Last night, I watched a YouTube video from my friend and mentor Dan Martell called 8 Hacks to Stop Wasting Your Evenings.

I’ve had the privilege of working with Dan over the last five years, and one thing I’ve learned is this: when Dan talks about time, I listen. He’s not just another productivity “guru.” He’s lived the grind of 100-hour weeks, burned out, and rebuilt his life in a way that is both high-impact and deeply intentional.

He even wrote the bestselling book Buy Back Your Time, which I recommend to every business owner I meet.

This video grabbed me because evenings are where so many of us either level up—or lose ground. As Dan says, “Evenings are where winners are made.”

Here are the eight hacks Dan shared, along with a few of my reflections and personal experiences.

1. Use Your Feed to Feed Your Mind

Dan pushes back on the “delete social media” mantra. Instead, hack your algorithm to actually learn from it. Search for what you want to grow in—AI, marketing, leadership—and teach your feed to serve you. He calls it “friendventory”—unfollow or mute the accounts that drag you down, and curate the ones that lift you up.

It reminded me of Jim Rohn’s famous line: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Today, that includes the digital people on your feed.

2. Forget Work/Life Balance

Dan doesn’t separate work from life. He integrates it. Tuesday nights are date night with his wife, Wednesdays are mountain biking, and dinners with founders count as both social time and business development.

This is a great reminder for agency owners. Stop trying to build a wall between “work” and “life.” Instead, look for ways they can fuel each other.

3. Schedule Family Time

This one hit home. Dan shared a quote from Ryan Holiday: “There are people with kids, and then there are parents.” The difference? Intentionality.

If you don’t block out family time, your loved ones will always get your leftovers. For me, that means planning—not just hoping—my evenings with Lisa and our kids are meaningful.

Lisa and I spend almost all our time together—working, eating, exercising, going to church, and even just enjoying our patio every evening when we’re home. We’re intentional about FaceTiming with our kids and grandkids, and even more intentional about visiting them, even though they’ve all moved across the country. Add in weekly time with close friends, and evenings become not just downtime but meaningful, memory-making time.

4. Defend Your Downtime

Dan used to believe hustling nonstop was his edge—until it landed him with adrenal fatigue and shingles. His new rule: hobbies aren’t just hobbies, they’re strategy.

That resonates deeply with me. I’ve always believed in hobbies and have added them over time as life allowed. After 40 years, I’ve built quite a list: earning a 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo after 50, getting my commercial pilot’s license (plus multi-engine, instrument, and flight instructor certifications) after 40, and consistently weightlifting since I was 15—including competing in a bodybuilding show at 20 and becoming a certified personal trainer in 2012.

Lisa and I ride bikes together, usually 10–20 miles at a time, though I’ve gone as far as 300 miles in 3 days. I’ve taken guitar, keyboard, and drum lessons after 50. We have a boat in Florida I learned to captain in 2017, which we’ve taken as far north as the Chesapeake Bay and as far south as the Keys. And yes—we love our two Harley Davidsons, one in North Carolina and one in Florida (though Lisa doesn’t ride her own, she rides with me!).

The point is, hobbies keep me sharp, healthy, and energized. They’re not distractions—they’re fuel.

5. Never Eat Alone

Keith Ferrazzi wrote a book with that title, but Dan lives it. Dinners, hikes, and workouts become his networking playground. And here’s the cool part: most of the opportunities that change your life don’t come from your closest circle, but from “loose ties”—the new relationships you intentionally create.

Agency owners, this one’s huge. How many referrals, carrier relationships, or client introductions have started with a simple dinner?

6. Avoid the Dragon

Dan’s phrase for this is gold: “Don’t try to slay the dragon, just avoid it.”

Translation? Your environment beats your willpower every time. If junk food is in the pantry, you’ll eat it. If video games are plugged in, you’ll play them. Remove the temptation, and you won’t need to fight it.

7. Do an Evening Reset

Dan gives his teams The Five-Minute Journal—a simple way to reflect, review, and reset. Each night, he:

1. Reflects on what went well.
   
2. Reviews his goals.
   
3. Plans tomorrow.
   

Think of it like cleaning the kitchen before bed. You wake up ready to go.

8. Set a Bedtime Alarm

Everybody talks about morning routines. Dan argues the evening routine is even more important. He literally sets an alarm to remind him to go to bed at 9:00. That’s why he can wake up at 4:00 a.m. without an alarm.

Your energy today comes from last night’s choices.

Why This Matters for Insurance Agency Owners

Dan’s hacks aren’t just about being more “productive.” They’re about protecting your energy and using your evenings in ways that compound.

For insurance agency owners, evenings often disappear into email catch-up, Netflix, or sheer exhaustion. But what if instead, you…

• Used your downtime to truly connect with family?
  
• Made networking dinners a weekly practice?
  
• Reviewed your agency goals each night so your team wakes up aligned?
  

Those small evening choices could create massive long-term growth—for both your business and your life.

I’ll wrap this up by giving Dan full credit. These are his eight hacks, and they’re straight from his YouTube video I watched last night. I’ve seen Dan model these in real life over the last five years, and I can say from experience—they work.

As Dan says: “Evenings are where winners are made.”

A couple of years ago, our Jenesis Team book club read Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar. I’ll be honest—I underlined so much of that book it looked like I was trying to highlight every page! It wasn’t just theory; it was practical, everyday stuff about happiness that made me stop and think.

One of the big takeaways for me was that happiness isn’t something that just shows up like a surprise gift. It’s something we choose and cultivate. Tal Ben-Shahar calls it “the ultimate currency.” Think about that—while we all chase money, success, or recognition, the real thing we’re after is happiness. The problem is, we often delay it. We tell ourselves, I’ll be happy when my agency hits $1M in premium, when we add that new carrier, when we finally switch systems. But by then, the goalpost has moved again.

The book challenged me to ask: What if happiness is less about waiting and more about building daily habits? Things like gratitude, meaningful work, exercise, relationships—practices that don’t guarantee life is perfect but definitely raise the average level of joy in your day.

At Jenesis, we talk a lot about growth—helping insurance agencies grow, helping people grow. But what good is growth if you’re miserable in the process? Happiness isn’t just about writing more policies; it’s about enjoying the people you work with, the customers you serve, and the difference you’re making in your community.

Here’s a simple example: Ben-Shahar suggests keeping a gratitude journal. Just writing down three things you’re thankful for each day. Try ending your day by writing down three things you’re grateful for in your agency. Maybe it’s a kind word from a customer, a teammate who went the extra mile, or simply that the phones finally quieted down after 5 p.m. Those little reflections change how you see your work.

As C.S. Lewis once said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” That line sticks with me because it reminds me happiness isn’t fluff—it’s fuel. It’s what keeps us moving through tough seasons, both in life and in business.

So here’s the encouragement: don’t wait for happiness to show up when conditions are perfect. Choose it now. Build it now. Small steps, practiced daily, can add up to a life that feels richer—not because everything is easy, but because you’ve chosen to live with joy, even in the middle of running an independent insurance agency.

This blog is based on a recent article I read that made me stop and think:

“What many ministers don’t realize is that food does not replace nervous energy – only sleep does. By sleeping for fifteen minutes first, they would eat less afterward. This practice has helped me maintain my weight and my energy levels so I can continue intense ministry as counselor and chaplain at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

That line hit me. How often do we eat when what we really need is rest?

For many of us, especially in business and leadership, we confuse exhaustion with hunger. We grab a snack, a coffee, or something sweet hoping it will recharge us, when in reality, our bodies (and our minds) are just asking for rest.

Sleep: God’s Built-In Reset

Psalm 127:2 reminds us:

“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Sleep is God’s natural way of restoring our energy and renewing our focus. A short nap or even just fifteen minutes of quiet rest can do more to settle your nerves, improve your clarity, and restore your energy than a plate of food ever will.

The Insurance Agency Lesson

Running an agency can feel like you’re “always on.” Calls, emails, carrier changes, quoting, renewals, hiring, client issues—the list never ends. When you’re tired, the temptation is to push through with coffee or sugar. But just like the devotional reminded me, nervous energy doesn’t need food—it needs rest.

Imagine this in your agency:

• Before meeting with a frustrated client, step away for ten minutes to clear your head.
• Before quoting a complicated policy, pause for a short rest so you come back focused.
• Before your weekly team meeting, give yourself a moment of quiet so you lead with clarity instead of fatigue.

Leadership Wisdom from Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel often says, “You can have control or you can have growth, but you can’t have both.”

What he means is this: if you insist on personally controlling every detail, your agency will only grow as far as you can stretch. But if you’re willing to let go—empowering your team, delegating responsibility, and trusting others—you create space for growth far beyond your own capacity.

The same is true with rest. When you refuse to pause, you may feel “in control,” but you’ll eventually hit a wall. When you give yourself permission to rest, even briefly, you come back refreshed and ready to lead with clarity. And when you combine that with trusting your team, your agency can grow in ways you never imagined.

A Well-Known Example

Winston Churchill, known for his relentless work during World War II, swore by daily naps. He believed that taking a short rest in the afternoon gave him “two days in one”—fresh energy and sharper thinking to carry him late into the night when decisions mattered most. What some might have considered laziness was actually one of his greatest productivity tools.

If naps could help a wartime prime minister make wise decisions under immense pressure, surely a 15-minute break could help us make better decisions for our agencies and our clients.

Encouragement for the Journey

The next time you feel drained and tempted to grab something to eat or power through fatigue at your agency, ask yourself: Do I need food—or do I need rest?

You might be surprised how often the answer is rest. And in that pause, you’ll find not only renewed energy, but also God’s peace—and your best leadership for your agency team and clients.