The world is a scary place right now. The stock market is crashing. The housing market is in the crapper. And lots of people are waiting for the other shoe to drop in the job market. What to do when it’s crisis time everywhere you look? Sell your 401(k)? Update your resume? Find god? No, no, no.
Take a vacation. Huh? You heard me. Take a vacation.
To frame this one, let me share a quick sermon from when I was a bit younger. My first startup was a real estate asset management company that was an offshoot of a larger development company. I was driven to eat, sleep and breathe work 24/7/365 days a year. I had fire in my belly, and was every bit as passionate then as I am now.
My business partner and I hit a major crisis point in the business that involved key customers, key employees and personal sustenance issues, and we shared it in frantic tones with “Sam,” the chairman of the parent company. We were looking for answers, and we were looking for them fast.
“Sam, we need to move mountains to keep that customer happy. Sam, is there any way we can sweeten the pot so we don’t lose Brian. He’s our number one producer. Sam, we are running perilously low on cash. What should we do?”
Sam, who was worth well north of $100M, just listened to our rants, our angst, and our serious confusion. Then he smiled, and said, “Guys, take a vacation.”
Flummoxed, we got more agitated. “Sam, did you hear what we said? It’s serious!?”
Again, Sam repeated, “Guys, the crisis will wait, but you can’t, and besides, it’s never good to make so many big decisions in a stress-filled, darkly confused place. Take a week off. The world will still be there. Your head will be clearer for having taken the break, and your decision making process will be better for it.”
Best advice ever for times of crisis. The world can wait, and quick decisions made in dark places are usually the worst decisions you can make. So take a vacation, clear your head, and decide what you need to decide standing at a place of higher ground.
You will be better for it.
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