Vacation is a time where we can take the time to reconnect and find balance in our busy life, every one of us needs this down time especially business leaders who need to performer more than ever with their A game every single day. Over 25 years in business leadership the word balance is key; without it our performance only declines along with our potential for success. You know what l mean, today we are on 24 /7 we are hooked on technology and what that delivers every moment of the day. Mind you we need that connection to stay on top of what we need to, but along with saying that what can we do as business leaders to keep the Balance in our lives.
Just recently l lost my father to cancer; he was a man with no regrets even at the age of 74 he was happy with his accomplishments in life as a father and successful architect who managed to find balance and lived life to the fullest, can you say that today about your life… many of us struggle with connecting to our families, our children and our partners we even feel guilty for taking a break because of the challenges not only we face but our team faces every day in today’s business environment. Every one of us has a choice of what balance looks like for them but without it you clearly do not perform at your best.
During my recent vacation l picked up a great book called 18 minutes by Peter Bregman which is clearly worth a read over a day at the beach…In his book he talks about every time he goes on vacation he feels two distinct emotions excitement and anxiety.
“When l’m not working. I’ll feel like l should be; and when l am, I feel like l shouldn’t be.”
He talked about completely unplugging where he was unreachable, when he returned as many of us have experienced he had more than fifty messages. But here’s what l found most interesting; the first half of the messages all raised problems that needed to be resolved, and the second half were the same people telling him not to worry about the first half because they had resolved the problems on their own “What a Concept”. It turns out that unplugging created an opportunity for his team to grow, develop, and exercise their own judgment. OK for some of us completely unplugging might not be realistic. So Peter recommends Scheduled Plug-ins . Where you choose a specified time- and time frame-each evening when you will be reachable. A few minutes at the end of each day ( or,if you can manage, every few days) to answer emails, and make phone calls. Of course, before you schedule the time, you need to admit to yourself that you will work during the vacation. But setting aside some time to work means you’re setting aside the rest of the time to not work. And that just might save your vacation.
The definition of balance: An even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. Clearly we all need to be up-right and steady … so go carve out some time and enjoy your vacation!