“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” —Anita Desai

Why Vacation is Important

Vacations do our bodies good...and our businesses too :)

Think back to the last time you took a vacation or holiday...

• Where was it? 

• What were you wearing? 

• What did you eat? 

Think about as many details as you can. Picture the experience as a mental movie. What feeling come up as you think about your vacation experience.

If you have unlimited vacation use at least 3 weeks off each year. If you have mandatory minimum, use more than the minimum. Vacation is good for your health, and it helps the quality of your work.

A few examples:

• Vacations, even short one of 3-4 day, decrease the negative impacts of stress.

• Men who failed to take annual vacays had a 21% higher risk of death from all causes & were 32% more likely to die of a heart attack.
  

• Women who took a vacation once every 6 years or less were almost 8 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two vacations a year.

Holiday + Life Lessons in Santorini

1 year ago, I was packing to head to the airport for a holiday that had been on my vision board for 2 years...1 week in Santorini Greece.

In 1956, over 80% of the island was destroyed by back-to-back earthquakes (7.7 and 7.2) and a tsunami. Even with all the destruction, change can happen. Santorini is one of the most popular places in the world for holiday.

This lesson stuck with me over the past year as I've worked on growing my startup while experiencing setbacks from the typical startup challenges to being hospitalized for pulmonary embolism (blood clots in my lungs, 

Yes, I had an awesome time of vacation, AND the experience is something I will cherish forever. The added bonus of being able to apply the experience to my startup and sessions with clients is exponential in the level of impact.

Put in Practice: Plan Your Vacation

This week, I want to make this simple: Make time to plan your vacation/holiday. 

Take your calendar and schedule the following:

• Daily vacations: 20 minutes to 1 hour

• Quarterly vacations: 5-7 days

• Annual vacations: 10-15 days (bucket list location)

Team activity: Passport Party Allocate in your budget enough to cover the cost of a passport including processing, mailing, photo. If you can't cover the full cost, then pick an amount that can be allocated to everyone equally. 

Put time on the calendar for a learning meeting with the topic of Passports and Visas. On the day of the meeting, share with everyone that you will help pay for a passport. 

During the meeting have everyone share their top 5 places they want to travel to in the next 5 years and why.

For anyone that already has a passport, they can use the "passport money" for something related to an upcoming trip. This can be extra baggage fee, CLEAR, or similar programs.

Bonus: If you're a leader, here's a sample policy to implement. Adjust according to the unique culture of your biz: 

“We don't just give you time off, we require you to take it and we consider it an operational failure if we have to contact you on your days off or vacation. We also work to remove the time and money barriers that keep people from experiencing quality time with friends and family, and bucket lists through biz partnerships and workflows."

Deeper Reading

Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Niño

This is one of the best books on entrepreneurship. Definitely, not your typical business books. It's also the book that taught me about daily vacations.

This post originally appeared in On Mental Wealth, a weekly creation by Anthony Ware, Principal, AWare Catalysts.

Share Aware and Awake by Anthony Ware