Is This Missing From Your Business Plan?
I just returned from a lovely vacation to the Carolina Lowcountry, where I took sunrise walks on the beach, sunset bike rides around the islands (stopping to gaze at alligators and egrets hanging out in the marsh), cooked fresh shrimp dishes with friends, and sat on the porch reading books that had nothing to do with business or personal growth (I was on orders to “read only shallow books, Jane!”).
Am I telling this to you to brag?
Nope.
I’m telling you this to remind you that YOU NEED REST.
Vacation, Play, and Rest are all essential components of a solid business plan.
As I was explaining to a client in this morning’s Get it Done Day masterminding-session, brain research has proven that our best insights and creative breakthroughs come when we alternate between actively problem-solving and intentionally resting. This is why everyone has that “aha” moment in the shower.
Your brain needs to turn off.
The best example of this is detailed in The Net and The Butterfly: The author explains how back in the 60s, Kieth Richards knew that the Rolling Stones needed a big hit soon if they were going to really make it. He fretted for hours over the challenge, fell asleep on the couch (no comment on whether the sleep was substance-induced), woke up suddenly and hit “play” on his cassette recorder to capture the first few bars of a tune that came to him in his sleep… then passed out again. The rest of the recording was Kieth snoring… but those first few bars became “Satisfaction,” the Rolling Stones’ greatest hit.
The insight came when he stopped trying so hard.
Leaders and creative geniuses throughout history have known that alternating work with downtime makes us better at what we do.
-But in our overstimulated era, we seem to have forgotten this. (p.s. scrolling on your phone does not register as “downtime” in your brain. It registers as work. You need input-free rest.)
Quick— look at your schedule and commit to some play-time or rest-time. Then do nothing during that time, as if your success depends on it.
Because it does.