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The wall is always waiting
By Colin J. Campbell
Are you paying more attention to the welfare of your Smartphone than to your own wellbeing?
Recently I had one of those days; I reached a point where there was no going on. I just hit the wall. I went home in the middle of the afternoon crawled into bed and slept for 16 hours. Sometimes we get so busy we figure we can do a little bit more, light the candle in the middle even though we already have both ends lit. It never is a good idea and often the results are catastrophic.
My preference is to have my day well organized with lots of breaks for reflection and rest. Despite that, I do tend to get caught up in the task and as a workaholic will forget to stop and recharge. It could be full out for a week or two at a time and the wall is always there just waiting for me to run into it head on.
The June issue of Inc. magazine reminded me of this; Arianna Huffington the founder of the Huffington Post website in an interview with Inc., talked about having collapsed from exhaustion on her office floor. This event turned into a wakeup call; Arianna realized then that she wasn’t doing herself any favours by working that hard. She said, “by any sane definition, if you find yourself lying in a pool of blood on your office floor, you are not, ‘successful.’”
The interviewer asked her if she would have accomplished as much as she did if she had taken time to recharge along the way. Arianna was adamant that she would have accomplished more and that she regretted not paying attention to this sooner. Stress and anxiety are increased by lack of rest and sleep, resulting in meltdowns like Ms. Huffington had.
As Ms. Huffington pointed out one of the most important things we have is our human capital. She made the comment that many of us spend more time making sure our Smartphone’s are charged than we do making sure we are recharged.
Often we take our health and well-being for granted; we don’t treat ourselves as well as we treat our possessions. We certainly don’t spend as much insuring our human capital against the risks of death or disability as we do insuring our cars and toys. However, our human capital is one of our most essential assets, everything else depends on our ability to work and earn a living. Shouldn’t we spend more time recharging, getting rest, especially enough sleep, and to putting aside the delusion that we can go 24/7 and get away with it?
Working smarter not harder starts with making sure your tools are sharp and your battery is recharged. Get enough sleep, take time for yourself to read or take a course or just to think. Bill Gates sets aside a week every quarter as thinking time. He goes away and just spends the time thinking. That may not be feasible for most of us, however I bet if we made it a goal and started out with a day a month or a few days every six months eventually it would work up to a week a quarter. Just think what would be accomplished if more people did that.
Small businesses operated by hard working entrepreneurs are the backbone of the Canadian economy. We need more individuals who are willing to take a risk and step out of their comfort zones and achieve success as self employed entrepreneurs. It is just as important to make sure that success is lasting and isn’t impacted by issues such as poor health or stress.
Keep on keeping on, but please, stop and smell the flowers on occasion it’s good for your soul.
– Colin J. Campbell CFP, CLU is an independent financial advisor and managing partner of Guidance Planning Strategies Ltd, in Cranbrook. Serving the Kootenays since 1995, Guidance Planning Strategies focuses on helping families and entrepreneurs create wealth and keep it for generations.
