Why Aren’t You On Vacation?

 

There are few things in life that instantly say “SUMMER” better than watermelon. Besides swimming and vacation time, watermelon will always be my top trigger for sunny, childhood memories of a less stressful time. I remember sitting on webbed lawn chairs, in my bathing suit, with a thick, dripping slice of watermelon in my hand, participating in seed spitting contests for distance that would turn into a team exercise in military precision. I can’t help but smile while I recall these memories.

As we grow older we seem to always be working towards someday having the time to relive this type of stress-free lifestyle. We finish our extensive educations to get an entry level job where we spend the next 30 years continually learning and applying for promotions, just to find ourselves outsourced or obsolete – or worse, stuck in a job we cannot leave for fear of not having a job. For those of us that own our own business, we work all hours of the day, all days of the week in hopes to create enough income so we can take a vacation. As our business grows, so does our commitment and then, we find ourselves burned out.

Related Topic – Webinar “Overcome The Overwhelm – The CEO Hat System”

What happened to our summers? What happened to our dreams of creating a business, or leading a life, that served us, and not the other way around. Why can’t we just sit and enjoy watermelon?

The answer is simple, but not easy. WE CAN. The challenge is something one of my clients had to learn. My client could not make time to ensure he was growing his business well. He had a lot of challenges with employees and deadlines, and he was constantly putting out fires. One day, when I suggested we spend time together to look over all his goals and next steps, he replied, “I need to do this but I cannot leave. All I do is put out fires.” That is when I put this thought to him – “If all you do is put out fires, all you will ever do is put out fires. If you want to do something different you will have to start by doing something you think you can’t do and let someone else put out the fires.” Of course, his next word said it all. “HOW?” When we worked to free up half a day of his time, we were able to use that time to create his next goal focus, which was to “stop having fires”.

If you want to enjoy watermelon or go on vacation, spend a day at the beach or go on an overnight date with your spouse, you have to first figure out how to put out the fires that keep you stuck doing all the work in your business. Start by asking “How?”

• How can I leave the kids for a night?
• How can I shut down my business for a week?
• How can I be away from the office for a day at the beach?

Then start brainstorming the answers to your question. If you cannot do this for yourself, get others to help you. Remember the rules of brainstorming and do not judge their suggestions. Accept them all and then go through them to find what works.

The cool thing is, once you figure out how to do this once, you will be able to do it over and over, changing how you manage your business and growing your management skills so you can handle bigger challenges, more easily and find more success.

P.S. My client stopped having to put out fires because he stopped the fires. Now he could focus on growing the business. With his new time, he also found time to get married.