Why Founder Josh Adler Says Stillness Is the Secret to Clarity and Leadership Renewal

The article A New Momentum: Quiet Breakthroughs with Founder Josh Adler discusses a powerful way to reset the brain, repower our innovative spirit, and reground ourselves to heal from or avoid burnout. Burnout is a long understood experience for many working professionals from admin staff, to personal trainers, to tech founders and engineers. Knowing how to combat this mental and emotional fatigue has proven elusive. 

For modern working professionals, balancing the needs of the workplace and home can trigger long-term burnout and stress. The feeling that meetings, output demands, and pressure never let up can cause our brain to react rather than intentionally respond. Add on top of that the demands of maintaining personal relationships and living spaces, and the hamster wheel of urgent obligations and quick decision making seems to never stop. Entrepreneurs like Josh Adler have found that quiet retreats can reset our brain in powerful ways. Taking time for solitude with the intention of recentering can also rejuvenate our mental and emotional energy. 

The reality is, most people live in chronic burnout and are so accustomed to it, they may have forgotten what calm within feels like. Or they may believe that due to the very nature of the workplace that is causing the burnout, they do not have the time to invest in a quiet retreat or more than a few minutes of solitude at home. Founders and CEOs are starting to see this type of investment differently. 

Adler, a serial entrepreneur, felt the pull of burnout after years of nonstop company growth. He’d tried several tactics to reset his energy and find his mental clarity. Many tactics work in the short term, but to really reset the brain’s stress signals back to base level, something revolutionary seems to be needed. Adler felt the truth of this, too, so he tried something totally different: he spent ten days in a silent retreat in northern Thailand. No phone, Wi-Fi, or outside contact. For a founder like him, this was an unheard of leap into the unknown, a calculated risk he was wise enough to take. 

At first, Josh Adler said the stillness itself at the retreat was uncomfortable. Used to managing major strategies, making crucial company decisions, and motivating a diverse talent pool, the isolation wasn’t alarming as much as it felt like he had nowhere to channel his energy. Until those initial hours of quiet began to strip away the distraction of constant noise, sending his energy within. It revealed his hidden decision fatigue and opened his naturally curious mind, leaving him with “better, quieter questions” that reshaped his thinking and leadership.

Other founders have had their own version of this experience. Lorenzo Tencati participated in a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat in the Sierra Nevadas. For many of us, the idea of sitting alone for more than ten minutes, let alone ten days, feels jarring. But he was determined to explore the benefits of stillness. There, he had to follow rules of silence, isolation, and deep meditation. That was a sharp contrast to the normal constant digital input he thought he was thriving in. He, too, initially felt uncomfortable. It’s strange to go from always “on” to feeling unneeded or even unimportant. But he settled into his temporary normal several days into the retreat and by the time he left it was with clear priorities, a healthier relationship with technology, and renewed strategic vision.

Some experiments are more intense. Charles Hoskinson, creator of Cardano, attempted a multi-day darkness retreat in Oregon. Darkness, isolation, and silence can awaken profound renewal in some, but in others it awakens deeper insights that can be overwhelming. This was Hoskinson’s experience, causing him to leave early. Despite its difficulty, he described the shortened immersion as “Much wisdom gained.” 

The benefits of these practices are diverse. And this is not a one size fits all solution. Some people can withstand a week of isolation in an open-air community like Adler, while others might need to start with a few days or start at home. Embarking on a dark, stillness retreat is often too big a leap for many. Knowing your capacity will help you get the most out of these experiences. 

Silence calms down the amygdala, the brain’s stress alarm. Cortisol drops. Serotonin and dopamine reset. The result is a boost in the brain’s neuroplasticity. This renewal allows for sharper focus and resilience. Each founder, like Josh Adler, who tried a stillness retreat gained benefits that translated into better momentum and clearer insights at work. If a multi-day silent retreat is out of reach for you, even short daily sessions of silence can improve memory, focus, and decision-making. It helps to choose a place where you feel safe, calm, and supported in your efforts to recenter. Instead of full days without speaking or receiving inputs from technology, start smaller and work your way up. The goal isn’t to feel broken. It is to feel renewed on a very deep, body, mind, and emotional level.

Intentional stillness is a strategic advantage in the workplace. It can reset your brain, reduce overall stress, remind you of your priorities and help you see problems more clearly. In a world driven by speed, stepping away from constant noise allows leaders to reset mentally, see problems differently, and return to work with renewed energy and vision. As Adler puts it, “You can’t outsource insight… sometimes you have to sit still long enough to hear it.”