Road trips are the best! It doesn’t matter where I go, I love the adventure and the change of scenery and pace. Through the years, I’ve gotten quite good at planning and executing my trips. As long as I keep my “eye on the ball”, or stay focused on what’s at hand, my trips go smoothly.
This topic is on my mind because I’m often balancing the efforts involved in building and growing my business with taking road trips which are mostly for business (though, I enjoy myself on every business trip too). I see some similarities between working my business and taking road trips. Focus and time management are the connection I see with these two topics.
With a road trip you have to have a plan. Right? Focus helps develop the plan and allows for the smooth implementation of the plan. Time management allows it all to come together “just in time” with minimal distractions and interference.
To draw the parallel, working your business requires having a plan. Are you with me on that? Focus helps develop the plan and allows for the efficient action necessary to implement the plan. Time management cuts the distractions and interference to allow the plan and actions to come together effectively.
See the connection I’m seeing?
Think about your road trips. Do you just get in the car and drive, or do you make some preparations first? Preparations like getting gas or tickets, packing clothes and toiletries, and maybe planning on where to stop or the night. What do you focus on? How do you manage your time?
The same kinds of questions apply to how you work and live your life. Do you just get up every morning and do whatever comes your way, or do you plan the activities and tasks you’re going to do? What do you focus on to get through your business and life? How do you manage your time and projects to get everything done in a satisfactory way?
More similarities. What do you think so far?
Like business and life, balancing the various aspects of your road trip is important for its pleasure and success. Some of the elements to account for in a road trip to account are having a driver, using the pit stops for fueling (and de-fueling), eating food and sleeping well, and enjoying the overlooks and points of interest. To me, that makes for a well balanced trip – health, wealth, work and play are intertwined beautifully.
Like a great road trip, it’s important to balance your business and personal lives. For example, some elements to balance include working for employment or hobby, managing your wealth, tending to your health with adequate exercise as well as good foods and sleep, and playing.
See those patterns I’m seeing? See the connection between a good road trip and a good life?
Without focus, time management, and attention to all the elements of your life, be that on the road trip or at work, you can end up stranded (or worse yet, at a dead end), hungry, sleepy, and lost or uninspired.
Focus and time management are important for a highly productive road trip and life. You can focus without time management, but time management isn’t as effective without focus. I think they work nicely together to make for a more satisfying life — on a road trip or at work.
I do know some people just let each day of their road trip unfold as it will. They still had to have some kind of plan to start with. Money, either in your “pocket” or the ability to earn it along the way; travel documents like driver’s license, passport, and visa need to be acquired; and weather needs to be accounted for so you have the right clothes. Sure, part of the fun and adventure for some people is figuring out as they go, but it’s a huge source of stress for others.
I see the same kind of pattern with working and living. It can be lots of fun and a great adventure to wake up and tackle the day without a plan — for some people. But it’s stressful and no fun at all for most of the people I interact with. Whether it’s fun or stressful for you, it’s less productive than having a plan. It seems too many people don’t have the skills to focus on what they want or manage their time to accomplish that. That’s something our educational system fails us on — not teaching us how to live to our fullest potential.
If you aren’t happy or content with the path you are on, what are you doing to change the path, or change your attitude about the path? Do you want more in life and either don’t know how to get it, or are afraid of going for it?
It’s time to get “unstuck” and “unafraid”. It’s time to realize happiness and contentment. Get focused. Manage your time. Plan your “road trip” and enjoy the journey!