It's okay to take a break!
Tristan Griffiths
Removing overwhelm from social media, content creation, livestreaming & social audio!
It’s okay to take a break…
In a world that celebrates hustle culture and working full out towards your goals, I want to be a voice of reason to remind you taking a break is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact this very blog was supposed to be published on the 14th of January, but my own self-awareness allowed me to take a break and come back to it afresh at the beginning of February.
Being a voice of reason in a noisy and busy marketplace on social media is something I intend to do more of over the coming year, and as such I want to remind you that, despite what you might hear, life and business are not a race. In fact if you’re going to compete with anyone it should only ever be with yourself.
You don’t know the race that everybody is running, all the resources they have in order to equip them best for their journey. It may appear that people are further ahead, when in reality they may actually be struggling because they are, like so many, scared to admit it or to take a break and ask for help.
The sad truth is that we will often never know what position someone is in, unless we are very close to them. And sadly that busy life syndrome, and hustle culture has meant that most of us are far too busy to allow ourselves to get that close to too many people.
When was the last time you really spent time with someone, with no distractions, no interruptions, and really fully focused on your time with them, appreciating them, supporting them, challenging them and being there for them?
This may be a very hard pill to swallow, but because of ‘remaining busy’, far too often we don’t allow ourselves the very best opportunity to build a relationship with those around us.
I distinctly remember being at a networking event where someone was actively using ’being busy’ as a badge of honour, and actually making them self inaccessible to those around them who may well have wanted to build a relationship, or even do business with them.
Sadly a lot of people struggle with managing not only their day-to-day tasks, but also keeping up with the increasing demands on them from the various social media platforms, and methods of communication we have available to us today.
If you really want to be able to take a break, one thing you must do is become disciplined in how you utilise the tools that are available to you. Just because you have them doesn’t mean you have to use them!
Remembering that everybody is on their own journey, and following their own path, should make it easier for you to take a break. Unfortunately most people find it hard to distinguish between their journey and that of those around them.
Forget comparison, and live with compassion and empathy.
Tristan Griffiths #ImTristanG
A high level of self-awareness is necessary to understand how you perform at your best, and the truth is only you can establish this. Of course you can draw on the experience, expertise and insights of others, but ultimately it is your decision.
In the same way we can never really have an understanding at the deepest level of where other people are at, the same is true of other people sharing their opinion around our situation.
It seriously saddens me that it has become the norm for people to work flat out, and be fearful of taking a break, worried that they will miss out on something, when in reality we all need a break from time to time in order to reflect, recover, and refocus.
Far too often people can get caught up in the day today, and lose focus on the bigger picture. Only when we stop and take stock, can we really get a clearer insight on how far along our journey we really are, and whether we are still working towards the things we aspire to.
These questions are important, as they will help you to understand how you are operating, and whether this is productive and efficient, in allowing you to truly enjoy and experience the very best for yourself.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with competing, I implore you not to allow competition to let you lose focus on your own dreams, goals and objectives.
You may have heard of ‘shiny object syndrome’, and if you haven’t this is simply being distracted by the ‘next best thing’ to come along.
I’m sure along our journeys, each of us has been guilty of this at times, but how you handle this, and keep yourself in check, comes down to your level of self-awareness. How much time do you invest in your own personal development, and trying to continually improve how long your own journey and path.
Remembering that the key part of that sentence is that it is your path and your journey, and no one else has ever walked that path. Others may have done similar things, in their own way, but remembering your path and journey is unique, just because it looks similar to others, doesn’t mean it really is.
Whatever taking a break looks like for you, I encourage you to do it regularly.
Tristan Griffiths #ImTristanG
I forget which book it is mentioned in, or it was at an event, but distinctly remember Daniel Priestley talking about the fact that the very first thing he does in his calendar each year is ensure he puts in his ‘time out’. Can you say you do the same?Â
The reason he gives for this, is the fact that in today’s day and age people often find themselves moving things around in the calendar, and this time for himself and his family is the one on movable thing in his calendar!
How highly do you respect your own well-being, mental health, and even physical health
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Remember there is no shame in doing things differently to others, in fact often it is the one thing that truly sets us apart, and helps us to stay true to our own journey, beliefs and objectives.
For some people, that break looks like finishing at a certain time every day.
For others it is taking out weeks for holidays.
And for others it is the number of days they work in a week.
Whatever that looks like for you, be unapologetic in making sure you are focused on your own sanity, well-being and health.
No amount of money, achievements or accolades is more important than your own well-being!
Tristan Griffiths #ImTristanG
So remember today…
Taking a break has no shame;
Those who judge you for doing so, are not your people;
And timeout allows you to reflect, recover, and refocus!
Tristan Griffiths #ImTristanG
Only when you put yourself first, and truly focus on doing your own thing in your own way will you get the very best results.
Of course we can learn from others, but ultimately we have to implement everything we learn to our own journey in our own way.!
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If you have thoughts or insights around this topic I would love to hear them down in the comment section, as always I am a strong believer that we can all learn from one another, and this is not a one-way broadcast, but an invite to a conversation around an important topic!
Thanks for taking the time to read #ImTristanGInsightsÂ
My aim in 2022 is the publish a blog around my thoughts and insights every single day throughout the year.
You’ll be able to find these in ALL these places;Â
So as I always say in my live streams, please do connect with me wherever you most like to spend time!Â
Thanks again for your time & sharing your thoughts…Â
Tristan Griffiths AKA #ImTristanG
ORIGINALLY POSTED : https://in9.media/20220201
PREVIOUS 2022 #ImTristanGInsights
The Consultants Consultant.
2yOh this resonates with me Tristan. Especially the bit about using "being busy" as a badge of honour in networking events. I hear it all the time. I've learnt to delve a bit deeper and find out what they have been busy doing. For me personally I gave myself the gift of closing up the office at the weekend. At first I felt incredibly guilty. Now what was all that about? The result was learning I get just as much real progress Monday to Friday.