myself, But how am I doing that daily?

Ralph Owens:

Where am I intentionally planning and making room for this process? Because we don't. Just grind all day long until we go to sleep.

Amethyst Roberson:

Yeah.

Terry Baylor:

Yes.

Ralph Owens:

And that can't be healthy for you, not only emotionally, but physically. Wow, that's really thought provoking. I appreciate that. It's making me rethink some things as to how I plan out my day. Because you talked about

Ralph Owens:

frameworks like yoga or breathing or those types

Ralph Owens:

of things. Everything you said requires intentional planning.

Amethyst Roberson:

Mhmm. Right? Putting it on the schedule.

Ralph Owens:

You gotta get it on a, it's gotta be just as important as everything else that you

Ralph Owens:

have to do, goes back

Ralph Owens:

to your capacity, right? It goes back to your capacity and setting boundaries, to be able to say, you know what, I'm gonna set a boundary here so that I can have this time for me to reset so that my capacity is greater so that I can be the best that I can be for you.

Terry Baylor:

Man, sure. That's

Amethyst Roberson:

it, me to reset.

Terry Baylor:

Yeah. Ralph, that was a great summary on that too. So also, Amethyst, can you hit a little bit on, and you said this before, you said your body is keeping score. I think this is a great a great segue to that, right? Because, you know, and that resonates with me, right?

Terry Baylor:

Because I'm a sports guy, I love sports. I mean, I love sports. And I'm gonna say this too, right? Amethyst and I, we went to high schools that were like rivals.

Amethyst Roberson:

Oh, what high school

Terry Baylor:

did you I'm go gonna get it out there. I went to McClure.

Amethyst Roberson:

Oh, yes, Fuck yeah.

Terry Baylor:

Yeah. So I went to the of the show, guys. I want the vibe and the energy in the right space. If it turns right now, you know why. I remember one time, man, they ran us out the parking lot, rap.

Terry Baylor:

They ran us out the parking lot, man. We had to leave.

Amethyst Roberson:

That was probably right in there. I did more than running, unfortunately.

Ralph Owens:

Man.

Amethyst Roberson:

Good good one. You all mentioned body keeps score, also one thing that you can do in a natural way, whether at work, at home, you're not on vacation is be mindful, notice your senses, taste, touch, what you're watching. And I always say, if you could just take five to ten minutes in your workday, notice something from each sense, maybe three things from each sense, what can you touch? Because a lot of times we're just on the keyboard and that's associated with work. Bring your little fuzzy ball.

Amethyst Roberson:

I have an Amethyst rock over there and I might just touch that rock, why? Because it's bringing me back to me, right? I'm centered in work, but I need to focus on me right now. I need to touch this rock and to ground my what's called grounding, right? I may get up, go outside, like when was the last time you put your feet in the grass, right?

Amethyst Roberson:

Been a long time, but as kids, did that all the time. Why? Because we were grounded. Again, we didn't have the language for then, but the language for putting your feet on the ground and in the grass right now is grounded. It's bringing you back to you.

Amethyst Roberson:

It's like touching something with your senses. So what can I taste? Not just eating your food, but taking time to enjoy your lunch. Going at a pace where your digestive system is doing what it's supposed to. So that is actually taking our lunches.

Amethyst Roberson:

I was horrible at that. I keep lotion at my desk. It's not just lotion, but I'll take scented lotion. Why? Because I can touch that.

Amethyst Roberson:

I can put that lotion on the smell of it. So now I'm in what I'm smelling. So again, of your five senses, think of three to five things that you can do to heighten all of those senses at least one or two sessions per day. You can break it up. Why do we do that?

Amethyst Roberson:

To bring ourselves back to that place of calm, that place that we talked about that is bringing you in touch with your capacity at that moment, it's enhancing your capacity. So when you think about your body keeps score, the score is going to go through the roof when you are focusing on you. Your mind is never separated from your body. So when you get in that constant state of performance and work, your body's taking score of that. It understands that you needed to do that, but it also understands that you need to be brought back to that state of calm so that you can be prepared for the next day.

Amethyst Roberson:

So we're not just getting rid of performance because it's needed, but we're adding a component through our discussion that we're adding a component to it, that's going to actually help us perform even better. That's going to actually help the team understand each other better. It's going to increase the capacity. We're gonna get to know our condition. And so that's what I mean by the body keeps growing.

Amethyst Roberson:

That's not my framework, but that's an understanding, a term that's a phrase that's out there now, but that's how I apply it in my everyday life.

Ralph Owens:

Thank you for listening to the Leadership Sovereignty Podcast. If today's conversation helped you grow in your leadership, influence or your career, take a moment to visit leadershipsovereignty.com. There you'll find exclusive resources, free guides, and ways to stay connected to our community of leaders who are building purpose and success. Don't forget to rate, review, and share this episode with someone who's on the rise in their career. Until next time, lead boldly, lead with purpose, and continue to walk in sovereignty.

Ralph Owens:

Take care.