Take a Real Break

On January 4, 2021, this was my out-of-office reply—

“My family doesn’t think that I can unplug. If you hear from me before January 13th, they will be correct.”

It has been many years since we have taken a real family vacation. Our excuse has often been we couldn’t afford it. Given that vacations range from expensive to minimal cost, this is a flimsy excuse.?

The real reason we hadn’t taken a vacation was that we had no idea how to jump to the vacation?S Curve. We were so mired in our daily routines that we could find dozens of reasons NOT to jump.?

Much to my amazement, we finally chose to do it.?

In the business world, we often wear “busy” as a badge of honor. It’s a psychological stand-in for “I’m important.” If people need to always get a hold of you, you must be indispensable. Intellectually we might know it’s not true, but it doesn’t change how we feel.?

For many working professionals, the line between work and home has become blurrier than ever. This trend started years ago, especially when laptops and Blackberry mobile devices took off. It got worse with the iPhone and Wifi. The pandemic took a sledgehammer to many of the remaining barriers.?

To move up the S Curve of Learning?, we practice the 7 Accelerants of Growth?. Number five is Step Back to Grow. Stepping back is critical for personal and professional growth. It is a significant part of personal disruption.?

___________________________________________________________Thinking of making a career transition and want some guidance? Take this?short survey?and get a free?PDF download?with great advice about changing jobs.? ___________________________________________________________

Stepping Back to Grow involves moving sideways, backward, or down. It also requires rest. This chart shows the power of stepping back to grow.

There is a huge payoff, as the above chart shows. Stepping back is like crouching before you jump, getting your arm ready to punch, or pulling back on a slingshot. It is creating new power to jettison you forward into new places in your career.?

I talked with Tiffany Shlain on my?Disrupt Yourself Podcast?in 2019. Tiffany is a filmmaker, Webby award founder, and author of?24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week.?She thinks many challenges we face in our society are due to being connected all the time. To get the busy addicted to rethink rest, she offered this suggestion,

“What if we thought of rest as technology? The promise of technology is that it makes things efficient. It saves time, and it allows us to get things done…By giving you a day off each week from screens, from responsibilities, from being available, letting you reflect and connect [rest] becomes the ultimate technology.”?

Thinking of rest as the “ultimate technology” can empower us to embrace how vital rest is.?

Studies have shown how rest and vacation are critical for emotional well-being, productivity, and creativity.?Research?by Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan found that people who took at least 11 vacation days were 30-percent more likely to receive a raise or bonus.?

All the research and data show what we know in our bones and that humanity has known for epochs. Rest is important. So, the question shouldn’t be, should you step back and take time off for vacation and rest? Instead, when and how are you going to plan to step back and take time off??

How did my vacation go? It was amazing. I managed to unplug, really connect with my family, and recharge my batteries. It is just what I needed.?

And I’m taking another break—this time from my Thursday LinkedIn Live. I’ll return Thursday, October 14, at 9:00 a.m. ET with Liz Wiseman, best-selling author of?Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.

What can you do to step back to grow?

What’s one thing that could offer you true rest today?

How can you work towards planning a proper vacation???

P.S. I have a small favor to ask. We are providing?a free PDF download?about changing jobs as a thank you to people that are willing to take a brief audience survey, which is?here. The survey takes about a minute and will help us tailor this newsletter better to meet your needs. Thank you for considering helping!?