Dear Nurtured Entrepreneur,

When was the last time you took a vacation from your work-with-passion business?  Not necessarily a month’s idyll at a beautiful beach, but also not a trip to take care of a friend recovering from surgery, visit your family, or a day of sightseeing thrown in with a business trip.  I mean a vacation where that is the sole purpose of the trip, start to finish, and where all your activities center around enjoying yourself.  If it has been less than a year, you are a nurtured entrepreneur and I applaud you.  If it has been more than a year (or several years):

  • Ask yourself what the vacation hiatus is about and then dig down a couple of layers beyond that.
  • Write down the numbers 3 through 21 on a piece of paper.  Starting at 3, move your pen down until you reach the number of days you think you’d feel comfortable being away.
  • Pause, and see what’s coming up as you do this activity.  Resistance?  Anxiety?  Anger?  Eagerness?  Excitement?
  • List the names of places you’d like to visit and feel comfortable traveling to right now.

If you truly can’t imagine 3 days away any time in the next couple of months, then think about planning an overnight (one little night) so you can break through whatever this barrier is, because you, my friend, need some nurturing.  It’s an experiment.  It might be uncomfortable, but it’s not life threatening.  You can do it.  Pack as much constructive pampering into that overnight as you can:

  • Take a taxi or a limousine to a nearby luxury hotel instead of driving yourself (or you and your spouse/best buddy).
  • Dress up and eat out.  Nurture yourself by savoring the experience with all your senses.  Allow yourself to be truly waited upon.  Or if room service in pajamas feels more nurturing, do that, playing Monopoly in bed or looking through old photo albums together.  Have FUN!
  • Visit the indoor pool, workout room, spa or salon.  Definitely have a massage if available.
  • If the weather is nice, get out and walk, explore, have a meal at an outdoor cafe.  Play tourist.

Okay, now one more thing.  No Internet and no e-mail.  The cell phone is okay for necessary calls, but no Internet and no e-mail.  I mean it.  You can do it.

P.S.  When you get home, you might want to pull out your vision board for your passionate work and see if you remembered to include vacation time.  It’s not too late to add it!

Until next time …Post Closing