I’m a seasoned traveller with over 60 countries visited and each one made me who I am today. Each country and their different cultures has built me up as a person.
After a long week with no motivation and feeling down (I’m not afraid to say I have days where I struggle), the best thing for me is to take myself away. That could be an all-inclusive fortnight in Lanzarote or a city break to Valencia. Travel really helps my own mental health and those of our clients too.
It also injects focus into me and new ideas. It’s like magic. I actually find myself wanting to get home and put the ideas into practice.
Nothing else works like that for me.
After a recent trip to Japan, I noted how the Japanese give change back to you after you purchase something. They present it with both hands and a slight head nod. It’s a lovely touch. Not just lobbing money one handed into mine. It’s polite, it’s courteous and it’s memorable. Whenever I now hand anything (whether it be money or documents etc) I try to remember to do the same and show that respect.
We’re the first financial planning firm in the UK to implement our holiday policy: we don’t have one. Our guys can take as much or as little as they want, whenever they want.
If we’re going to truly practice what we preach and allow people to make the best of their lives while they still can, we need to do it too.
The next time you feel stressed/anxious/burned-out, book a trip to the place you’ve been putting off for a while. Any excuse can be overturned and it doesn’t have to be expensive – even in the UK, this works.
Try it out.