Hey Rebel Reader !

It's been a minute. Life has been full.

This is the first new and improved Dispatches From The Rebellion.
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I've been hard at work revising, updating and clarifying the principles of rebellion, codifying it into actionable frameworks and practices you can use immediately, while also doing a complete overhaul on my positioning, branding and marketing.
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If you haven't checked out my website recently, take a spin over at rebellioncollective.com to get an idea of where things are heading. I'm feeling inspired and optimistic about the direction things are taking, and I bet you will be too.

If you've been getting my emails, you've already started walking the path with me. The big difference is the new frameworks and questions designed to help you reclaim what the system keeps extracting: your Capacity, your Energy, and your Attention.

This dispatch is where I share what's happening across the Rebellion Collective including the Quiet Rebellion, the Wild Rebellion, The Joyful Rebellion and the Rebellion Collective Community, and where I invite you deeper into the practices.

Here's what's been moving for me.

WILD REBELLION IN THE FIELD: OVERLAND EXPO SOCAL

The Wild Rebellion has always been about nature as a hard reset stepping out of the noise and back into the body.

At Overland Expo SoCal, that idea became real in a way it hadn't before. I led two Mindfulness in Nature workshops and facilitated a Magic Hour sit... an intentional practice of stillness in the middle of a festival built around movement, adventure and gear.

What showed up surprised me. People came expecting overlanding content and got a practice to take on the road with them instead. They sat with discomfort. They noticed what happens when you actually pause to notice. Some of them said it was the first time they'd been still in months.

That's the C.H.E.A.T. Code in the wild. Capacity restored. Habits interrupted. Energy redirected. Attention brought back to the present. Time reclaimed, through presence instead productivity optimization.

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​Bex brought the movement side: hulahoop sessions and dancing to good tunes back at camp that reminded people the body holds intelligence the mind overlooks. Play as practice. Joyful Rebellion.

We handed out stickers from our partners at Jetpack Stickers, and watched the Rebellion spread one sticker at a time.

The Wild Rebellion is where the inner work meets the ground beneath your feet letting nature be your guide. Stay tuned for Wild Rebellion Mini retreats happening locally in Boulder Colorado in April. You can learn more about Wild Rebellion and sign up for our waitlist for upcoming events at: rebellioncollective.com/retreats​

C.H.E.A.T. Code Meets the 5 C's: Santa Fe College Keynote

On March 27th, I delivered a keynote at Santa Fe College's Professional Development Day: Discovering What Matters: Cultivating Human-Centered Culture In An Uncertain World.

The room was full of faculty, staff and employees who give everything to their institutions: people running on fumes and still showing up. Sound familiar?

I introduced the C.H.E.A.T. Code (Capacity, Habits, Energy, Attention, Time) as a diagnostic. Where is your capacity leaking? What's extracting from you without your consent? Most of them had never been asked.

Then we moved into the 5 C's (Curiosity, Courage, Compassion, Connection, Commitment) as the practices that restore what the system depletes. In two workshops, Leading Yourself First and Leading In Place we talked about self-regulation, leadership and how to influence change without "leader" in your title.

We also hosted a special Wild Rebellion mini retreat in the North Woods close to campus.

One participant told me afterward: "I didn't realize how much I was holding until you invited me to notice."

That's the Recognition stage. The first step on the journey. And it's the same door you walked through when you joined this list.

COMPASSION AS PRACTICE: NOMINATED FOR THE COMPASSIONATE LEADERS CIRCLE AWARDS

I've been nominated for the 6th Annual Compassionate Leaders Circle Awards, and it stirred something up worth sharing.

Compassion is one of the 5 C's for a reason. It's not soft. It's not passive. It's the practice of showing up for suffering (your own and others') without turning away.

I've been practicing it long before I had the language. From leaving a complicated home, to ending up unhoused, to co-founding Changing Work and eventually closing it because I cared too much to lead it unsustainably. At Google, it looked like speaking up against toxic leadership to protect the people around me. Now it looks like coaching, community, and bringing people into nature to reconnect with what matters.

Compassion is a capacity. Like all capacities, it has to be built, practiced, and protected. I believe in this so deeply, that I've got a small tattoo on my arm of the Bodhisattva Of Compassion to remind me of the practice.
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That's what the Rebellion Collective is for. I'm honored to be one of 200+ nominees. 10 honorees will be announced at a free virtual ceremony on April 20th.

I'd love for you to be there. Register here.

THE REBELLION COLLECTIVE: APRIL COHORT IS FORMING

If these dispatches are landing, If the frameworks are making sense and you're recognizing yourself in the language, the Rebellion Collective is where the work goes from insight to integration. A community of mid-career professionals who are done being cheated by extractive systems and ready to rebuild together.
The April cohort is forming now. If you're at an inflection point, feeling the misalignment, noticing the cost of how you're working, sensing that something needs to shift before it breaks this is the community you've been looking for. Learn more at:rebellioncollective.com/community​

FROM A FRIEND OF THE REBELLION

Becoming The Bridge: Costa Rica Retreat

My friend Chelsea Linge is gathering conscious entrepreneurs in Costa Rica for a 5-day / 4-night retreat through Becoming The Bridge. If your business can only grow as much as you do (and you know that's true) this is space to slow down, reconnect to your why, and build alongside other heart-led leaders. I love what Chelsea is up to, and she's been an inspiring conscious leader herself. I know you'll be in good hands with her and her team.

Learn more: https://www.becomingthebridge.co/retreats​

That's the dispatch. If something here landed, hit reply and tell me what it was. I read every message.

Be Rebellious.
In Solidarity ✊

Nicholas Whitaker​
Founder, The Rebellion Collective​
​rebellioncollective.com​

Follow me on Linkedin and Substack
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