Vacation doesn’t necessarily cure burnout. It can, in fact enflame an already gritty grindstone. Avoiding burnout is key to any business endeavor succeeding. No matter how good the idea, how talented the formulator, how amazing the sales staff; burnout can topple the entire enterprise.
That’s when it becomes essential to know why we do what we do. I believe burnout can arise from confused priorities in an insanely fast-moving business world. Keeping pace with a cutting-edge idea can feel perpetually behind the 8-ball, always one step behind where we “should” be.
I personally experienced burnout in my fourth year of business. Business was absolutely booming. JCS’s growth potential was only limited by how much time I put into it. It seemed I could not keep up. From a business standpoint, it was great; but personally, I was about to learn a very important lesson about time and life. Time with family, hobbies, community service, even sleep and plain ‘ole relaxing all took a back seat to Judah Creative Studio’s rapid success.
It was a bad car deal that woke me up. All that hard work went into the purchase of a car that turned out to have major problems. And what was I left with? I had traded so many joys in life for this faulty “prize.” Why was I doing this again? I had begun to live to work. But that’s backwards…
I learned it’s much better to work so that I can live.
And living doesn’t always happen on vacation (although it can!). It's everyday moments, like when I taught my son how to catch a snake out of the chicken house, or when I took a business time-out to attend my kids' fiddle camp performance. That’s life, and slowing down to drink it invigorates me to go back to work and give it my all.
Slow down. Breathe. Observe. Enjoy.
Work to live; do not live to work. What is it we were after in the first place? Achieving something. What is that something? Isn’t it a piece of really living? Getting a bite of “real life” where we feel alive and get a fill of satisfaction? Entrepreneurship is great, but beware of the tail wagging the dog. Enjoy life!
