To Our Valued Clients and Friends:

As most of you already know, I am an adamant believer in the value of free days. These are days you take to get away from your daily work and routines, turn off phones, don’t check emails, and open yourself to recreative new and familiar experiences, as well as making sure to get some rest.

I was first introduced to the concept of free days via the Strategic Coach program, some 15 years ago, and have found again and again how truly valuable they can be. If you take time to renew and rejuvenate yourself, you may very well find yourself coming back to your work refreshed and refocused.

Free days, judiciously scheduled throughout the year, can help prevent frustration with your work, getting yourself overwhelmed, and finding yourself too narrowly focused on the leaves to see the trees, let alone the forest.

I recently took an all-too-brief holiday with my wife, Jennifer, to Park City, Utah – a favorite destination for us.

Although the trip was too brief, in my opinion, I came back re-energized, refreshed, and refocused.

And then I ran into a dear friend, Dr. Don.

Dr. Don found himself very firmly not looking forward to his 80th birthday. The last thing he wanted was a big gathering of friends at some restaurant, with helpful “You look great for your age” remarks, and unwanted though well-meant advice.

So, instead, he and his wife took off for Yosemite National Park, for five days of hiking and mountaineering.

He returned from the trip invigorated and with renewed enthusiasm. Dr. Don felt, he said, that he had a new lease on life, and felt alive and well.

Two converging stories, then, from two people at very different life-stages, point up the value of free days to your daily life.

I urge all of you – no matter how much you love your work, don’t neglect your all-too-valuable free days, and the benefit they can bring you in relation to the work you love.

What do you do to get away from your routine, to rest, to recreate, to renew your enthusiasm in your daily life? Please click here to email me directly – I would love to hear from you.

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Until next Wednesday –

Peace,

Eric