4 Things I Must Have on My Vacation and Why It Matters to You

A guest post by Debbie Page


Here in the PNW summer is the time that most of us don't want to leave the region. The skies are blue, the weather perfectly warm, the days light and long. It's a time I love to adventure locally; trips to the Long Beach Peninsula, biking adventures with friends, road trips to Oregon for weddings and long visits with family.

Maybe you, like me have arrived at a place in life where you like things a certain way. When it comes to my vacations there are a few things I don't like to be without, maybe you can relate. 

• Sunscreen - growing up as a teen in the 80s - I made the not great decision of using baby oil when my girlfriends and I would spend time in the sun and am mindful of how my skin deserves to be treated better that I had been treating it. What do you look back on in your life and wish you would have made a different choice?
• Comfortable Shoes - My absolute summer favorites include my beloved Birks (yes I wear them and no, not with socks) and some great Josef Seibel wedges that have carried me all over Spain. I believe that comfort is as important as fashion and I find that I enjoy my trips more when I'm comfortable, inside and out. 
• 2 Real Books - sunscreen and sand don't mix well with the iPad and there is a sensory experience to turning a page. Am I the only one who LOVES how a book smells? On a week long vacation I'll read 3-4 books. How about you?
• Harley - It wouldn't be a summer adventure if my pal wasn't along for the ride. Making sure the places we go will welcome him is as important to me, in many ways as the trip itself. 

Sooooo, what does this have to do with your business?
In recent surveys, Americans admit to spending more time planning vacations than retirement and spend an average of 15 hours planning a family vacation. This number can double if it's an unfamiliar destination, and Expedia says, we visit 38 travel sites before we book a trip. 

If we do some simple math (one of my favorite things) if you take two trips each year that's minimally 30 hours you're investing to planning two weeks of family fun and adventure.
Now stop and ask yourself, how much time do you allocate to planning your business each year?

Really, stop to think about it. 
Have you ever thought, "Wow, I have SO much time and not enough to do in it?" I am guessing no. 

Part of why entrepreneurs don't allocate time well is because there is no ritual when it comes to planning and evaluating business activities and results. It gets crammed in between dozens of competing priorities.

You are running an entity that allows you the opportunity to create the wealth you desire for yourself and your family. How much time is on your calendar to plan the actions of your business? An hour each week? An hour each month? Do you dedicate focused time each year to plan for the next? Do you block out time quarterly to review your progress and make adjustments as needed?

Now you might be thinking, "C'mon Debb, you've said this in some fashion before." 

You are correct. And I'll keep reminding you of the correlation between time spent planning, evaluating results and course correcting and the revenue and profit in your business.

Go mark the first 15 minutes every morning this coming week for planning your day, then mark the last 15 minutes of your work day to wrap up and evaluate what you accomplished and what is the priority the next day. 

Do this for a week and evaluate your results. I know you will have accomplished more and be more confident about your progress and direction and the money that is working it's way toward you. 

If you are ready to put a system in place that can support your success, then maybe it's time to considering working with me. If coaching is part of what you want to implement in the last half of 2018 then I invite you to schedule a complimentary conversation with me to discuss what's happening in your business and learn what it would look like to work together. You can schedule directly on my calendar here. 

Warmly,
Debbie Page



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