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Rest and Relaxation

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Mark Des Cotes, I do not like shopping for clothes for myself, and I believe if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I talk about the importance of downtime.

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians out there. Heck, Happy Canada Day to all the not Canadians out there as well. Today, July 1st, is Canada’s 148th birthday. Much like Independence Day in the United States, and let me wish all my American friends an early Happy Independence Day since I wont be talking to you again until next week, but much like July 4th in the USA, we here in Canada celebrate our day with fireworks and revelry. Although Mother Nature is gracing us with a deluge of rain today so I don’t know if the fireworks will happen or not. Either way, everything here is closed for the holiday so it’s a good day unwind. I haven’t decided yet if I’m just going to relax or finally tackle one of those household jobs I keep putting off. Oh, well. I have all day to decide.

Speaking of holidays, do you have any holiday stories you would like to share on our Friday forum? Any lessons you learned while out celebrating with friends or family? We would love to hear them. Visit https://www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback and use the form on that page to submit your written or audio message. You can also use the speakpipe widget to record something using your devices microphone. And of course you can call our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278.

Today’s Fun Fact of the Day: Did you know Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world’s lakes combined. With 1,896 km (1,178 mi), the Yonge Street in Canada, is the longest street in the world?

Here’s What I leaned yesterday.
I came back yesterday from a week long vacation. My wife, daughter and I went camping for three nights at Charleston Lake Provincial Park here in Ontario. We then came back home in order to drop off our dogs with Kim’s dad before taking off again for Toronto for a couple of nights.

While camping at Charleston Lake we went for many walks and bike rides. We also rented a canoe and a kayak for a day and the three of us, along with our dogs, spent many hours paddling the lake.

We sat around the campfire, took turns lounging in our hammock, and enjoyed the peace and quiet while we caught up on our reading. I had brought along a backlog of magazines I hadn’t read yet and managed to get through almost all of them.

All three of us had a great time.

For Toronto, we decided to also bring the trailer. Kim found a great campground in a conservation area right in the middle of the greater Toronto area. At $37 per night we saved a fortune on hotel bills. And best of all it felt like we were in the wild. We couldn’t tell that we were surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a busy metropolitan city.

We set up the camper as our base and used the local commuter train to travel into the downtown area.

We visited the brand new Ripley’s Aquarium, looked out at the city from the top of the CN Tower and ate lunch and dinner at quaint outdoor cafes. We walked Toronto’s downtown streets long into the evening soaking in the big city life that’s so foreign to us.

We spent the next day shopping at Toronto’s Eaton’s Centre, one of Canada’s largest shopping malls. Not surprisingly Joelle left the mall with twice as many bags as both Kim and I combined.

I’m not a big city kind of guy. Cornwall with it’s 46,000 people feels just right to me. But I did enjoy visiting Toronto and soaking it all in.

All in all it was a great vacation. It would have been nice if Ryan could have joined us but what can you do.

I’m back at home now and I feel great. Rest and Relaxation is exactly what I needed. Although I didn’t feel that way before the vacation. In fact, before going, if given the choice I would have opted to stay home and work in stead. My clients are very understanding but I still have a lot of work to do. And tomorrow I need to dig back in and get to it. Although I’ll be doing it with a fresh, rejuvenated mind.

Here’s what I learned.
Sometimes I feel like life is going just the way I want it. I’m on a role and I can’t afford to stop the momentum. That’s how I felt two weeks ago. I landed a couple of new clients with really great projects to work on. Plus I was bringing back my Under The Dome Podcast for season 3 and starting up a new podcast for Killjoys. I didn’t think I could afford a vacation. I’m not talking money wise, but time wise. I had too much to do and I really didn’t want to stop. I was in the groove.

But family comes first, so I begrudgingly shut down the computer and off we went. And the time I couldn’t afford to take off ended up being the best thing could have done. That rest and relaxation has recharged my batteries. I feel rejuvenated. My mind is clearer and I feel my creative juices flowing. I can’t wait to tap into this new energy and dive right back in tomorrow.

While driving to Toronto I was able to catch up on a few podcasts I was behind on. One of them is a podcast for web designers. On one of the episodes the host was interviewing a man who goes by the title “Business Coach” what he does is for a substantial fee, he goes into businesses as an impartial third point of view to see how the business can be improved.

He told a story of a woman that had built up her business from being just herself sewing stuff in her basement, into a multi million dollar company. The business had seen steady growth for several years but had remained stagnant for the past two, seeing very little growth. The woman hired this “Business Coach” to come in and give her an impartial assessment of why the business had stopped growing. After touring the facilities, looking over the books, and interviewing all the staff, he told the woman he had a pretty good idea of why the business wasn’t moving forward. But before he gave her his report he wanted her to take some rest and relaxation time. In the 8 years since she had started the business the woman had never taking a vacation.

She was married and had two daughters ages 12 and 10. The Business Coach told her to take two weeks off and go somewhere with her family. He also instructed her to leave her computer and cell phone at home. When she returned he would sit down with her and give his report. She scoffed at the idea but he reminded her that she had agreed to follow his instructions if she wanted her business to grow. Reluctantly she and her family left for a two week vacation.

After the woman returned from vacation she felt so energized and had all sorts of ideas for the business. There were so many directions she could go in and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen them before.

When the business coach next met with her he handed her one sheet of paper. On it he wrote that the woman was over worked and couldn’t think clearly. She was no longer communicating clearly with her staff. She had lost focus on the goals she had originally set out for her business. His prescribed remedy, rest and relaxation.

Six months after her vacation the business had doubled it’s sales. That woman now takes vacations several times a year.

I listened to that story on the way to Toronto. It was a nice story but I didn’t really understand it’s full meaning until I got back home. That story validates the way I feel today. I thought I was doing great before I left, that I had everything under control. To an extent I did. I’m sure I could have continued and working without a break and I probably would have done ok. But turning my brain off from work for a week has cleared the cobwebs. I feel refreshed and ready to tackle anything.

Perhaps you’re in a similar boat and don’t even realize it. You may think everything is fine the way you’re going. But maybe, with a little rest and relaxation, you may end up seeing a bigger picture.

I found this quote on the internet by Doe Zantamata.

“Taking time to do nothing, often brings everything into perspective”

I couldn’t have said it better.

I’m Mark Des Cotes and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.

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