Communicate your wishes before you drive off on vacation!
In the summer most of my clients want to take vacation from their health strategic work too. That does not mean they don’t do their shores in the program but we have no meetings or mentoring calls. One of the pieces of life that we work with in the mentoring sessions is the private life. What is their private situation, how is it affected by the work as business leader or whatever their position is? This is of course an all year round issue but it may be extra delicate during vacation when everybody has expectations for a perfect time.
Studies show that vacation time is quarrel- and divorce time and many vacations end in disaster because of everybody’s different wants and needs. I have seen this in close ups and it is so sad. You go away in a small area as the car is and you suddenly have to be together ALL time of the day.
In my program we work preventive and look at each participant’s unique situation and look for the good stuff and try to figure out what risks that may show up. I want my clients to be prepared for the rough times too. This is hard to do on you own, the human nature fools us to cheat on ourselves and not be truly honest.
If you feel that the upcoming vacation might cause disagreements in your close relations I want to give you this tip. Ask a close friend, someone you really trust, to act as sounding board to you in a talk around the situation. This might be hard to get but very efficient if you can. Discuss your questions and doubts and take notes making lists for pros and cons in the issue. When you are clear of your needs and what is negotiable you have a talk with the ones you are planning to spend your vacation with. Try to stand up for YOUR most important needs but also remember it must be a give and take.
If you don’t find this friendly sounding board you have to do the work on you own, unless you buy the service. I tip you to take pen and paper and do brainstorming with yourself. Write everything, yes everything that pops up in your mind around the situation you are working with. Good things and bad things. Then you go over it piece by piece and put in 2 rows – pros and cons for whatever the issue is. When you know what you want and don’t want you go speak with your partner, same as above.
The biggest error people make in relations is not talking to each other. Lack of communication can ruin everything. Your counterpart can’t guess what you want and need and you can’t guess what they want and need.
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Happy vacation and until next week – keep smiling!
