Is it time for a vacation?

Vacation Time?

What do you do to relax, renew and rewind from your business?
When was your last vacation? When did you last take time to play?

Here’s a little pop quiz for you:

The reason that I started my own business was that I wanted to:

a. Do things my way and not have to answer to someone else
b. Be in charge of my own time, my schedule and my income
c. Share an awesome idea/product with the world while enjoying the freedom of planning my own life

d. All the above

When I plan my vacation–:

a. Right now I’m taking working vacations. That means my family and I go somewhere, they play and I work…
b. I like to be spontaneous. I’ll see how things are going in my business and take time off whenever I can…
c. I can’t afford a vacation this year or next. Covid has changed everything and it’s nose to the grindstone right now. I’m hoping maybe next        year I can schedule vacation time in my calendar.
d. Taking time off to rest, reflect and renew my energy is critical to the success of my business. I schedule time off regularly and look forward to it.

Are you waiting to take a vacation?

Rest, rejuvenate, revive, replenish. How often do you accomplish this goal? The first year of my business, I worked hard. There was little time for anything restful as I created the structure of the business, began marketing, working with clients and creating new content. Eventually however, I found myself more and more resistant to this kind of schedule.

The reason that I created my own business ( freedom to plan and create on my own schedule while serving others) was not being met. I found myself working harder and longer than I did when I reported to my job. The satisfaction and enjoyment were gradually becoming lost in the endless details and responsibilities.

I often talk to clients who work on their business from sunup to sundown. Many are exhausted, overwhelmed and over it. Their last vacation was … well they can’t remember it… but they have a goal of taking a real vacation in two years, just as soon as they reach a certain financial goal or other milestone. Here’s the problem with that approach:

• You don’t have to earn a vacation or time off.
• Your productivity and focus drops dramatically when you don’t take time for renewal.
• Your ability to play and relax is actually energizing to your business.

How often have you had a sudden insight or new idea when you were relaxing or taking time for yourself? How often has getting away from your business created just the new perspective that you needed to solve a problem?

The benefits of scheduling a vacation

Instead of neglecting to plan for a time of rest and renewal, what if you built that into your schedule each week? What if you identified your need for rest and planned a yearly vacation where you unplugged from the routine, the technology and the constraints of your life?

Discover what is most energizing for you and then create pockets of time in your week and your year that will energize you. For some clients that means a regular exercise time where they simply focus on physical goals. For others it means curling up with a good book or watching that movie that they’ve been meaning to enjoy. Many people are most energized by time spent socializing with others, whether meeting friends for a cup of coffee or spending a week together at the beach or cabin in the mountains. There isn’t a one size fits all…but we all have a need to cultivate a time of play and rest. So if there isn’t a vacation on your calendar… now is the time to add one.