Today, I canceled most of my meetings. I woke up feeling weak, and instead of pushing through, I decided to listen to my body and rest.

I still handled the essentials remotely, but overall, I took a step back to reflect—on the startup journey so far, on the ongoing war, and on the price all of this is demanding from me.

I asked myself some hard questions. I tried to process the marathon pace that building a startup requires.

And here’s the thing—it wasn’t planned. A few years ago, I would’ve forced myself to stick to the schedule, convincing myself that anything less was giving up.

But experience (and war) teach you otherwise. Sometimes, stopping and processing is what actually moves you forward.

We need to be more compassionate toward ourselves. Being a founder is already one of the hardest things you can take on. Add the responsibility of contributing to security, emergency, and resilience efforts in times like these, and the weight can be overwhelming.

But pushing through without pause isn’t the answer.

I’ve learned that in startups—and in life—sometimes a "blue screen" moment is exactly what we need to reset and come back stronger.

So here’s my question to you: When was the last time you stopped, listened to yourself, and realized it was the best decision you could have made?

Let’s talk in the comments. ⬇️