The Road Home

For many years I’ve lived the song, ‘I’m leaving on a jet plane.” It’s not that I didn’t know when I’d be home again. I knew that the road was calling and, like most people in sales, I would be away from home about 50 to 60 percent of the time.

This isn’t a blog about missing home, which I do or longing to be with my wife. It’s about how to cope when you walk through the front door. I have a big confession.

Yes, I feel guilty when I have a few days of being home. I feel like I'm “doing nothing” although I’m really doing many things. Yet, I still feel like many of you do in that if I’m not pushing ahead and running at top speed then I’m letting everyone down and simply coasting.

Then the other day, it dawned on me: Sometimes the best thing in life is to slow down to go fast.

In other words, if you don’t take those moments, weekends or even a week of downtime then you might just be spinning your wheels. You won't be able to go fast when you need to sprint. Why? You just won't have the juice that is stored (and restored) when you slow down. Just last week, I was in Seattle and then home for a few days before I went to listen to a friend lecture at his event.

Even a few days of R&R at home felt like I was slacking. Actually, it was five days of home and at first I felt like I was doing something wrong. Five days! That was eternity off the road!

Where was my plane ticket? Why wasn’t I packing? Why wasn’t I running? What the heck was I missing?

The answer was simple. I didn't need a ticket or a suitcase. I didn't need my fast shoes because the world could wait. It was time to regroup. I was go-go-going and all of a sudden, I hit that wall where it’s time to stop. Guess what? That’s perfectly acceptable and even part of your game plan. Once you accept and embrace your stop points then they will feel especially great.

A day off doesn’t mean you’re slacking. It’s not that you’re not bringing in sales or accomplishing something wonderful. You’re actually plugging your personal charger back into the wall for your successful tomorrow.

My time off was filled with sorrow. My wife lost a beloved cat that was like a child to her. During my days off, it was wonderful to be next to my wife and support her during a very difficult time that actually drew us closer.

Thank God, I wasn’t in some other city and had to do that on a telephone. I know many of you out there just have the phone when you’re away and there’s nothing you can do. That's just part of modern life. But being there – really there – was a blessing.

My friend Jack suggests creating “free days” for busy professionals. This means you go for 24 hours with no email, no phone, no business contacts. You just simply unplug and enjoy where life takes you when you’re not wired ..in more ways than one. Most of us can’t even take a real day off because we’re so busy checking…checking email, checking voicemail, checking text mail and so on.

We live in such an instant gratification society where we’re almost prisoners of our technology. It’s really too bad because you forget how good it feels to just check on simple things like how sunny it is outside or how good it is to relax and laugh at someone’s joke.

So, it’s Friday, friends. Slow down this weekend. Unplug. Stop checking.

Stay off planes, trains and out of automobiles. Take a minute to reflect. Don’t get caught up in anything, but the joy of a little rest.

You deserve it. And remember: Slow down to go fast on Monday!