Retreat from Daily Routine

Matrix Key: Health and WellBeing - Vacation and Time Off - Away from your Daily Environment

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”  - Terry Pratchett

Have you ever caught yourself driving down the street and realize you have no idea where you are going or why?.  Maybe you drive past a new business that just opened and ask yourself "where did that come from?  How come I didn't notice that before?"  Our systems are hardwired to develop habits – essentially to put things on autopilot so our brain can conserve energy for other activities.  Which is a great for efficiency and many redundant daily activities like brushing your teeth.  These habits serve us poorly when they shut off access to new ideas or cause us to stop interacting with the world around us.

At these moments it is important to give your brain a vacation and reset.  When you distance yourself from a situation you are able to look at it differently, discovering new solutions and understanding.  Interacting with a different group of people, especially if you travel to a foreign country, brings new appreciation for the people who surround you every day.

In the WholeLife Matrix, I identify four keys and benefits to snapping yourself out of a brain dead rut:

1.     Travel

2.     Getting Away

3.     Change of Scenery

4.     New Perspectives

The change can be as simple as taking a different route to work for a few days, or as involved as a trip to a foreign country.  So go ahead and expose yourself to new sights, smells and sounds and wake up those sleeping sensory mechanisms!  Your brain will thank you!

Decompression

WholeLife Matrix - Health & WellBeing - Vacation/Time Off - Decompress

"There is time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go." 
 Tennessee Williams

The concept of decompression comes from deep sea divers: the longer they stay deep in the water under pressure, the higher the risk of sickness as they come back to the surface.  So too with us. A good gauge of our need to decompress is the length of time it takes us to settle in on a vacation day or week.  Can you instantly feel at ease?  Does it take a few days to settle in? Maybe you can't disconnect at all, constantly taking work calls and checking emails while the rest of the group rides the roller coasters or swims in the pool?

With the WholeLife Matrix, we recognize the importance of getting away from everyday stress to keep your mind and body healthy.  At a minimum, it is important to decompress after high stress day.  One of our favorite ideas is to schedule a "do nothing day."  This is a day that you set aside to intentionally do nothing.  You can sleep all day, start something and change your mind, anything at all.  The important thing is to stop your normal routine and let your body recharge.

We have identified four ideas that relate to the concept of decompressing:

1. Absence of Worry
2. Not answering the phone
3. Mindless Activities
4. Putting Self First

Some people have found it helpful to have a separate phone or email account for family and friends.  You can stay connected to people without being sidetracked by work concerns. Mindless activities are the ones that let you turn off the chatter in your head and just exist with whatever you have chosen.  Many would say the most important piece is to put yourself first, and use your decompression time to restore yourself so that when you reengage with the world, you are at 100%.

Are you ready to win?

We All Just Want to Have Fun!

Matrix Key:  Health and Well-Being - Having Fun

"Don't stop having fun when you get older, because you will get older when you stop having fun." - Zaira Swan

On the WholeLife Matrix, we've included Having Fun as a key component of Health and Well-Being.  For some of us, having fun is what we can do in that last five minutes of the day after we have checked everything off our to-do list.  For others, fun comes first and work comes second.  Either way, having fun is essential to a well balanced and fulfilling life. 

It's important to explore what qualifies as fun.  Some of us may view fun as work if it means going to a party at the end of a long day and forcing ourselves to interact with people.  It's key to recognize that fun is a very individual concept.  Fun is what energizes you, excites you, what you look forward to.

Here are four kinds of fun.  What resonates with you?

1. Recreation and Hobbies
2. Active Events
3. Being with Others
4. Being Alone

If you could spend one hour today having fun, what would you do?  Allow yourself to develop your own definition of fun.  Then make sure to schedule time for that activity, whether it's reading a book or climbing a mountain.  As the old saying goes, "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."  And what is success worth if it is not at least a little fun?

I still have two spots available on my WholeLife Matrix group call.  A chance for you to get some free coaching from me, we meet every other Tuesday from 11am - noon Pacific time.  Email me to sign up (Ralph@Consulting2Win.com) and I will send you the login information. 

Are you ready to win?     

Vacation Plans

Matrix Key:  Health and Well-Being - Vacation/Time Off

"Vacations are necessities, not luxuries." - Linda Bloom

This probably isn't the first time that you've read about the importance of vacation and time off.  No one can function at a peak performance level without occasional rest and relaxation.  Time away from your business gives you the chance to adjust your perspective, to refocus on the big picture and less on the details that come up every day. The most important thing about vacation, however, is how it impacts your physical health, and your ability to contribute in all areas of your life - relationships, business and community. 

So why is it so hard to take vacation?  Remember our model of the table...each quadrant of the matrix is a table leg.  If we neglect our well-being, our table will fall.  If you're still not convinced, let's look at some of the key components, and outcomes, of time off:

1. Opportunity to Decompress
2. Beautification
3. Absence of Pressure
4. Time Away from the Daily Environment

So how do you make those vacation plans a reality?  You have to schedule them in your calendar and treat them as being as important as any board meeting. When you show up for vacation you'll get more than souvenirs to bring home...you'll get a fresh perspective that will help you to stay in the game of business and life.

Are you ready to win?     

Health and Well Being

Matrix Key:  WholeLife Matrix - Health and Well-Being

"The greatest wealth is health." - Virgil

What could be more important in life than Health and Well-Being? Health and Well-Being is one of the four primary quadrants of the WholeLife Matrix. If we cannot get out of bed in the morning and feel well enough to function, how are we ever going to accomplish everything we have to do and handle in the day?  Our bodies and minds are high performance machines, and they need care and maintenance if they are to last.  If you put time and effort into maintaining your car, shouldn't you put at least that much effort into maintaining you?  Yet many of us put ourselves last, running ourselves into the ground until we are sick, tired, and worst of all, depressed and depleted.

The WholeLife Matrix breaks Health and WellBeing into four key components:

1. Vacation and Time Off
2. Having Fun
3. Nutrition and Weight
4. Exercise and Fitness

We all know that we should be working on all four of these components, but haven't we all put off at least one of them?  It's easy to skip that day at the gym, to work through the weekend, and to eat that slice of pie.  In order to have a balanced life however, we must be proactive about Health and WellBeing, and schedule time for it into our calendars.  If we want to keep the engine running, we must maintain it!

Are you ready to win?