Every vacation doesn't have to be exotic, just do something you love that gets you out of the office!
Okay, I'll give everybody a heads up - this is definitely rant material. I'm kind of blown away lately by how many photographers have their point of focus totally screwed up. I'm not talking about your cameras, but your lives. Here's what got me going...
I subscribe to a great little news magazine called The Week. In a section called "The Bottom Line" they wrote:
Forty percent of Americans who earn vacation time fail to take all the days they've allotted, leaving an average of 8.1 vacation days unused - for a cumulative total of 429 million unused vacation days each year!
So, this is a little like playing the Kevin Bacon game and it got me thinking about my own focus and rarely taking time off. That took me to somebody who I heard recently proclaim with pride they've pretty much worked non-stop for three years and *poof* - here I am asking the question of a whole bunch of you, "What the hell are you doing?"
Vacation, especially as an artist and business owner, isn't just about relaxing, but giving yourself time to appreciate why you're working so hard in the first place. It's about your family, friends and things you're passionate about beyond the business. It's about putting yourself in an environment where you're removed from the challenges that stress you the most.
When I worked for Hasselblad I used to get so aggravated when the Swedes would close the factory for the entire month of July. I used to think they had the worst work ethic - how could somebody care about the business and just walk away for an entire month? Then it hit me that as Americans most of us don't know what to do with a two week vacation, let alone a month off. Well, I started thinking...who's really the country with messed up priorities?
It's a short post today and perfect for a Friday...learn to stop thinking you're indispensable. Time is the one thing we can never get back. It's time everybody started to prioritize their bucket list and started checking some things off. Most of the time I can't walk the talk myself, so I know how hard it is to do.
I know each of you take a huge amount of pride in your work, but somewhere in life the world started telling us that a good work ethic meant you only focus on work. No, a good work ethic is loving what you're doing and having a goal to be the very best you can be...that means recharging your batteries before you crash and burn!
Photo Credit: © lucato - Fotolia.com
I subscribe to a great little news magazine called The Week. In a section called "The Bottom Line" they wrote:
Forty percent of Americans who earn vacation time fail to take all the days they've allotted, leaving an average of 8.1 vacation days unused - for a cumulative total of 429 million unused vacation days each year!
So, this is a little like playing the Kevin Bacon game and it got me thinking about my own focus and rarely taking time off. That took me to somebody who I heard recently proclaim with pride they've pretty much worked non-stop for three years and *poof* - here I am asking the question of a whole bunch of you, "What the hell are you doing?"
Vacation, especially as an artist and business owner, isn't just about relaxing, but giving yourself time to appreciate why you're working so hard in the first place. It's about your family, friends and things you're passionate about beyond the business. It's about putting yourself in an environment where you're removed from the challenges that stress you the most.
When I worked for Hasselblad I used to get so aggravated when the Swedes would close the factory for the entire month of July. I used to think they had the worst work ethic - how could somebody care about the business and just walk away for an entire month? Then it hit me that as Americans most of us don't know what to do with a two week vacation, let alone a month off. Well, I started thinking...who's really the country with messed up priorities?
It's a short post today and perfect for a Friday...learn to stop thinking you're indispensable. Time is the one thing we can never get back. It's time everybody started to prioritize their bucket list and started checking some things off. Most of the time I can't walk the talk myself, so I know how hard it is to do.
I know each of you take a huge amount of pride in your work, but somewhere in life the world started telling us that a good work ethic meant you only focus on work. No, a good work ethic is loving what you're doing and having a goal to be the very best you can be...that means recharging your batteries before you crash and burn!
Photo Credit: © lucato - Fotolia.com
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