The Two-Week Investment That Pays Dividends All Year

I used to believe leadership was about outrunning challenges. Move faster. Decide quicker. Push through everything. But the most revolutionary thing a leader can do isn't speeding up. It’s slowing down.

For years, I treated my own wellbeing as an afterthought, something I’d look into once all the real work was done. I thought resilience was enduring more. I was wrong. The cost wasn't my wellbeing alone. It was my judgment. My decisions. The very outcomes I was working so hard to achieve.

What unsettled me wasn’t just how depleted I felt. It was realizing that my internal state was quietly shaping the outcomes I cared most about.

Here’s what I learned: Your inner state, not your outer circumstances, sets the limits of your effectiveness. When we're running on empty, we make decisions from depletion. When we're centered, we create from clarity.

I recognized that when I make time to invest in my wellbeing, the dividends compound across every dimension of my life, not just my ability to lead. Better judgment. More intentional responses.

At the end of each year, I spend two weeks in India. It’s not an escape. It’s a strategic investment in the wellbeing I bring home with me. I step away from my usual routine and spend part of each day taking a deep dive into a specific discipline. Each year, I choose depth over variety, trusting that immersion creates the grounding I need to practice consistently and see the benefits take hold.

Why India? It’s where I grew up. It’s where I feel I can create more space to learn from the lived experiences of teachers who have spent decades mastering time-tested traditions passed down over generations. It’s a familiar place I can return to year after year to deepen my understanding. This year, I will focus on meditation and Ayurveda.

Each time I return to the U.S., the awareness and clarity I gained in India shape how I carry those practices into my daily and weekly routine.

For example, every weekday, I pause for meditation, even though sitting still contradicts everything I was taught about being an effective leader. But meditation now replaces the habit of pushing through fatigue or reaching for another cup of coffee. The changes I notice are subtle, but they build quickly. When I’m consistent, I feel more alert and refreshed. My thinking is clearer and more elevated, and I respond with more intention rather than reactively. I don’t just have a calmer mind. I make better decisions.

Research increasingly supports what I’ve experienced: Mindfulness techniques are shown to ease stress and improve emotion regulation, resulting in sound judgment and steadier responses when the stakes are high.

But here’s what matters most. I didn’t need a retreat in India to make the shift. I needed that time to understand what’s possible. It’s about carving out time for sustained self-care. Every leader can undertake a wellbeing immersion of their own and make a commitment to a regular practice that fundamentally changes how they show up.

As you look ahead to 2026, ask yourself, “What would my life and my role look like if I treated my internal state as a strategic asset, rather than an afterthought?”

Lead From Wholeness. 

This article is part of Sunny Singh's LinkedIn series on Wholistic Wellbeing.