Leadership Guru Chris Brady discusses the top ten reasons that people have lost the ‘art of vacation’ citing the following statistics. It is sad reading.
‘According to a recent Harris poll, only 14% of Americans take more than one week of vacation at a time, while the Center for Economic and Policy Research reported that 25% of Americans and 31% of low wage earners take no vacation at all anymore. In a 2006 survey conducted by Expedia.com it was estimated that workers would give back to their employers more than 574 million unused vacation days that year! So less people are taking vacations, while those who do are taking fewer vacations, shorter vacations, and even less vacations then they’ve earned! ‘
Cover via Amazon
The American lifestyle was built on work. Americans believe in work and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. Vacation wasn’t a strong part of that but we expected two weeks a year as a relief from the hard work on the job. These days, as Chris Brady points out, those two weeks have become harder and harder to justify. Either we can’t risk being gone or we can’t afford the cost of actually taking a vacation.
As the business environment changes, companies can no longer make long term employment commitments. Jobs no longer provide financial security for employees. More and more, enterprising individuals are discovering that charting their own course through life is much more rewarding and financially secure than taking a job. They are discovering lifestyle design.
So what do I mean by lifestyle design? Both Chris and Tim demonstrate the lifestyle improvement that comes from building a business that generates income once you spend time to get it running. In other words, becoming an entrepreneur. Work hard for a time and then relax and enjoy life. Chris was able to take his entire family to Italy for a month last summer. Tim routinely travels for several months at a time. Their businesses continue to generate income without active involvement while they are away. It is the new economy.
Both men saw the changes in the work environment but rather than accept the insecurity and frustration of staying with the old economic model, they embraced the new opportunities of becoming an entrepreneur, building their own businesses and gaining not just financial security but also a lifestyle improvement. They are both now able to fully embrace vacation as a part of their lifestyle.
Lifestyle design is the inverse of career planning- the frustrating scenario of getting a degree (or learning a trade) and then charting an employment path to achieve economic and personal security by learning to become an entrepreneur. . The old way that used to work just doesn’t get results these days and the institutions that feed off the process are in denial. People borrow money to get useless degrees to qualify for disappearing jobs. There is a future for you.
Whatever your stage in life, a degree is probably not the solution. You need information but consider the source before throwing any money in the game. Don’t be dependent on somebody else for your future. Take charge. Become an entrepreneur.
Success in today’s economy will come from following the unconventional leaders with fruit on the tree. Leaders like Chris and Tim. And then letting your mind go crazy with possibilities before setting on an independent course to financial security and a lifestyle where you can develop an ‘art of vacation’.
If you are suffering from severe deficiency in your vacation skills, maybe it’s your lifestyle design – or lack thereof- that’s the problem. Follow the fruit on the tree and see what Chris and Tim can teach you about vacations and the lifestyle design that supports them. Follow their path to becoming an entrepreneur with a business that supports a lifestyle where vacation is built into the design.
