The lessons I DIDN’T share about my trip to Mexico

This year I took my first non-working vacation in 4 years and now, when I look back to that vacation, something incredible stood out.

It wasn’t watching humpback whales in the ocean.

Or snorkeling on the reef.

It wasn’t even the amazing people I met, food or drink or beaches I visited.

I was terrified something would go wrong and I wouldn’t know about it and, at the same time, purposefully unplugging from social media, email, and the internet in general.

It was a really odd to be sitting on the beach at The Office (real name of bar in Cabo), enjoying a cold drink and the hot sun AND thinking about the ezine or my customer service account.

Here’s what I learned from that trip:

It takes a lot of courage to unplug completely and trust. It’s like a parent leaving the baby with a sitter for the night and not taking a cell phone or checking in. It’s scary. And because it’s scary, most entrepreneurs won’t do it.

We cling to our smart phones and tablets like security blankets and check in with our team like helicopter parents.

But in reality, this isn’t your fault. Building a successful online business is hard and it can often feel like you’re treading water and barely making progress. Left and right we’re assaulted with messages to ‘push harder’ but ‘stay in the flow’ which sounds like advice for white water rafting enthusiasts.

There’s also a fair amount of guilt and I’ll be sharing more about that on the call this week but suffice it to say that taking a vacation is not walking away from your business. It’s not abandonment. If you go in with a plan then not only will your worry decrease, but you’ll be more excited for the next trip or time off.

Even if you love your business, taking time off is needed. I don’t know a single person who isn’t overwhelmingly busy all the time and without a break from it all, it’s easy to let stress pull us toward a breakdown.

The truth is, you don’t need to be zen calm about taking time off, and your business doesn’t have to be a perfectly run machine in order to take a few days without your laptop. It’s a process and one that you have to learn by doing.