We're back in action
After a well deserved break and 2 week honeymoon, we're rested and ready to go!
Happy Monday folks,
We’re back from my 2 week honeymoon, here’s some more info and why the trip was so important.
Let’s jump in:
Story: much needed time off
As most of you know from my last post, I was offline for about 3 weeks getting married and going on a 2 week honeymoon to Belize.
First of all, if you’ve never been, I would definitely recommend it. In case you’re in the market for travel destinations:
it was a great country with good weather and very friendly people
located in Central America, it was a relatively easy flight from Canada and only a 1 hour time difference
we spent 1 week at a resort in the jungle and 1 week at a resort on a small private island. They were very different experiences which we loved (getting a taste of each)
food was very good with a focus on fresh fruit, fish, meat, beans/rice and local seasonings. They also have great coffee and chocolate produced there (and rum too, but we’re not huge drinkers)
they accept US cash everywhere which was also convenient
The other nice part of our second stay, the island resort, was that they only had wifi in the main building/lobby, which meant no internet in our room. Considering we really wanted to unplug and recharge, this ended up being a great thing because I only spent about 15 minutes per day on my phone to check email and answer anything urgent from the Visto team.
And I left everything else for when I got home, as it wasn’t urgent or important (I also made sure my email auto-responder was on).
This meant we were really able to relax, enjoy the weather, read a lot (more on my reading below), eat even more (diet starts today…) and get ready for a big 2024.
Key takeaway: be intentional with your time off
The hustle/grind culture has gotten very popular over the years, especially with the help of social media.
While I am a proponent for working hard, I also believe that we can only work so hard for so long, and I’ve also learned (the hard way) that trying to work too hard for too long eventually leads to burnout.
And burnout is not good for your business, at all.
Instead, I’ve actually found that being strategic about time off can be a huge benefit to you and your business. More specifically, I recommend taking at least a 7+ day vacation, 2 times per year. I actually find 8-12 days to be the sweet spot where anything less doesn’t give you the full unplug/reset, while anything more and I get antsy/bored.
While taking time off sounds counter-intuitive (because usually more work = more money), I find this time off extremely important to:
recharge your body and mind
give you the chance to step back from your business and think about it from a 30,000 foot view
plan for the future
reflect on how you’re feeling/doing and adjusting if needed
Do you agree? Have you made the time to step away, for the benefit of your biz?
Content for the week:
Vlog: Back in action means another video vlog, where I go into more detail on the trip and my time off:
Book(s): you might remember that on my last vacation I read The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty, which is book 1 of a 3 part series. As some of you know, my first love (of books) was fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc.), so usually when I go on vacation, I leave the business books at home and go back to my roots.
On this trip I read the 2nd and 3rd books of that series - The Kingdom of Copper and The Empire of Gold - which were both great. If you’re a fan of fantasy novels, I highly recommend the series. It was a great mix of adventure, magic, cool characters/scenes, and also a good ending that didn’t drag on for too long.
Tiktok: my most viewed Tiktok vid from the last few weeks is about why you need to start thinking about AI for your biz - or you’re going to fall behind.
Thanks as always for following along on my journey and have a great week,
- Josh Schachnow
Canadian immigration lawyer, CEO at Visto.ai
If you’re looking for more of my help, you can check out:
My immigration tech platform, Visto, that helps Canadian immigration firms prep and file applications much quicker.
Make sure you’re subscribed on Youtube where I post the weekly vlog and am also posting shorter snippets of my tips/advice as Youtube Shorts!