When the Group chat won’t let go (and you don’t want it to) by Brian Meehan

For the last two years I have been blessed to experience Strive with the wonderful Branson family - Noah Devereux, Sam Branson and Richard Branson.

Ever since we left Necker Island, the group chat hasn’t stopped.

Confessions of the “blues.” Longing to go back. The ache is real.

At first, I thought it was about the island itself the turquoise water, the warm wind, the wildlife at our feet. But that’s not what’s keeping us up at night.

What we’re missing isn’t a place. It’s a state of mind.

We’re a group of high-performers - founders, executives, builders, people used to carrying the weight of decisions. Our minds are like air-traffic control towers, constantly scanning, managing, anticipating.

We don’t just plan the plans, we solve the problems before they arrive.

But on Necker, the tower went quiet. From the moment we woke at 4 AM, every detail was taken care of. Breakfast at 5. Boat at 6. Then an adventure, a swim, a hike, a ride, that pushed our limits but wrapped us in support. Aid stations, hydration, safety...everything thought of. 

Our only job: show up and give our best.

That’s not just luxury, it’s liberation.

Psychologists call it the release from decision fatigue, when the endless micro-choices that usually drain us are lifted, and the brain can finally rest. In that rest, we tapped into flow, that rare mental state where time dissolves, the world narrows to the moment, and our full selves come alive.

Afternoons gave us freedom, tennis, ocean swims, spa treatments, or just quiet corners. Evenings brought stunning dinners, world-class speakers, and conversations that went beyond surface-level wins into the truths we rarely say out loud.. the kind of exchanges so unguarded they felt like sacred ground.

We didn’t just connect. We saw each other. Not as titles, but as humans.

That’s why we can’t stop thinking about it. For one rare stretch of days, we experienced what it’s like to set down the weight of leadership and live fully in the present, with each other, for each other.

God, we needed

By Brian Meehan