Write • Build • Scale

Last week, we crossed 1,000 paid subscribers on Substack.​

This week, I'm sitting on a terrace in Tenerife watching the sun set over the Atlantic.

And I almost didn't let myself do this.

There's a voice in my head — maybe you have it too — that says rest is something you earn after the work is done.

But here's what I've learned after years of building an online business...

The work is never done.

There's always...

• another post to write
• another launch to plan
• another idea to execute.

If you wait for a "good time" to rest, you'll never rest.

So instead of waiting to see if we'd hit one of our biggest goals of the year, my husband and I just booked the trip, packed our bags, and went off.

We didn't travel as a reward for hitting a goal. We booked the trip because rest shouldn't be a reward.

It's a strategy.

Yesterday, I went for a run along the coast.

No podcast, no music, just my feet on the ground and the ocean beside me.

And somewhere around kilometer three, ideas started showing up.

Connections I hadn't made.

Clarity I couldn't have forced at my desk.

That's the part nobody tells you about rest.

It doesn't just prevent burnout. It produces insight.

The best ideas I've had for our business didn't come from grinding harder.

They came from stepping away — from hikes, road trips, or random Tuesday afternoons when I gave myself permission to stop.

So if you've been telling yourself you'll rest "when things slow down," let me tell you:

Things won't slow down.

You have to choose it. Protect it. Build it into your business like any other system.

Because rest isn't the opposite of productivity.

It's what makes productivity sustainable.

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Worth Your Time This Week

→ 10 Trends That Will Shape Substack in 2026 — What's changing, what's working, and how to stay ahead of the curve.

→ Free vs. Paid Substack: When to Start Charging — Our latest YouTube video breaking down the three monetization timelines (and which one fits your situation).

→ These 7 Notes Templates Will Get You More Likes, Comments & Subscribers — Steal these frameworks for your next Substack Note.

→ The Hidden Patterns Holding You Back from Building a Creator Business — A podcast conversation with Phil Powis and Carolina Wilke on why your "business problem" might actually be a pattern problem.

Cheers to building businesses that give us lives worth living,
Sinem

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P.S. If you want 2026 to be the year you build this kind of freedom — working from anywhere, spending time with the people you love, living life on your own terms — we can help.

We recently opened up a few spots for our 1:1 VIP coaching programs designed to help you get your Substack publication off the ground and reach your first 100 paid subscribers.

If you're interested, reply to this email and tell me what you have in mind - I'll get back to you with info on how we could support you.

Rüdengasse 4/4, 1030 Vienna, Austria
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