Is “peaceful productivity” a contradiction?

My client was in the midst of an unprecedented storm of projects and responsibilities. She felt overwhelmed by everything and was convinced that the only way to find peace was by mastering all this work with sheer force and effort.

As I listened, I couldn’t help but hear the ghost of a younger version of me. So, I gently said, “I don’t get things done to get to peace. I get things done from a place of peace.”

My words didn’t land. They only confused her.

Hard work is the way, right?

I get why. We’ve been trained to believe that peace is the reward for hard work. It’s the vacation we earn after a long sprint. It’s a quiet evening after a crazy day. It’s the payoff for a to-do list that is finally, mercifully, empty.

And I operated this way for a long time. When my kids were young, I felt a lot of pressure to earn more and create stability for my family. My schedule was a mess, and I was often working late and on weekends. Even when I was home, my mind was still at work. I was exhausted and preoccupied.

My wife, ever the astute observer, would ask me if this pace was sustainable. My response? “This is just a crunch period. I’ll get through it in two more weeks.” The real punchline, of course, is that I had been saying that for several years.

And that’s the first problem with this way of thinking: The work is never done. We get through one project, and three more are waiting. We clear our inbox, and by the next morning, it’s full again. The finish line we’re chasing is always moving. When we make peace conditional on the absence of work, we are signing up for a journey with no destination.

Peace is always available.

But here’s the more profound truth I’ve discovered: Peace isn’t something you earn. It’s a place you come from. It’s not a finish line; it’s a starting point. It’s a state of being that is available right now, in this moment, regardless of the chaos on our to-do list.

We often think of “peace” in a business context as a luxury, a state we can only afford once we’ve built our empire and solved all the problems. But what if peace is the most practical, business-critical skill there is?

When I’m at peace, I’m more creative, more open-minded, and I see more possibilities, which allows me to invite others to help me.

When I’m in “crunch time,” I get selfish. I start believing I’m the only one who can do it and that everyone has let me down.

I’ve observed that leaders who start from a place of peace get more done with less rework. They’re able to be present, to get curious, and create solutions instead of just powering through problems. They’re making decisions that generate completion and space, not just more work. They’re modeling a different way of being for their teams—a way that isn’t dependent on burnout and a frantic pace to produce results.

So, I invite you to consider something.

What if you stopped trying to get to peace? What if you started your day, your meeting, your tough conversation, or your to-do list from a place of peace?

What would that be like?