Take A Break For Your Health And Your Wealth - Forbes

Move up Move down

Why You Need A Vacation: 3 Reasons To Leave Your Business Behind Eric T. Wagner Contributor

If You're Doing It All, You're Doing It Wrong Jan Bruce Contributor

37 Ways To Keep Your Employees Motivated From A 37-Year-Old Entrepreneur Young Entrepreneur Council Contributor

My husband’s family always used the Spanish toast “Salud y pesetas”, meaning to your health and your wealth, as they raised their glasses—an expression of goodwill that often fell on deaf ears. As an entrepreneur, I spent years working every waking hour to get my company off the ground, keep up with the growth and deal with the myriad of challenges coming at me from all directions. To further complicate matters, I had three young children who deserved as much of my time as I could give. The guilt of not being with them while I was working made me double down and be fully present when I was home. All of this left very little time for me. The stress of it all often made me sick, but I just kept going, as most self-starters do, in spite of the risks.

Taking a break from all of this seemed foreign and almost impossible. In the last few years, with age and a bit of wisdom, I finally have started to take breaks, even if for only a few hours to help center my thinking, make me aware of my health and prepare me to charge ahead. For me, it is enjoying time at our ranch, where I have a huge garden, training Border Collies with my husband and working on other artistic projects. These pursuits make me happy and put me in a better frame of mind to jump back in the game. My iPhone has never seen my garden—it stays back at the ranch house.

Statistically, Americans leave, on average, 9 vacation days unused each year. Many companies recognize the importance of taking vacations to refocus and reenergize. Evernote offers their employees $1000 to take a real weeklong vacation, not a “staycation.”

I asked another working mom, Elana Drell-Szyfer, CEO of cosmetic and beauty company Ahava to give me her thoughts on balancing work and life. Her only experience not working was due to a non-compete, not by choice. She spent this time learning new things and remembering what it was like to have hobbies that don’t include work. In her words, “I committed myself to rediscovering things I liked to do. I joined a book club, studied Spanish, took Bikram Yoga for the first time, joined a philanthropic organization and spent one whole day every week with my kids going on a special outing—it was called Tuesdays with Mommy. Some things stuck, I’m on the board of that Philanthropic organization today, I learned to love Yoga, especially Bikram, and I certainly improved my Spanish. (Book club got left behind).”

During her time off, Elana learned a number of things, but three notable lessons stick out. She went on to say, “First, one can find a community and a sense of belonging anywhere. I felt loyal to my regular yoga class and felt obligated to come because I knew people would be expecting me and I wanted to see them. Second, I learned that the world is run by volunteers—capable, educated and intelligent people, many of them women, who don’t work for money, but who contribute massive amounts of time and energy. I also learned the value of having a sense of self and curiosity. Having other things that you are passionate about helps balance the pressure and challenges of the job and gain a new perspective on your work.”

Perhaps McDonald’s got it right in 1971 with their ad slogan, “You deserve a break today,” targeted at busy adults who worked hard and could use a break with their children and families. Even a small break is worth every minute to your future success—that is, to your health and your wealth.

Salud y Pesetos