Getting Away and Letting Go to Get Things Going
By Joe Molineaux
Taking time off from a business you own and operate can be one of the hardest things to do. Most people will tell you a vacation is needed and necessary at regular intervals. That is something the majority of business people will actually agree with in theory. However putting that plan for time off or getting away from your work and business can be difficult in the real world.
For the last several years running my own business, I made a conscious decision to keep the same vacation schedule my family and I had become accustomed to each year during the summer season at the Jersey Shore. We continued a tradition that we started nearly twenty years ago by leaving the hustle and the bustle of the packed island crowds and increased traffic behind, for a less crowded lower stress lake vacation.
I am well aware that many of my fellow business owners rely on the increased visits from our out of state and instate distant neighbors to help make their businesses more profitable. I do understand that concept and the reasons behind it, but I also watch the churn and burn take the physical and mental toll on my friends as they work even harder to keep up with the increased demand on their time and energy.
So what do you do? I would strongly recommend a well-timed and well planned in season vacation. That’s right, I said it. Take a look at the very middle of your season riddled with business and consider a well-deserved number of days off. It could be just a few days strung together or a full week. Sometimes you need to get away to be able to get things going.
I can speak from experience that every day I come up with a new idea, concept, or strategy for my own business or for another business. Whether it is a basic thought or a full blown plan, the reality that I can take the time to expand on those ideas are limited by how busy I am and how much work I have at the time.
History will show, that during the past 20 years of vacation, my ability to think, rethink, and modify ideas and concepts that I undertake upon my return to the world of work, has produced some of my most creative, unique, and surprisingly successful results.
Maybe it is the comfort of a return to a simpler way of vacationing. Perhaps it is the connection to a more natural and less tourism driven environment. Or just maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is much less competition for my attention in a freeing, calming, cooler, rustic way of living that allows my thoughts time to be nurtured and grow.
Another benefit to getting away is the ability to let things go. When you consider what is on your mind and have the time to think it through thoroughly the opportunity exists to find an answer and leave what was troubling you behind.
I hope as you read this, you stop for a moment and ask yourself about the reality of your ability to get away to get things going. I have never regretted one minute or forgotten the true creative benefits of taking the time away and coming back rested and ready to work towards success.
Economic Opportunity Song of the Week: Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
By Joe Molineaux
Solsbury Hill is one of my all-time favorite songs. Creator of the song, Peter Gabriel, has said “It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get …… It’s about letting go.” For many of us, it is a musically infused journey of taking the time to think, reflect, and ultimately act, with the goal of moving towards something better. There have been countless attempts to decipher the song and elements within it. As with any song interpretation, people will take away from the song what they identify with and what moves them. Solsbury Hill is about movement. From the climbing of the hill to the decision to leave what is troubling us behind. We all have hills to climb and decisions to make. Perhaps it is time for you to get away and let go to get things going!
“Solsbury Hill” was the first debut single released by Peter Gabriel after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis. The single was a Top 20 hit in the UK and reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977. It went on to be used in many films and film trailers. Solsbury Hill is a real place actually called Little Solsbury Hill located in Somerset, England.
