As summer rolls on, you might be tempted to put your goals on hold, thinking you’ll “get back to it” once September comes. But what if rest and restoration weren’t detours from your path to success but were part of your success strategy?
In my blog Rested Horses Win Races, I shared the story of how trainers prepare racehorses, not by running them into the ground, but by balancing their training with deep rest, so they arrive at the starting gate renewed and ready. The same applies to you.
Rest a vital part of maintaining clarity, creativity and energy for what matters most. This is the conversation that I’ve been having with my clients this week. Some of them were concerned that going on holidays would slow the momentum they’ve been creating and the traction they’ve been gaining on manifesting their visions.
I invited them to see things completely differently. I invited them, as I do you, to see your holidays as part of how you create success, to embrace rest and downtime as a creative pause that allows fresh thinking and new perspectives the space to land.
You’ve probably had experiences of working on a project or trying to resolve a thorny issue and that it was only when you took a break – perhaps you went for a soak in the bath or took a walk or found some way to switch off completely – that the solution popped into your mind?
Taking vacation and building in regular rest breaks is like having a structured way to enable such breakthrough experiences. When looked at in this way, making time for fun and relaxation isn’t simply a reward for hard work, it is an active strategy for staying on top of your game!
At the same time, you don’t want to let the summer derail you completely! Last year, in a Life Change Transformation podcast conversation with Gary, we explored how to stay connected to your goals over the summer months. You can listen to the full episode here. For today, I want to share one of the key insights: it’s about staying intentional, even as you slow down.
If you’ve been following my work for a while now, you know that I encourage a vision that is holistic, that incorporates your health and relationships, as well as your career and how you share your talents in the world and embraces your time and money freedom. Your vision is for full spectrum success, and it includes your holidays and the types of experiences you want to share with family and friends.
So having a great holiday is fully aligned with your vision and the overall results you want to create in your life! And in a world where everything is energy, experiences that raise your vibration and lift your energy will absolutely be attracting more ideas, solutions, resources and opportunities to positively impact any and all areas of your vision.
To that end, while I encourage you to take a complete break from work when you are on holidays, it can be helpful to have a notebook with you to capture ideas that crop up that you want to remember when back in the day job! Or use your phone to record such ideas, knowing that moments of illumination and insight on holiday are being saved for the right opportunity to take them further.
I encourage you to take time off this summer and to fully embrace the holidays you have planned. Give yourself the grace of rest. Not because you’re slacking off, but because you’re smart enough to know that rested minds and bodies are better equipped to create, lead and thrive.
If you need support to really embrace the ideas shared in this blog, consider making some time to reflect and journal on these prompts:
- What might change in my experience of the holiday season if I chose to believe that rest fuels my success
- What boundaries or supports do I need in place to ensure this summer includes meaningful rest
- What’s one thing I can do this week to replenish myself without guilt?
- In what ways have I previously pushed through when I actually needed to pause?
- How could I give myself permission to rest and stay aligned with my goals?
As for me, I’m off for some vacation with family in the UK. There will be family gatherings and visits with friends, a planned literary walking tour, trips to the coast and some open water swimming, some books I want to read and podcasts I’m looking forward to tuning into more of.
Knowing the benefits, are you also ready to embrace your holidays and down time. How will you switch off and have fun?