If I had to put a theme on 2022, it would probably be labelled as a “year of recovery”. My wife and I both felt the whiplash from the prior year’s challenges, and we came away from our planning getaway agreeing that we should not put too much pressure on ourselves in the coming year. And that’s exactly what we did…
No goals
We didn’t set any goals for the year, either personal or business related, and decided that as long as we can pay our bills we are not going to worry about too many other things. The year started off pretty slow from a work perspective, and instead of trying to be busy and get stuck in the office (which is all too easy if you’re an entrepreneur) I would go to the driving range, play some golf or just do something else. I’ll admit that it was difficult at first, but I feel it was necessary and did wonders for my own wellbeing.
Towards the middle of the year things picked up on the consulting front and it was back to business as usual, but not having the pressure of any goals to achieve definitely made things easier.
This would also be the first year that we decided to take the last 2 weeks of the year off. We didn’t go on vacation and did mostly nothing, but it was great to completely disconnect for a bit. As I am writing this and thinking back to it all, I can definitely feel the positive impact it had to take a step back and recover from the burnout…it was definitely needed.
Progress isn’t linear, and neither is success
Combined with a global pandemic and everything that happened along with that, the effects of burnout left a few valuable lessons with me. I think the most significant is that progress and success is never linear. Our expectations are usually linear, but that is unrealistic when it comes to real life. It’s ok to slow down at times, put all the lofty goals aside and just look after your own wellbeing…whatever that means. I would even go as far as saying that it’s ok to take a few steps back when necessary and absorb the lessons you can learn from your own circumstances, good or bad. I’m not suggesting that you don’t put in the work to get yourself out of a bad situation, but life is a marathon and not a sprint. If you try to go all out for too long, you may not have the energy when you really need it.
In any event, take care of yourself and spend your time wisely…because time is the most valuable thing you have!