No really, I did. And I also slept in a caravan. And it rocked.
We booked a last minute trip down to Kent for a couple of nights – essentially staying in a caravan in a stranger’s garden. Not as bad as you might think though – the garden had a swimming pool, pool house, fire pit, and a red phone box with a shower inside it!
So in this weather – winner winner, chicken dinner.
And on Thursday evening, after we’d settled the boys for the night I treated my long suffering wife to a massage. I didn’t do it myself, that would have been terrible for her – I paid said stranger to do it (she was qualified).
So between 8 and 9, I was left with nothing to do.
Nothing.
My first instinct was to get the laptop out, log onto the wifi, check my emails, and write a lovely little email for you about how relaxed I was and how important it is to take time out.
And that would have been a bit silly wouldn’t it?
You see, as much as I quite enjoy consolidating my ramblings onto the keyboard and beaming it out through various digital means for you all to read, it definitely counts as work.
So I stopped, closed my laptop up, put it away and challenged myself to sit back and do nothing.
For a whole hour.
Well 54 minutes by this point, but let’s not be pedantic.
And it turned out to be a proper eye-opener for me.
You see, I can’t remember the last time I did nothing for that long.
No phone, no music, no distractions – just little old me lying back on a rather fetching union flag beanbag and watching the stars show up for the night.
Have a think, when was the last time you did nothing?
And it doesn’t count if you were driving, or cooking, listening to music or even meditating. I mean properly nothing.
Silence. Stillness. Nothing.
Just you and your thoughts.
I work with a couple of sound business coaches…
(Very important, having a good coach ????)
And one of the phrases they use is “go slow to go fast”
In other words, you can’t survive going full tilt all the time, I don’t care who you are.
Yes work hard, yes be busy and throw yourself into your work/family/training.
But at some point you’re going to run out of steam. And if you don’t slow down then you’re going to crash and burn.
So this evening, I challenge you to give it a try.
Turn the lights off, turn everything off, and lie or sit for a while with your thoughts.
See what it feels like to truly do nothing, and not feel guilty about it.
Then get back to the wonderful craziness that is your life.
And if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it really helps you to take stock, refocus and get back in your groove.
Let me know how you get on!
Ian “happy-camper” Male
PS. We’re going to be running a bake-off with a difference very soon – and the winner gets a month’s free training with us. Keep your eyes peeled!