June 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Ready for a science-backed permission slip to disconnect this summer? Discover how Harvard's longest running happiness study proves that getting completely off the grid isn't just good for your wellbeing—it's critical for your leadership effectiveness.
Drawing from his personal experiences volunteering at camps and preparing for family houseboating trips, Lone Rock Leadership co-founder Russ Hill breaks down exactly why intentional disconnection creates more impactful leaders. The evidence is compelling: people who regularly disconnect to spend quality time connecting with others show higher happiness levels, faster stress recovery, and greater perspective on challenges. Most importantly for professionals, they return more emotionally available to their teams, more creative in their thinking, and less reactive under pressure.
The key isn't just taking time off—it's how you spend that time. Connecting deeply with others, whether through volunteering, family vacations, or community service, activates neurochemical responses that enhance wellbeing and cognitive function in ways mere rest cannot. Through river rafting adventures, hiking expeditions, and campfire conversations, Russ illustrates how these experiences create the perfect environment for personal recalibration and clarity.
This episode provides a practical three-step process: genuinely disconnect (no emails or Slack!), prioritize meaningful connection with others, and use the mental space to reassess your priorities and values. By creating a twice-yearly rhythm of disconnection and renewal, you establish natural 90-day implementation cycles that transform both personal effectiveness and team culture. Whether you have three days or two weeks, this practice might be the most valuable leadership habit you'll ever develop.
Ready to transform how you lead through intentional disconnection? Listen now for the research-backed strategies that will make you a better leader in the second half of this year—and help your team thrive too.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, it is summertime.
For most of us, that meansvacation season.
What Harvard's longest runningstudy says about why you've got
to get off the grid and let yourteam off the grid?
What does it do for you?
The data is crazy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.
You cannot be serious.
Strengthen your ability to leadin less than 30 minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So I am in the middle of my summer getaway, which I
do every year.
If you've listened to thispodcast for a long time, you
know that in the summer and atthe end of the year, between
Christmas, around Christmas timethrough right after New Year's
I get off the grid.
(00:52):
I'm very intentional about it.
I've done it for gosh 20 years,15 years I've had this routine.
So and what I want to talk toyou about today is why I do it
and what the research shows.
Like, don't just go with what Ithink, don't just go with what
you think might be good, butactually look at the data.
(01:12):
What does science show us aboutwhy you've got to encourage
your people?
You've got to be supportive ofthem.
Getting away that familyvacation potentially, depending
on how it goes for you or them,that family vacation, or that
volunteer weekend at a summercamp or a trip internationally
(01:36):
where you're volunteering, orwhatever it might be, the data
shows it has a profound effecton your ability to do your job
well.
So let's talk about that.
Welcome into the Lead.
In 30 podcast, in less than 30minutes.
In each episode, we give you aframework, an example, some
research, a best practice,something that's going on in our
(01:57):
working in this leadership labfor you to consider, for you to
think about implementing, tohelp you more effectively lead
others, because nothing has amore profound effect on your
life than your ability to leadothers.
I'm Russ Hill.
I make my living coaching,consulting senior executive
teams at some of the world'sbiggest companies and at growing
(02:18):
and developing leaders andmid-level leaders in
organizations as well.
You can find out more about ourfirm, lone Rock Leadership, at
LoneRockio.
Lonerockio.
Okay, so at the time I'mrecording this this month is
just crazy.
For me it is every year and I'mvery intentional about it and
(02:41):
making sure it happens, but inthe moment it's pretty crazy and
I'm recording this right in themiddle of it.
So I just got back from a weekin Colorado, um, volunteering
one.
I spend a week, at least oneweek, some summers it's two
weeks, this this summer it's one.
Uh, volunteering at our churchcamps and so the camp that I've
(03:04):
and my wife does it as well, andso she was gone the first week
that school was out here inArizona volunteering at what we
call girls camp.
So it's for all the teenagegirls like from 11 years old to
roughly 18.
Basically, it's a little bit,almost pre high school to
through high school, okay, andthey go off in the mountains and
(03:25):
they sleep in tents and do allkinds of activities, from
repelling to um to uh, what wecall the tough mudder, which is
like this tough challenge.
You know where you got to diveinto the ice, cold water and
crawl through the mud under thetent and scale the.
You know the, the walls and allthis sort of stuff, and you're
timed and you're you're racingagainst other teams and it's
(03:47):
just brutal.
And so my wife volunteered forthat for a week.
She came back and then I wentwith a group of more than 50, um
up to Colorado.
We drove up there and we wentriver rafting, something that
I've never done Like.
I finally got to check that box, one of the boxes that I've
wanted to check for a long time.
I've never done it with all theoutdoor camps and all the
(04:08):
activities that have beeninvolved in over the years.
Somehow the river rafting nevermade it on the list, and so,
but now I've checked that boxand it was absolutely amazing.
I mean, the water was freezingcold, holy cow.
We were all so excited to getback to 105 degrees in Arizona.
Like you all can take that 40degree water in your rivers in
(04:32):
Colorado.
I mean, it's beautiful,stunningly beautiful, but
there's a reason nobody'sswimming in that water.
We're here in Arizona, we'reused to.
Literally we've got like whatis it?
It four or five lakes.
People don't think of any waterin arizona, but we've actually
got four or five lakes thatsurround are around the phoenix
(04:52):
metropolitan area and uh, and sowe own a boat, we're boaters
and we're out on that water abunch and the water in our lake
is like 78 to 82 degrees.
It's crazy, crazy warm and um,and we love it that way.
So when we get in 40 degreewater, we're like, whoa, are you
joking?
Anyway, um, the camp wasamazing.
(05:14):
We also did a hike that had a2,600 foot elevation change is
absolutely insane.
My calves were on fire and Iwasn't sure my heart was going
to be able to, to, to, um,survive the, the altitude change
and uh, and anyway it was.
It was so amazing.
We volunteered on a farm, gotall these teenage boys out there
(05:36):
pulling weeds and uh, snakescoming out of the, the, the, the
grass, as we're helping this uhcommunity farm that provides
food to, uh, to, to those thatotherwise might be hungry.
In southern Colorado it wasjust, and then at night, we sat
around the campfire and we, we,we talked about life and all
kinds of things, and these,these boys that I volunteered
(05:59):
with, were asking all kinds ofquestions, about spiritual
things as well as emotionalthings, as well as career and
growth.
It was so amazing, and so manyof you do things like that too,
and I'm going to get into thedata in just a moment, but I
just want to tie this into thebigger picture of your desire to
(06:21):
grow, your desire to besuccessful, your desire to have
a great lifestyle and topositively impact others and
make an impact in whateverindustry you're in, and grow
your career and help lead a teamand all that sort of thing.
This idea, this principle ofgetting off the grid, is
(06:42):
absolutely backed up by science.
And it's hard because we've gotso many things going on, like
right now in our company.
It's crazy how much stuff we'vegot going on.
Yet I'm going to be consistentwith that.
I've got to get away, and themembers of our team, they've got
to get away, and I don't meanlike take time off and then go
(07:02):
be on your cell phone answeringemails the whole time.
No, you've got to be able toget away and you want to work
with clients and others thatallow that.
Now, you know you aren't goingto have clients.
You're like, yeah, it's allright If you don't.
You know you're not around fora month.
No, the organization's got toback each other up.
But this idea of fully, youknow and you've got to model it
(07:22):
right this idea of getting offthe grid completely, you've got
to model that meaning you're notresponding to tons of emails,
you're not in Slack, you're notin Microsoft Teams, you're
getting away.
That is, people want to work fora boss that does that and that
(07:43):
allows them to do that as well.
So I'm going to share with youjust a little bit of the data.
And, by the way, so I told youI was in the middle of it, so I
just did the volunteer camp fora week.
So much planning, so much workwent into.
That just requires an enormousamount of effort and it pays off
.
It pays off tremendously, butit's hard work getting ready for
that and I used to work, forwhen I was in the media business
I worked for a broadcastcompany that had what they
(08:04):
called mad hours, mad hours, mad, making a difference, and so
they gave us 40 hours.
So this was back when I was asalaried employee of a
corporation.
They gave us 40.
Many of your companies dothings like this.
If you don't, you've got to try, you've got to develop
something like this.
It's so valuable.
It made a huge difference forme.
(08:25):
So making a difference was 40hours that each employee that
was full time and had been onthe job for I don't know how
long six months, a year, threemonths, I don't remember what it
was where you had earned thisand then you got paid.
It was like paid vacation, butit was different than your
(08:47):
vacation time.
You had to get it approved andit could be.
You could use eight hours.
It could be five days spreadout over a year, where you're
volunteering at your kid'sschool or at a, at a church or
community thing or whatever itmight be, and you're getting
paid as if you were at work.
Or, in my case, I would usethat making a difference week
for the camps that I go to, andthen your vacation was separate
than that.
I thought it was a brilliantidea.
(09:08):
I love when companies dosomething like this.
Not only do they encourage youto get away, but they actually
pay you for the time.
That's a strong statement aboutwhat they want people doing in
inside their organization givingback to the community.
So we just did that.
Now I'm off on a family about tohead off on a family vacation.
This is where we go.
(09:28):
We go on a houseboat withseveral other families.
We get completely off the grid.
We do that for a week.
We tend to do it two weeks ayear, one week in the summer and
one week in the fall and we goto one of the most amazing,
beautiful places in the entireworld that I want none of you to
go to, because it doesn't needto be any more crowded, and
that's Lake Powell.
It's actually a location whereour company is named after Lone
(09:52):
Rock.
That's actually a place is atLake Powell and it's a special
place.
Lake Powell is for all three ofthe co-founders of our company.
We've all taken our familiesthere.
It's all been a tradition forus.
We do it separately and um withdifferent people that we live
around, friends of ours and um,and so it's just a a a place
(10:13):
that is so significant to usthat we named our company after
it.
Um, okay, so I'm getting readyto go on that family vacation.
So let's talk about the data.
The longest running studyaround happiness and fulfillment
in the world is at Harvard, andHarvard's been engaged in this
study for more than 80 years.
(10:35):
It initially started with agroup of several hundred young
men that they were tracking witha group of several hundred
young men that they weretracking, and then it expanded
over the years, over the decades, to their partners and spouses
and their descendants, and soit's called the Harvard Study of
Adult Development.
You can chat, gpt it, look itup and dig into it, and there's
(10:57):
just tons of interestingfindings around this and I'm
going to connect it to gettingoff the grid here.
Here are a few of the findingsof this long term academic
scientific research aroundpeople feeling fulfilled.
So one of the findings is thattime with others not just
resting, but actually spendingquality time connecting with
(11:21):
others restores your mind andbody.
This is what they found Peoplewho regularly spend intentional
time away with others, on a tripor in service in the community.
They reported higher levels ofhappiness, faster recovery from
stress, greater perspective onpersonal challenges.
(11:42):
And what the researchers say isthis could be short getaways
with family, friends or you'revolunteering with others.
Doing that actually acts orserves as an emotional reset
button, which we all know.
We know how that feels rightand so we're intentional about
it.
But there's actually academicresearch on it.
(12:03):
And the second thing that'sinteresting about?
Well, there are lots of aspects, so I'm just going to highlight
three real quick from thisstudy.
The second thing that's superinteresting is that these
experiences with others lead tolonger lasting positive emotions
.
The study found that people whodid new things with others, like
(12:24):
what I just did I've never beenriver rafting, never been to
Southern Colorado, this areathat we went to that when you're
doing these new things andyou're building these casual
connections, you have strongeremotional memory than those who
simply took time off and stayedat home.
So traveling, exploring,serving, volunteering with
(12:45):
others, it increases dopamine,ox, oxytocin and it increases
the likelihood that you willcome back with a greater sense
of purpose.
You know that, right, I mean, Ialways.
It's so valuable to break upthe routine.
I come back and I'm like, ohman, why have we been doing this
(13:08):
that way?
Why am I doing that?
I need to mix this up, I needto do that differently, and so
you're.
You just feel lighter, you feelmore grounded when you you come
back.
The last thing that I'm goingto highlight coming out of this
study that I think is reallyimportant for us to think about,
as it ties to getting off thegrid in the summer, is that
(13:31):
harvard, after decades ofresearch, after decades of
gathering data, they found thatpeople who intentionally
disconnect from work to engagewith others are more emotionally
available to their teams.
They're more creative, they'reless reactive.
(13:53):
There, you guys, I got pagesand pages of data from this
study and there's a bunch ofothers that you can find again.
You can use an ai tool, you cangoogle it, you can do whatever.
There are books written aboutthis.
My, I guess my call to action,my point in all of this is
what's your, what's your getaway?
Some of you are you've stillgot kids in school.
(14:15):
They're like a few places inthe country most of us at the
time I'm recording this andwe're pushing this episode out
Our kids are out of school.
The uh, the vacation season isunderway and listen, we've still
got quarterly numbers to hit.
We've still got monthly metricsthat we've got to deliver on.
We've got projects thatunderway.
We've got priorities.
(14:35):
We've got all of that.
But if you want momentum, if youwant your team to be charged up
and ready to go for the secondhalf of this year, get off the
grid, get away.
Some of you have already doneit, like you've done it in the
last few weeks and you've goneon this trip or that trip, but
(14:56):
getting away, and then I would,I would strongly encourage you
on during that time to volunteerto, to go to a camp, help with
somebody, help with some projectout there.
It could.
It could be tied with thechurch, it could be a community
group, it could be, um, certainindustry work, it could be
anything.
I know, um, we've got somefriends that are heading off to.
(15:17):
I know we've got some friendsthat are heading off to.
Multiple.
We've got multiple friends areheading to different countries
and there it might be a parentvolunteering with one of their
teenagers and they've signed upmonths ago with a group and
they're building a home or acommunity center in Africa or
over in Haiti, or doing this ordoing that.
You don't think you come backfrom that as a better employee,
(15:41):
as a better leader, as a morestrategic thinker.
You don't think you're you're.
You're sharper and stronger andmore capable of leading what we
need to have done in the secondhalf of this year.
Of course you do, and you wantyour team to be able to do that
too.
I'm not telling you anything,you don't know, I'm just
reinforcing it.
(16:02):
And this is that, that annualmessage for you to get away.
So a couple of tips.
So number one, it's just getoff the grid.
Get off the grid, get away.
Take time off.
I don't care how big theproject is, I don't care how far
behind you are as anorganization or a team in
(16:22):
delivering whatever we have.
And it might just be three daysthis year instead of a week or
two.
You might need to shorten it alittle bit.
I'd, I'd advocate you stillneed to get the week, but but
you know you do what you need todo and let your team do that.
And if they're and if theydon't have a lot of time off,
(16:43):
give them some time off, figureout a way around that policy or
that system and let them govolunteer, let them go do
something.
You don't think that's going tocreate loyalty for you as a
boss to encourage that.
And so number one is just takethat time.
Make it a priority in the nextmonth and during the summer
season, at least here in the USand secondly, be very
(17:05):
intentional about connectingwith others during that time.
The Harvard study and all theseother studies don't say, oh, if
you take time off, you're goingto be so recharged no, that
doesn't say that.
That's not what the data pointsto.
It says connecting with others,this group of teenage boys that
I volunteer with, and theiradult leaders and their dads and
(17:27):
others that were on this trip,the relationships they built
with each other, that we, that I, built with them.
You can't do that involunteering here and there
You've got to, you've got tohave long and there You've got
to have long road trips, you'vegot to have days together.
The phones have to be away.
We make it a rule, you know,and these boys, these teenagers,
(17:48):
are so good about it.
I saw no phones for a full week.
You know how hard that is forthe adults and the leaders.
Do you know how much more itmade us present when people
aren't sitting around a campfireout their phones or playing you
know, brawl stars or whatever?
No, we were all present.
We were deeply involved inconversation, we were listening
(18:09):
to each other, we were hikingout there and like barely barely
breathing and then riverrafting who's going to even be
able?
On the rivers we were on, howcould you even check your phone
or do?
Whatever you're?
You're just, you're totallyfilled with adrenaline as you're
raging down this, the, the,these rapids, so, um, so the
(18:30):
second point is connect withothers during that time, whether
that's your family, whetherthat's a group of friends,
whether that's a group you'revolunteering with, whatever it
might be.
Ask questions, be present, giveof yourself.
Then my third, my thirdchallenge to you during that
(18:52):
time, whether it's three days aweek, two weeks, whatever it
might be for you this summer, mythird item would be calibrate
your life.
What's most important to youright now?
What are the values that youhold?
What are the things that are atthis stage of life, during this
period, right now, not fiveyears ago, not 10 years ago, not
10 years from now, but rightnow, in the stage of life you're
(19:15):
in right now, what do you valuemost?
Is it being challenged, likegrowing and trying new things?
Is it making more money?
It's a financial goal, likereally increasing your level of
compensation?
Is it starting that side hustleor that business?
Or is it growing on the orgchart, moving up, having more
(19:35):
responsibility, a greater impactpotential in the organization.
Is it changing?
What is it?
Is it freedom to not be stuckin all of these meetings and to
just be a prisoner of theinvites that come your way in,
whatever organization you're in?
Is it setting a new strategyreally good and good at strategy
(19:55):
, versus just being tactical inyour work?
What is it that you value mostright now?
That's most important to you,and so spend part of that time
away.
It might be around the campfire, might be sitting on the beach
listening to the ocean, it mightbe during that hike in the
Aspens and the pines up in themountains.
It might be any of those things.
(20:16):
I just want you to spend sometime quiet, when there's some
quiet, thinking about that.
Where am I at?
How satisfied am I?
What needs to change?
What tweaks?
I'm not talking about.
For some of you, it might be awholesale thing, like, okay,
it's actually time to leave thisorganization.
It's actually time to go getthat degree, or to go get that
(20:38):
degree, or to go get thatcertification, or to have that
conversation with my boss, or totake that course, or hire that
consultant or that coach, or towhatever, find that, mentor,
whatever, or connect with thosepeople and network a lot for the
next three months.
So I know what the next stageis, whatever it is three months.
(21:01):
So I know what the next stageis, whatever it is.
Write it down.
I'm telling you, you willunlock so much brain power If
you sit down with this thingcalled a sheet of paper, a
notebook and a good oldfashioned writing utensil a pen
or a pencil, a marker.
Sit down and write.
What are your thoughts, what doyou desire?
What's most important to youright now?
(21:22):
What's out of sync?
What needs to change?
What adjustments?
What are you doing that'sworking really well, that you
need to keep leaning into.
Who are the people you need tobe spending more time with?
What are the habits you need todevelop or lean into more?
It could be work related, itcould be spiritually related, it
(21:42):
could be physically related, itcould be any of that, and then,
when you get back on the grid,make that happen.
That's, and your period of focusis the next 90 days Q3, at the
time I'm recording this.
You're going to come back.
It's not over the next sixmonths, it's not between now and
(22:05):
the end of the year, it's notover the next year, it's the
next 90 days.
Make it happen.
Whatever you wrote down,whatever you thought about,
while your brain is reallyengaged, while your emotions are
are, are where they need to be,then come back and make those
(22:28):
switches, make it happen.
Don't get stuck back in theroutine.
And then you're going to gowork on that for the next 90
days.
Develop those habits, makethose changes, make those
adjustments.
Then you're going to leanfurther into it in the next nine
days after that.
And then guess what?
We've got, 180 days from now,the same thing, because we're
going to be at Christmas time,new Year's, all that and you're
(22:50):
going to do the exact same thing.
You're going to take a weekaway, you're going to take three
days away, you're going to taketwo weeks away, whatever it
might be, whatever's appropriatefor you, and you're going to do
the exact same thing.
And then you develop these sixmonth periods where you're
calibrating.
You're getting away, you're,you're, you're.
You get the idea right.
(23:11):
Getting away, you're, you're,you're, you get the idea right.
I can tell you of all thedifferent habits, of all the
different techniques, of all thedifferent things that I've
learned over the years, what I'mteaching you in this episode,
which some of you think is soft,and maybe you've already paused
or hit next by now because youdon't want to think about
getting off the grid.
That's not a priority for you.
Yet You're okay.
(23:33):
Well, you're missing out.
I'm telling you, of all thosethings that I've heard, that
I've seen, that I've tried thisis insanely valuable.
It's the most fulfilling aspectof life, in my opinion, when you
, when you develop this cadenceand, for me, the way it works
for me, and it won't beappropriate for all of you, but
I'd, I'd urge you to thiscadence and, for me, the way it
works for me, and it won't beappropriate for all of you, but
(23:53):
I'd, I'd urge you to consider it.
It's two weeks during the summer, at least two weeks, and two
weeks in the winter, and, andyou might put a couple of days
in between the two weeks, um toto, like I'm doing right now.
I've got a little bit of timewhere I'm getting back on the
grid to you know, make sureeverything's good, connect with
(24:14):
our team, look at what I need todo with clients and whatever
else, then boom right back to itagain, and that requires effort
because I've got so many thingson my to-do list right now I
need to lean into, but I justknow that I'm going to be so
much valuable to our team andour clients with this next week
of connecting with family.
Last week it was the volunteergroup.
It was the group theseteenagers that I volunteer with
(24:37):
at church, and it wasunbelievably fulfilling.
Unbelievably, it made me such abetter person.
And then this next week is withfamily, with those that I love
the most and who I'm closest to,and my kids, my spouse, some of
our closest friends off thegrid, just in one of the most
(25:01):
beautiful and stunning places onearth, and it will be amazing
it always is, and I'll come backwith some lessons from that.
Anyway, I hope that I've gotyou thinking, I hope that this
is helpful and I hope you'll acton whatever has been going
through your mind in thisepisode of the Lead in 30
(25:21):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Share this episode with a colleague, your team or a
friend.
Tap on the share button andtext the link.
Thanks for listening to theLead in 30 podcast with Russ
Hill.
Well, it is summertime.
For most of us, that meansvacation season.
What Harvard's longest runningstudy says about why you've got
to get off the grid and let yourteam off the grid?
What does it do for you?
The data is crazy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.
You cannot be serious.
Strengthen your ability to leadin less than 30 minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So I am in the middle of my summer getaway, which I
do every year.
If you've listened to thispodcast for a long time, you
know that in the summer and atthe end of the year, between
Christmas, around Christmas timethrough right after New Year's
I get off the grid.
(00:52):
I'm very intentional about it.
I've done it for gosh 20 years,15 years I've had this routine.
So and what I want to talk toyou about today is why I do it
and what the research shows.
Like, don't just go with what Ithink, don't just go with what
you think might be good, butactually look at the data.
(01:12):
What does science show us aboutwhy you've got to encourage
your people?
You've got to be supportive ofthem.
Getting away that familyvacation potentially, depending
on how it goes for you or them,that family vacation, or that
volunteer weekend at a summercamp or a trip internationally
(01:36):
where you're volunteering, orwhatever it might be, the data
shows it has a profound effecton your ability to do your job
well.
So let's talk about that.
Welcome into the Lead.
In 30 podcast, in less than 30minutes.
In each episode, we give you aframework, an example, some
research, a best practice,something that's going on in our
(01:57):
working in this leadership labfor you to consider, for you to
think about implementing, tohelp you more effectively lead
others, because nothing has amore profound effect on your
life than your ability to leadothers.
I'm Russ Hill.
I make my living coaching,consulting senior executive
teams at some of the world'sbiggest companies and at growing
(02:18):
and developing leaders andmid-level leaders in
organizations as well.
You can find out more about ourfirm, lone Rock Leadership, at
LoneRockio.
Lonerockio.
Okay, so at the time I'mrecording this this month is
just crazy.
For me it is every year and I'mvery intentional about it and
(02:41):
making sure it happens, but inthe moment it's pretty crazy and
I'm recording this right in themiddle of it.
So I just got back from a weekin Colorado, um, volunteering
one.
I spend a week, at least oneweek, some summers it's two
weeks, this this summer it's one.
Uh, volunteering at our churchcamps and so the camp that I've
(03:04):
and my wife does it as well, andso she was gone the first week
that school was out here inArizona volunteering at what we
call girls camp.
So it's for all the teenagegirls like from 11 years old to
roughly 18.
Basically, it's a little bit,almost pre high school to
through high school, okay, andthey go off in the mountains and
(03:25):
they sleep in tents and do allkinds of activities, from
repelling to um to uh, what wecall the tough mudder, which is
like this tough challenge.
You know where you got to diveinto the ice, cold water and
crawl through the mud under thetent and scale the.
You know the, the walls and allthis sort of stuff, and you're
timed and you're you're racingagainst other teams and it's
(03:47):
just brutal.
And so my wife volunteered forthat for a week.
She came back and then I wentwith a group of more than 50, um
up to Colorado.
We drove up there and we wentriver rafting, something that
I've never done Like.
I finally got to check that box, one of the boxes that I've
wanted to check for a long time.
I've never done it with all theoutdoor camps and all the
(04:08):
activities that have beeninvolved in over the years.
Somehow the river rafting nevermade it on the list, and so,
but now I've checked that boxand it was absolutely amazing.
I mean, the water was freezingcold, holy cow.
We were all so excited to getback to 105 degrees in Arizona.
Like you all can take that 40degree water in your rivers in
(04:32):
Colorado.
I mean, it's beautiful,stunningly beautiful, but
there's a reason nobody'sswimming in that water.
We're here in Arizona, we'reused to.
Literally we've got like whatis it?
It four or five lakes.
People don't think of any waterin arizona, but we've actually
got four or five lakes thatsurround are around the phoenix
(04:52):
metropolitan area and uh, and sowe own a boat, we're boaters
and we're out on that water abunch and the water in our lake
is like 78 to 82 degrees.
It's crazy, crazy warm and um,and we love it that way.
So when we get in 40 degreewater, we're like, whoa, are you
joking?
Anyway, um, the camp wasamazing.
(05:14):
We also did a hike that had a2,600 foot elevation change is
absolutely insane.
My calves were on fire and Iwasn't sure my heart was going
to be able to, to, to, um,survive the, the altitude change
and uh, and anyway it was.
It was so amazing.
We volunteered on a farm, gotall these teenage boys out there
(05:36):
pulling weeds and uh, snakescoming out of the, the, the, the
grass, as we're helping this uhcommunity farm that provides
food to, uh, to, to those thatotherwise might be hungry.
In southern Colorado it wasjust, and then at night, we sat
around the campfire and we, we,we talked about life and all
kinds of things, and these,these boys that I volunteered
(05:59):
with, were asking all kinds ofquestions, about spiritual
things as well as emotionalthings, as well as career and
growth.
It was so amazing, and so manyof you do things like that too,
and I'm going to get into thedata in just a moment, but I
just want to tie this into thebigger picture of your desire to
(06:21):
grow, your desire to besuccessful, your desire to have
a great lifestyle and topositively impact others and
make an impact in whateverindustry you're in, and grow
your career and help lead a teamand all that sort of thing.
This idea, this principle ofgetting off the grid, is
(06:42):
absolutely backed up by science.
And it's hard because we've gotso many things going on, like
right now in our company.
It's crazy how much stuff we'vegot going on.
Yet I'm going to be consistentwith that.
I've got to get away, and themembers of our team, they've got
to get away, and I don't meanlike take time off and then go
(07:02):
be on your cell phone answeringemails the whole time.
No, you've got to be able toget away and you want to work
with clients and others thatallow that.
Now, you know you aren't goingto have clients.
You're like, yeah, it's allright If you don't.
You know you're not around fora month.
No, the organization's got toback each other up.
But this idea of fully, youknow and you've got to model it
(07:22):
right this idea of getting offthe grid completely, you've got
to model that meaning you're notresponding to tons of emails,
you're not in Slack, you're notin Microsoft Teams, you're
getting away.
That is, people want to work fora boss that does that and that
(07:43):
allows them to do that as well.
So I'm going to share with youjust a little bit of the data.
And, by the way, so I told youI was in the middle of it, so I
just did the volunteer camp fora week.
So much planning, so much workwent into.
That just requires an enormousamount of effort and it pays off
.
It pays off tremendously, butit's hard work getting ready for
that and I used to work, forwhen I was in the media business
I worked for a broadcastcompany that had what they
(08:04):
called mad hours, mad hours, mad, making a difference, and so
they gave us 40 hours.
So this was back when I was asalaried employee of a
corporation.
They gave us 40.
Many of your companies dothings like this.
If you don't, you've got to try, you've got to develop
something like this.
It's so valuable.
It made a huge difference forme.
(08:25):
So making a difference was 40hours that each employee that
was full time and had been onthe job for I don't know how
long six months, a year, threemonths, I don't remember what it
was where you had earned thisand then you got paid.
It was like paid vacation, butit was different than your
(08:47):
vacation time.
You had to get it approved andit could be.
You could use eight hours.
It could be five days spreadout over a year, where you're
volunteering at your kid'sschool or at a, at a church or
community thing or whatever itmight be, and you're getting
paid as if you were at work.
Or, in my case, I would usethat making a difference week
for the camps that I go to, andthen your vacation was separate
than that.
I thought it was a brilliantidea.
(09:08):
I love when companies dosomething like this.
Not only do they encourage youto get away, but they actually
pay you for the time.
That's a strong statement aboutwhat they want people doing in
inside their organization givingback to the community.
So we just did that.
Now I'm off on a family about tohead off on a family vacation.
This is where we go.
(09:28):
We go on a houseboat withseveral other families.
We get completely off the grid.
We do that for a week.
We tend to do it two weeks ayear, one week in the summer and
one week in the fall and we goto one of the most amazing,
beautiful places in the entireworld that I want none of you to
go to, because it doesn't needto be any more crowded, and
that's Lake Powell.
It's actually a location whereour company is named after Lone
(09:52):
Rock.
That's actually a place is atLake Powell and it's a special
place.
Lake Powell is for all three ofthe co-founders of our company.
We've all taken our familiesthere.
It's all been a tradition forus.
We do it separately and um withdifferent people that we live
around, friends of ours and um,and so it's just a a a place
(10:13):
that is so significant to usthat we named our company after
it.
Um, okay, so I'm getting readyto go on that family vacation.
So let's talk about the data.
The longest running studyaround happiness and fulfillment
in the world is at Harvard, andHarvard's been engaged in this
study for more than 80 years.
(10:35):
It initially started with agroup of several hundred young
men that they were tracking witha group of several hundred
young men that they weretracking, and then it expanded
over the years, over the decades, to their partners and spouses
and their descendants, and soit's called the Harvard Study of
Adult Development.
You can chat, gpt it, look itup and dig into it, and there's
(10:57):
just tons of interestingfindings around this and I'm
going to connect it to gettingoff the grid here.
Here are a few of the findingsof this long term academic
scientific research aroundpeople feeling fulfilled.
So one of the findings is thattime with others not just
resting, but actually spendingquality time connecting with
(11:21):
others restores your mind andbody.
This is what they found Peoplewho regularly spend intentional
time away with others, on a tripor in service in the community.
They reported higher levels ofhappiness, faster recovery from
stress, greater perspective onpersonal challenges.
(11:42):
And what the researchers say isthis could be short getaways
with family, friends or you'revolunteering with others.
Doing that actually acts orserves as an emotional reset
button, which we all know.
We know how that feels rightand so we're intentional about
it.
But there's actually academicresearch on it.
(12:03):
And the second thing that'sinteresting about?
Well, there are lots of aspects, so I'm just going to highlight
three real quick from thisstudy.
The second thing that's superinteresting is that these
experiences with others lead tolonger lasting positive emotions
.
The study found that people whodid new things with others, like
(12:24):
what I just did I've never beenriver rafting, never been to
Southern Colorado, this areathat we went to that when you're
doing these new things andyou're building these casual
connections, you have strongeremotional memory than those who
simply took time off and stayedat home.
So traveling, exploring,serving, volunteering with
(12:45):
others, it increases dopamine,ox, oxytocin and it increases
the likelihood that you willcome back with a greater sense
of purpose.
You know that, right, I mean, Ialways.
It's so valuable to break upthe routine.
I come back and I'm like, ohman, why have we been doing this
(13:08):
that way?
Why am I doing that?
I need to mix this up, I needto do that differently, and so
you're.
You just feel lighter, you feelmore grounded when you you come
back.
The last thing that I'm goingto highlight coming out of this
study that I think is reallyimportant for us to think about,
as it ties to getting off thegrid in the summer, is that
(13:31):
harvard, after decades ofresearch, after decades of
gathering data, they found thatpeople who intentionally
disconnect from work to engagewith others are more emotionally
available to their teams.
They're more creative, they'reless reactive.
(13:53):
There, you guys, I got pagesand pages of data from this
study and there's a bunch ofothers that you can find again.
You can use an ai tool, you cangoogle it, you can do whatever.
There are books written aboutthis.
My, I guess my call to action,my point in all of this is
what's your, what's your getaway?
Some of you are you've stillgot kids in school.
(14:15):
They're like a few places inthe country most of us at the
time I'm recording this andwe're pushing this episode out
Our kids are out of school.
The uh, the vacation season isunderway and listen, we've still
got quarterly numbers to hit.
We've still got monthly metricsthat we've got to deliver on.
We've got projects thatunderway.
We've got priorities.
(14:35):
We've got all of that.
But if you want momentum, if youwant your team to be charged up
and ready to go for the secondhalf of this year, get off the
grid, get away.
Some of you have already doneit, like you've done it in the
last few weeks and you've goneon this trip or that trip, but
(14:56):
getting away, and then I would,I would strongly encourage you
on during that time to volunteerto, to go to a camp, help with
somebody, help with some projectout there.
It could.
It could be tied with thechurch, it could be a community
group, it could be, um, certainindustry work, it could be
anything.
I know, um, we've got somefriends that are heading off to.
(15:17):
I know we've got some friendsthat are heading off to.
Multiple.
We've got multiple friends areheading to different countries
and there it might be a parentvolunteering with one of their
teenagers and they've signed upmonths ago with a group and
they're building a home or acommunity center in Africa or
over in Haiti, or doing this ordoing that.
You don't think you come backfrom that as a better employee,
(15:41):
as a better leader, as a morestrategic thinker.
You don't think you're you're.
You're sharper and stronger andmore capable of leading what we
need to have done in the secondhalf of this year.
Of course you do, and you wantyour team to be able to do that
too.
I'm not telling you anything,you don't know, I'm just
reinforcing it.
(16:02):
And this is that, that annualmessage for you to get away.
So a couple of tips.
So number one, it's just getoff the grid.
Get off the grid, get away.
Take time off.
I don't care how big theproject is, I don't care how far
behind you are as anorganization or a team in
(16:22):
delivering whatever we have.
And it might just be three daysthis year instead of a week or
two.
You might need to shorten it alittle bit.
I'd, I'd advocate you stillneed to get the week, but but
you know you do what you need todo and let your team do that.
And if they're and if theydon't have a lot of time off,
(16:43):
give them some time off, figureout a way around that policy or
that system and let them govolunteer, let them go do
something.
You don't think that's going tocreate loyalty for you as a
boss to encourage that.
And so number one is just takethat time.
Make it a priority in the nextmonth and during the summer
season, at least here in the USand secondly, be very
(17:05):
intentional about connectingwith others during that time.
The Harvard study and all theseother studies don't say, oh, if
you take time off, you're goingto be so recharged no, that
doesn't say that.
That's not what the data pointsto.
It says connecting with others,this group of teenage boys that
I volunteer with, and theiradult leaders and their dads and
(17:27):
others that were on this trip,the relationships they built
with each other, that we, that I, built with them.
You can't do that involunteering here and there
You've got to, you've got tohave long and there You've got
to have long road trips, you'vegot to have days together.
The phones have to be away.
We make it a rule, you know,and these boys, these teenagers,
(17:48):
are so good about it.
I saw no phones for a full week.
You know how hard that is forthe adults and the leaders.
Do you know how much more itmade us present when people
aren't sitting around a campfireout their phones or playing you
know, brawl stars or whatever?
No, we were all present.
We were deeply involved inconversation, we were listening
(18:09):
to each other, we were hikingout there and like barely barely
breathing and then riverrafting who's going to even be
able?
On the rivers we were on, howcould you even check your phone
or do?
Whatever you're?
You're just, you're totallyfilled with adrenaline as you're
raging down this, the, the,these rapids, so, um, so the
(18:30):
second point is connect withothers during that time, whether
that's your family, whetherthat's a group of friends,
whether that's a group you'revolunteering with, whatever it
might be.
Ask questions, be present, giveof yourself.
Then my third, my thirdchallenge to you during that
(18:52):
time, whether it's three days aweek, two weeks, whatever it
might be for you this summer, mythird item would be calibrate
your life.
What's most important to youright now?
What are the values that youhold?
What are the things that are atthis stage of life, during this
period, right now, not fiveyears ago, not 10 years ago, not
10 years from now, but rightnow, in the stage of life you're
(19:15):
in right now, what do you valuemost?
Is it being challenged, likegrowing and trying new things?
Is it making more money?
It's a financial goal, likereally increasing your level of
compensation?
Is it starting that side hustleor that business?
Or is it growing on the orgchart, moving up, having more
(19:35):
responsibility, a greater impactpotential in the organization.
Is it changing?
What is it?
Is it freedom to not be stuckin all of these meetings and to
just be a prisoner of theinvites that come your way in,
whatever organization you're in?
Is it setting a new strategyreally good and good at strategy
(19:55):
, versus just being tactical inyour work?
What is it that you value mostright now?
That's most important to you,and so spend part of that time
away.
It might be around the campfire, might be sitting on the beach
listening to the ocean, it mightbe during that hike in the
Aspens and the pines up in themountains.
It might be any of those things.
(20:16):
I just want you to spend sometime quiet, when there's some
quiet, thinking about that.
Where am I at?
How satisfied am I?
What needs to change?
What tweaks?
I'm not talking about.
For some of you, it might be awholesale thing, like, okay,
it's actually time to leave thisorganization.
It's actually time to go getthat degree, or to go get that
(20:38):
degree, or to go get thatcertification, or to have that
conversation with my boss, or totake that course, or hire that
consultant or that coach, or towhatever, find that, mentor,
whatever, or connect with thosepeople and network a lot for the
next three months.
So I know what the next stageis, whatever it is three months.
(21:01):
So I know what the next stageis, whatever it is.
Write it down.
I'm telling you, you willunlock so much brain power If
you sit down with this thingcalled a sheet of paper, a
notebook and a good oldfashioned writing utensil a pen
or a pencil, a marker.
Sit down and write.
What are your thoughts, what doyou desire?
What's most important to youright now?
(21:22):
What's out of sync?
What needs to change?
What adjustments?
What are you doing that'sworking really well, that you
need to keep leaning into.
Who are the people you need tobe spending more time with?
What are the habits you need todevelop or lean into more?
It could be work related, itcould be spiritually related, it
(21:42):
could be physically related, itcould be any of that, and then,
when you get back on the grid,make that happen.
That's, and your period of focusis the next 90 days Q3, at the
time I'm recording this.
You're going to come back.
It's not over the next sixmonths, it's not between now and
(22:05):
the end of the year, it's notover the next year, it's the
next 90 days.
Make it happen.
Whatever you wrote down,whatever you thought about,
while your brain is reallyengaged, while your emotions are
are, are where they need to be,then come back and make those
(22:28):
switches, make it happen.
Don't get stuck back in theroutine.
And then you're going to gowork on that for the next 90
days.
Develop those habits, makethose changes, make those
adjustments.
Then you're going to leanfurther into it in the next nine
days after that.
And then guess what?
We've got, 180 days from now,the same thing, because we're
going to be at Christmas time,new Year's, all that and you're
(22:50):
going to do the exact same thing.
You're going to take a weekaway, you're going to take three
days away, you're going to taketwo weeks away, whatever it
might be, whatever's appropriatefor you, and you're going to do
the exact same thing.
And then you develop these sixmonth periods where you're
calibrating.
You're getting away, you're,you're, you're.
You get the idea right.
(23:11):
Getting away, you're, you're,you're, you get the idea right.
I can tell you of all thedifferent habits, of all the
different techniques, of all thedifferent things that I've
learned over the years, what I'mteaching you in this episode,
which some of you think is soft,and maybe you've already paused
or hit next by now because youdon't want to think about
getting off the grid.
That's not a priority for you.
Yet You're okay.
(23:33):
Well, you're missing out.
I'm telling you, of all thosethings that I've heard, that
I've seen, that I've tried thisis insanely valuable.
It's the most fulfilling aspectof life, in my opinion, when you
, when you develop this cadenceand, for me, the way it works
for me, and it won't beappropriate for all of you, but
I'd, I'd urge you to thiscadence and, for me, the way it
works for me, and it won't beappropriate for all of you, but
(23:53):
I'd, I'd urge you to consider it.
It's two weeks during the summer, at least two weeks, and two
weeks in the winter, and, andyou might put a couple of days
in between the two weeks, um toto, like I'm doing right now.
I've got a little bit of timewhere I'm getting back on the
grid to you know, make sureeverything's good, connect with
(24:14):
our team, look at what I need todo with clients and whatever
else, then boom right back to itagain, and that requires effort
because I've got so many thingson my to-do list right now I
need to lean into, but I justknow that I'm going to be so
much valuable to our team andour clients with this next week
of connecting with family.
Last week it was the volunteergroup.
It was the group theseteenagers that I volunteer with
(24:37):
at church, and it wasunbelievably fulfilling.
Unbelievably, it made me such abetter person.
And then this next week is withfamily, with those that I love
the most and who I'm closest to,and my kids, my spouse, some of
our closest friends off thegrid, just in one of the most
(25:01):
beautiful and stunning places onearth, and it will be amazing
it always is, and I'll come backwith some lessons from that.
Anyway, I hope that I've gotyou thinking, I hope that this
is helpful and I hope you'll acton whatever has been going
through your mind in thisepisode of the Lead in 30
(25:21):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
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friend.
Tap on the share button andtext the link.
Thanks for listening to theLead in 30 podcast with Russ
Hill.
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