Are you ready for your summer vacation? (Our apologies to those in the southern hemisphere.) Here’s how to make it perfect.
1) Resist the attachment to what the “perfect” vacation looks like. This summer, instead of living a bunch of “are we there yet?” experiences… seek the “wow, we are there (here)” moments.
2) As a leader in your organization, you carry the weight of getting your team to a certain point by the end of the fiscal year. As you roll out your drive way, drink from the cup of relaxation by thinking “discovery” instead of “destination.” It is not where your family goes that will be memorable…but what you discover along the way that will be fodder for stories.
3) Having a difficult time staying away from your emails? Reframe what you’re currently calling your vacation. Rest, both physical and mental, is a necessary ingredient to sustained levels of high productivity. Therefore, as you sit next to the pool with beverage in hand, in truth, you’re actually working: You’re claiming the rest you need to perform in the big picture.
4) Ask yourself, “What do I want to read, see, and do by the time this vacation is over?” And then cut that list in half. (And then halve it again.) Rather than “do” your vacation – “be” your vacation.
5) Ask yourself, “How do I want to feel by the end of my vacation?” And then start feeling that way now.
A friend told me, “If you’re doing it right, your life is a vacation.” And today is your chance to practice.
My family is blessed to have a cabin in the woods on a lake. It is 4 hours from home. During our years of making the weekly summer drive we practiced “Family Adventures.” It is simple; turn. At random points during the long ride we simply turned. The only rule is you can’t return to tne main route. We discovered more about the land between here and there than you can imagine. You too will be amazed at what is just off the highway. Just turn.