July 19, 2023 • 18 mins
❤️Click here and become a SUPPORTER of We All Have Something!❤️
Have you ever believed you're too busy to take a break? Well, the reality I discovered might surprise you. Join me as I share my own journey through the unrelenting grind of hustle culture, and how I discovered the immense power of simply taking a break.
I discuss how integrating regular breaks into your routine actually boosts productivity and staves off the creeping threat of burnout. This episode isn't just for busy parents and CEOs; it's for everyone who needs to find that balance between work and leisure. So, let's take a break together and rediscover the joy of slowing down in our fast-paced lives.
As always, thank you for listening to We All Have Something. If you wish to connect with Rick beyond the podcast:
Website: www.CoachRickSchwartz.com
YouTube: @RickSchwartz
Threads: @Coach_Rick_Schwartz
Instagram: @Coach_Rick_Schwartz
Facebook Page: @CoachRickSchwartz
Threads: @Coach_Rick_Schwartz
***If you are having any thoughts of self harm and need someone to reach out to please call: 1-800-273- TALK (8255)
Or use the new 988 number for calling or texting for support.
Episode Music "Inspiration Corporate" by Sandra Inspiration Music
Music rights purchased through AudioJungle.
Nothing in this podcast should be taken as therapy, medical or mental health care. Topics discussed on this podcast reflect the personal experiences of the host and guests of We All Have Something and are not intended to, nor should they, replace the services of medical care, mental health care or therapy.
If you are having thoughts of self harm or ending your life, please call or text 988 - Help is available 24/7.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of we All have Something
.
We are, goodness, the last halfof July already, aren't we?
And here's the thing about thisepisode it's going to be kind
of short and sweet and to thepoint, because I'm on vacation.
Now I'm obviously not recordingthis while I'm on vacation.
I'm pre-recording this.
I'm on vacation.
When you're listening to this,if you, well, I should say, if
you're listening to this inmid-July, when the episode comes
(00:20):
out, I'll be on vacation.
And that's kind of the topicwe're going to cover here is the
need for taking a break, likenow.
I know just a few short what.
Four episodes ago, I was tellingyou to reevaluate your year,
start resetting your goals, timeto dive in.
In fact, the episode just forthis one.
I was like you got to start.
Whatever your project is, yougot to start.
(00:41):
There's no waiting.
I want to make sure we aren'tembracing the crazy hustle
culture too much, and thisactually stems from the fact
that I did an interview onanother podcast It'll come out,
I think, later this month ornext month that we talked about
the importance of learning whywe need to slow down, why we
need to take a break, why weneed to take time for ourselves.
(01:04):
I'm Rick Schwartz, life coach,public speaker and all-around
curious guy.
My curiosity, my life and thelives of the many people I have
worked with have taught me timeand time again that there are
challenges to overcome andsuccesses to celebrate.
You're listening to.
We All have Something a podcastabout the human experience, a
(01:25):
podcast about celebrating ourauthentic self.
So let's get started.
I am so glad you're here andbefore we dive into this episode
, I want to remind you this is alistener-supported podcast.
The supporters help keep thisad free For this episode, all
the episodes this season, infact, for all the interviews
that have happened in upcominginterviews.
We're ad free thanks to oursupporters, and if you feel that
(01:48):
this episode or any otherepisode has offered you up some
value and you're interested inbeing a supporter just a couple
bucks a month or a whole bunchbucks a month.
Either way, you can do that.
The first link is you scrolldown in the episode notes.
You click on that.
It'll bring you to the page toallow you to sign up to be a
supporter and if you shouldchoose to become a supporter,
I'll email you directly thankingyou so much for your support
and I'll also send you a littlegift in the mail, a little
(02:10):
something and a couple ofstickers that you can put on
your water bottle, your computeror your car wherever you want
to put cool stickers just tohelp say thank you for being a
supporter, and I'll even mentionyour name on the air if you
give permission to do so.
So, without further ado, deniseR from Spokane, thank you so
much for your support.
I appreciate you joining allthe other supporters that are
keeping this podcast going.
(02:32):
As I mentioned, I'm on vacationright now.
We are listening to this and,you may or may not know, I hold
a day job.
I do my coaching business onthe side and I have my podcast
and my YouTube channel and well,I keep busy and I enjoy being
busy.
I'm not complaining, it's.
It's something that I just it's.
I innately want to be doingstuff and quick story reflect
(02:53):
back the constant state of beingbusy and doing stuff and, if I
have down time, feeling guiltythat I'm not doing something,
causing me to make sure I wasdoing something.
Finding something to do all thetime ended up putting me in a
position in early 2020 where myphysical health tanked, and I've
shared the story before, so I'mnot going to go into details,
(03:14):
you can go back to otherepisodes.
It is actually what led me tocoaching, I mean, the.
It was a process to get there.
Of course, almost the wholeyear of 2020, really, but the
beginning of 2020, I wasconstantly pedaled to the metal
go go, go, go go and sleepingvery little and relying heavily
on caffeine, also relying on the.
The fact that I could force myadrenal glands to release
(03:35):
adrenaline to get me throughtimes when I was feeling slow or
low.
It was crazy.
It was crazy.
And taking vacation was unheardof.
Taking time off?
No, not really.
I mean, I take time off awaysometimes, but I would have my
work computer or work phone withme and I'd still be working.
There was never any time off.
It was always.
I was always two days ahead ofmyself and my brain.
(03:56):
It was crazy and it wasrewarded.
I was told what a great job Iwas doing.
I was.
People were like, wow, you getso much done.
It was a pat on the back.
No one ever said, hey, how areyou doing?
And I'm not saying that topoint out to the people that
were around me at that time werenot caring.
I think it's a part of ourculture and to go into that
(04:17):
further.
When I did a quick Google searchI mean it really took me
moments to find this I simplysearched how often do Americans
take vacation compared to othercountries?
Most articles that came up,whether it was from there's one
here fromemploymentbenefitnewscom,
there's one from Fortunemagazine, cnbc goes down
Washington Post, you knowthere's just a lot of business
(04:38):
insider.
It's across the board here.
Most of them say the averageAmerican takes about 14 days off
per year.
So two weeks, it might be onetwo week vacation, maybe two one
weekers I don't know howthey're doing it but on average
14 days, where most othercountries people take on average
24 days off.
Now this is according to aworkforce tech solution company
(05:01):
that is in Europe that was doingthis research.
But I find that veryinteresting, you know, and you
go a little bit further.
And there's other articles togo down.
There's one here that statesAmerica is so bad at vacations
that only one other country inthe world is worse, and they
listed as Micronesia.
So sorry, folks livingMicronesia, that's a bummer.
But the point is I'm not hereto give a bunch of stats about
(05:23):
us not taking vacations orwhatever.
I want to take it a little bitdeeper than that, because
sometimes and I'll honestly,especially if you've got kids a
vacation is more stressful thana workday, because you have to
coordinate everything, geteveryone packed and get everyone
flowing to or driven to thedestination, and then there's
keeping everyone busy, keepingeveryone safe, keeping everyone
entertained, you know, and youdon't really actually have time
to relax.
(05:43):
So this episode is really abouttaking time for yourself.
This episode is about taking abreak and, like I said at the
top of the recording here ofthis episode in the intro, it's
on the heels of me postingthings here on this podcast
about.
It's the middle of the year.
You need to review where youare, look at your goals, get
reset on your path and yourprogress, look at your seven key
areas, you know, buckle downand all of that, and that's more
(06:05):
of a focus.
I want you to understand thatconcept.
That idea is let's focus onwhat's important to us, let's
focus on our priorities, let'sfocus on getting things done,
getting our action steps done,and not drift, not allow for
life to start controlling us,but to get control of life so we
can live it how we want to.
That doesn't mean and it's notin parallel to the hustle
(06:25):
culture of being busy go, go, go.
Nine to five, gotta be thealpha, do the things.
Or nine to five more, like whatdo they say nowadays?
It's like from five am to 11 pm.
My point being is very rarely inthere do we hear anyone talk
about success also equating tobeing able to take a break.
Now, I will say this morerecently, and I think I've seen
it more since probably the endof 2020, beginning of 2021, more
(06:48):
people in that realm of success.
So, these high producers,whether it's, you know, ceos or
whomever they are, these peoplewho we go to to go, wow, how did
they do it?
You know, how did Oprah do it?
How does you know Tony Robbinsdo it?
How do all these big names?
Apple CEO Tim Cook is his name,he came to me eventually.
How do they do this?
Most of them, when they talkabout their daily routine, they
(07:11):
talk about taking time in themorning for themselves, time to
sit down and have their tea ortheir coffee, or meditate or do
yoga, work out, whatever itmight be, but it's time for them
that they have scheduled as apriority.
That happens first, and theneverything else.
After that I will tell youright now.
I'll tell you right now I canlook back pre 2020, pre my body
(07:35):
shutting down, pre us having tostop everything because of the
pandemic, when I would try towork out, do something for
myself.
I, prior to that, I had someback issues, so I was doing yoga
, but even while doing the yogafor my back and I had to because
I was in pain so it was kind oflike, okay, I need to do this I
wouldn't prioritize it, though.
I would fit it in where I could, and while I was doing it, my
(07:55):
brain was racing on all thethings I should be doing that's
not this and all the things I'mgoing to do as soon as I'm done
with this.
And I kept looking at the time.
Oh my gosh, I was obsessed withhow much longer?
How much longer, how muchlonger till I'm done with this.
I was not in it.
I was not in it for me.
I mean, I was theoreticallydoing it for me, because I
needed to alleviate the pain inmy back by stretching out the
(08:16):
muscles, but I wasn't present.
I wasn't there.
And now, from my perspective,after years of changing my life
and looking back to how Istructured my days and weeks
before versus now.
I will tell you this I get upon average between 5 and 5.30 in
the morning.
I do not get up in a burst ofenergy to hustle, no, I spend
(08:38):
some time laying in bed,stretching and moving my body,
flexing muscles and relaxingthem to get the blood flowing.
I think about what I'm going tohave.
Am I going to have some teathis morning or am I going to
have some coffee this morningand I hand grind it?
If I'm going to have coffee,you know I want it to be a slow
process, and then I sit and Ienjoy it and I meditate for a
little bit.
I get up that early because Iwant to have time for me.
(09:01):
Those are my mini breaks, right.
Starting the day like that Openup the blinds, watch the sun
come up.
Now that's for me, some people.
For them, their me time isafter work or in the evening,
once everyone else has gone tobed, whatever it might be, but
having that me time, that stilltime, still, as in, it's just
quiet for you, is so importantin keeping your balance of your
(09:24):
mind and your body in your day.
Now, taking it to a biggerpicture also is giving yourself
permission to take a break.
This could be within the day ofa work project or within the
week of a work project, andyou're just going through and
you have to work long days andyou can't get up early and have
quiet time for you, and I get it.
These things should betemporary, though.
There shouldn't be a way oflife.
(09:44):
There should be a temporarysituation because there's a
project or something due whereyou've gotten squished on time.
You need to prioritize nothaving that be the norm.
It does happen on occasion,that's okay.
Give yourself permission to takea break in the middle of your
work day.
Get up and walk away from yourcomputer or from whatever you're
working on and go somewherethat is not required of you to
(10:07):
be there outside the building.
If you work in a building, togo to the courtyard, or if you
work outside, go see a doctor.
Go somewhere else with adifferent view, a different
perspective, for five minutes.
Five minutes reset your brain.
Take a break.
Giving yourself permission totake a break is very important,
as important as taking a break,because if you don't give
yourself permission to do it andyou force yourself to do it,
you're going to feel guilty,you're going to feel bad.
(10:27):
You're going to be checkingyour watch, like I always used
to do.
Give yourself permission tojust take a break.
Take a break.
Now.
The bigger picture goes back towhat I was talking about before
with vacations and how Americansonly, on average, take 14 days.
And I'll tell you what.
I know plenty of Americans whodon't even take 14 days because
they don't get paid vacation.
They're working at a facilityor a place that only offers
(10:48):
temporary or part-time positionsto help avoid giving them the
benefits and so, therefore, toget their bills paid, they just
got to work all the time andthey shift to a different
position that's temporary, orthey let go for a little bit and
come back on board for aseasonal job, whatever it may be
, so they can't take those 14days.
For some people, the idea oftaking 14 days they wish they
could take that much.
And then you look around thecountry.
(11:08):
Look around the country, excuseme, look around the world, and
there's other countries wherethe average is 24 days, almost
not quite, but almost twice asmuch.
Having the ability to take avacation in this country,
unfortunately, I believe, is aluxury many people do not have.
For those who get to take themoften.
I hope you don't take them forgranted.
For those of you who don't getto take many or any, please do
(11:31):
everything in your power to finda way to at least take a day
off where you can get away fromeverything and reset the value
in taking a break.
And slowing down and stoppingand resetting your mind is going
to allow you to show up moreefficiently and more
proficiently at the things youare taking a break from, Whether
it is your passion project,whether it is your day job,
(11:54):
whether it is your side hustle,a hobby, whatever it may be.
The value in taking a break isnot only good for you
holistically as a livingcreature, as a human being, as a
spiritual entity inside thismeat suit whatever you want to
call it but it's also going toallow you to come back to what
(12:15):
you are taking a break from thatmuch better.
I put this into practice myself.
I'm like all right, I'm goingto try this.
So I made sure every lunchbreak at work I would get away
from my computer, away from mydesk, and go for a walk outside
for 15 minutes.
I did this for two weeks and itgot to the point then where I
was like you know what?
I'm going to go out for a quickwalk right now, before lunch
(12:36):
and after lunch, because I foundthat it refreshed my brain.
I came back to what I wasworking on, with so much more
energy and if I was stuck onsomething, that whatever I was
stuck on, it seemed to go away.
I solved problems like crazywhen I could step away from what
I was working on instead ofpushing harder and pushing
through it, stepping away fromit, putting on pause and going
outside getting some fresh air,coming back to it.
(12:58):
Then I was able to just be thatmuch more efficient at my job.
And I know it's just our natureto want to keep working on
something, to push through it.
I can do this, I can do this, Ican do this, I get it, I'm the
same way, but if you can remindyourself to take that break
no-transcript, I promise you.
I promise you you're gonna feelbetter and you're gonna do
(13:19):
better.
And you might be thinking well,if I take five minutes, that's
gonna make it five minutes laterthat I, to get this done Like
what I'm working on, will befive minutes delayed.
If I take a 15 minute break,it's gonna take 15 minutes.
That's gonna be delayed by thatmuch.
I don't have that kind of time.
Trust me, the odds are in thefavor that you'll finish early
because you took that break.
(13:39):
I know mathematics is like well, wait a minute, you take away
15, how can you add?
It doesn't work here.
Here's the deal, because youcome back at it refreshed, with
your brain already to refocus,and everything else is going on.
You're more efficient, you'remore proficient, you're able to
get the work done.
There is a lot of research outthere about the importance of
taking a break, whether it's atime when you're frustrated,
(14:00):
whether it's a time that you'refeeling stuck, whether it's a
time that you're feelingoverwhelmed.
Take a break.
And here's the thing.
Here's the last bit that I'mgonna offer you before I wrap
this up, cause, hey, I'm onvacation right now.
You want to be able to take abreak before you hit overwhelm.
You want to take that breakbefore you hit burnout.
The lack of taking breaks, thelack of taking vacations, the
(14:21):
lack of stepping away fromsomething is what can easily
lead us to feeling overwhelmed,easily lead us to burnout.
If we can manage it upfront, ifwe can take care of things
before it gets to that point,then you may never get there.
And what a great benefit.
It's much harder to come out ofburnout and much harder to come
(14:42):
out of overwhelm and recoverfrom that than it is to
preemptively do behaviors thatmake it so you never get there.
I can't stress that enoughcause when you hit overwhelm and
burnout man, you start talkingabout physical illness happening
.
You talk about bringing thatstuff home with you for the
whole weekend.
Ugh, it's toxic.
You don't want to do that and Ihope you're not there and if
you are, I'm sorry.
(15:03):
I'm so sorry you find yourselfthere.
And I will tell you what when Icome back from vacation which,
when this airs, there'll be afew more days and I'll be back I
will have two more spaces openin my calendar.
So I have a couple of clientsthis month who have rolled into
accountability sessions.
So, going from weekly sessionsto monthly sessions, that means
(15:23):
my calendar is gonna open up.
I have two more spots open forweekly clients.
If you find yourself listeningto this podcast going yeah, this
is great, but too late for me.
My life is tanked.
Reach out, please.
Let's talk about becoming coachand client partners.
Go to my website,coachrichschwarzcom.
We can connect with a discoverycall, talk about what's going
on.
We can decide there if it weregonna be a good fit.
(15:45):
We both have to decide.
It's not just me trying to sellyou a coaching package.
We both have to agree that thisis gonna be a good fit and you
think this is gonna benefit you,and I also have to agree that I
believe my coaching will workfor what's going on in your life
.
There have been people whereI've said, nope, not a thing.
Here's a coach over here youshould reach out to, or actually
that's something more for atherapist to deal with, because
it's gonna require more work,deeper work than just coaching.
(16:07):
That's the thing, and I will dothat happily.
I have no problem with that.
But if you feel that maybe it'stime for you to start
rebalancing, restructuring andrefocusing your life so you can
start living the way you'resupposed to and want to, without
overwhelm and burnout floodinginto your life, I can't tell you
how many clients I have whereit's like it's all about.
Their passion is their work,but then they've been doing it
(16:29):
for so long.
They lose sight of theirfitness and their health and
their finances tank, and theirfamily is there, but not really
there and they've lost touchwith their spirituality or their
faith and no friends becausethey're all about work.
And even so, if you're in thatboat where it's all about work
and then the job disappears onyou for some reason, you get
that sense of being lost andthat's no good either.
(16:50):
So, yeah, take your breaks, takecare of yourself and if you
need to reach outcotrigschwardscom, all the
information is below in theepisode notes, here, along with
my social media.
And hey, if you're on threadsnow, I jumped on that bandwagon.
I'm loving it.
There's so much kindness andsupport there.
It's a very different vibe thanother social media right now.
I hope it stays that way.
Obviously, social media has itsown culture, does its own thing
(17:12):
, but right now it seems that alot of the users are really
trying to keep it positive,uplifting and educational, and
so I say, jump into it.
If you're not on threadsalready, go for it.
You can find the link for mythreads account down below, also
in the episode notes, or justlook for cotrigschwards there on
threads.
All right, I hope you are havingan awesome day and I future me,
(17:33):
future me.
You're coming back on vacationa couple of days and I hope you
had an awesome time.
I have a feeling you did, buteither way, I hope all of you
listening, aside from future me.
I hope you found somethinguseful here.
I hope that the ripple effectwe always talk about is in place
and maybe this is an episodeyou wanna share with somebody
else.
That's how this podcast grows.
It's a great way to support itby sharing it.
(17:54):
Word of mouth is huge inpodcasting, so I appreciate all
of you who have shared stuff.
We had a big spike what twoweeks ago?
That was crazy.
That was awesome.
I appreciate it.
Thank you so much as always.
I just wanna say thanks againfor listening.
You know I really do appreciateyou.
Have a good one, everybody.
See you next time the last ofat least nine minutes or.
Welcome to another episode of we All have Something
.
We are, goodness, the last halfof July already, aren't we?
And here's the thing about thisepisode it's going to be kind
of short and sweet and to thepoint, because I'm on vacation.
Now I'm obviously not recordingthis while I'm on vacation.
I'm pre-recording this.
I'm on vacation.
When you're listening to this,if you, well, I should say, if
you're listening to this inmid-July, when the episode comes
(00:20):
out, I'll be on vacation.
And that's kind of the topicwe're going to cover here is the
need for taking a break, likenow.
I know just a few short what.
Four episodes ago, I was tellingyou to reevaluate your year,
start resetting your goals, timeto dive in.
In fact, the episode just forthis one.
I was like you got to start.
Whatever your project is, yougot to start.
(00:41):
There's no waiting.
I want to make sure we aren'tembracing the crazy hustle
culture too much, and thisactually stems from the fact
that I did an interview onanother podcast It'll come out,
I think, later this month ornext month that we talked about
the importance of learning whywe need to slow down, why we
need to take a break, why weneed to take time for ourselves.
(01:04):
I'm Rick Schwartz, life coach,public speaker and all-around
curious guy.
My curiosity, my life and thelives of the many people I have
worked with have taught me timeand time again that there are
challenges to overcome andsuccesses to celebrate.
You're listening to.
We All have Something a podcastabout the human experience, a
(01:25):
podcast about celebrating ourauthentic self.
So let's get started.
I am so glad you're here andbefore we dive into this episode
, I want to remind you this is alistener-supported podcast.
The supporters help keep thisad free For this episode, all
the episodes this season, infact, for all the interviews
that have happened in upcominginterviews.
We're ad free thanks to oursupporters, and if you feel that
(01:48):
this episode or any otherepisode has offered you up some
value and you're interested inbeing a supporter just a couple
bucks a month or a whole bunchbucks a month.
Either way, you can do that.
The first link is you scrolldown in the episode notes.
You click on that.
It'll bring you to the page toallow you to sign up to be a
supporter and if you shouldchoose to become a supporter,
I'll email you directly thankingyou so much for your support
and I'll also send you a littlegift in the mail, a little
(02:10):
something and a couple ofstickers that you can put on
your water bottle, your computeror your car wherever you want
to put cool stickers just tohelp say thank you for being a
supporter, and I'll even mentionyour name on the air if you
give permission to do so.
So, without further ado, deniseR from Spokane, thank you so
much for your support.
I appreciate you joining allthe other supporters that are
keeping this podcast going.
(02:32):
As I mentioned, I'm on vacationright now.
We are listening to this and,you may or may not know, I hold
a day job.
I do my coaching business onthe side and I have my podcast
and my YouTube channel and well,I keep busy and I enjoy being
busy.
I'm not complaining, it's.
It's something that I just it's.
I innately want to be doingstuff and quick story reflect
(02:53):
back the constant state of beingbusy and doing stuff and, if I
have down time, feeling guiltythat I'm not doing something,
causing me to make sure I wasdoing something.
Finding something to do all thetime ended up putting me in a
position in early 2020 where myphysical health tanked, and I've
shared the story before, so I'mnot going to go into details,
(03:14):
you can go back to otherepisodes.
It is actually what led me tocoaching, I mean, the.
It was a process to get there.
Of course, almost the wholeyear of 2020, really, but the
beginning of 2020, I wasconstantly pedaled to the metal
go go, go, go go and sleepingvery little and relying heavily
on caffeine, also relying on the.
The fact that I could force myadrenal glands to release
(03:35):
adrenaline to get me throughtimes when I was feeling slow or
low.
It was crazy.
It was crazy.
And taking vacation was unheardof.
Taking time off?
No, not really.
I mean, I take time off awaysometimes, but I would have my
work computer or work phone withme and I'd still be working.
There was never any time off.
It was always.
I was always two days ahead ofmyself and my brain.
(03:56):
It was crazy and it wasrewarded.
I was told what a great job Iwas doing.
I was.
People were like, wow, you getso much done.
It was a pat on the back.
No one ever said, hey, how areyou doing?
And I'm not saying that topoint out to the people that
were around me at that time werenot caring.
I think it's a part of ourculture and to go into that
(04:17):
further.
When I did a quick Google searchI mean it really took me
moments to find this I simplysearched how often do Americans
take vacation compared to othercountries?
Most articles that came up,whether it was from there's one
here fromemploymentbenefitnewscom,
there's one from Fortunemagazine, cnbc goes down
Washington Post, you knowthere's just a lot of business
(04:38):
insider.
It's across the board here.
Most of them say the averageAmerican takes about 14 days off
per year.
So two weeks, it might be onetwo week vacation, maybe two one
weekers I don't know howthey're doing it but on average
14 days, where most othercountries people take on average
24 days off.
Now this is according to aworkforce tech solution company
(05:01):
that is in Europe that was doingthis research.
But I find that veryinteresting, you know, and you
go a little bit further.
And there's other articles togo down.
There's one here that statesAmerica is so bad at vacations
that only one other country inthe world is worse, and they
listed as Micronesia.
So sorry, folks livingMicronesia, that's a bummer.
But the point is I'm not hereto give a bunch of stats about
(05:23):
us not taking vacations orwhatever.
I want to take it a little bitdeeper than that, because
sometimes and I'll honestly,especially if you've got kids a
vacation is more stressful thana workday, because you have to
coordinate everything, geteveryone packed and get everyone
flowing to or driven to thedestination, and then there's
keeping everyone busy, keepingeveryone safe, keeping everyone
entertained, you know, and youdon't really actually have time
to relax.
(05:43):
So this episode is really abouttaking time for yourself.
This episode is about taking abreak and, like I said at the
top of the recording here ofthis episode in the intro, it's
on the heels of me postingthings here on this podcast
about.
It's the middle of the year.
You need to review where youare, look at your goals, get
reset on your path and yourprogress, look at your seven key
areas, you know, buckle downand all of that, and that's more
(06:05):
of a focus.
I want you to understand thatconcept.
That idea is let's focus onwhat's important to us, let's
focus on our priorities, let'sfocus on getting things done,
getting our action steps done,and not drift, not allow for
life to start controlling us,but to get control of life so we
can live it how we want to.
That doesn't mean and it's notin parallel to the hustle
(06:25):
culture of being busy go, go, go.
Nine to five, gotta be thealpha, do the things.
Or nine to five more, like whatdo they say nowadays?
It's like from five am to 11 pm.
My point being is very rarely inthere do we hear anyone talk
about success also equating tobeing able to take a break.
Now, I will say this morerecently, and I think I've seen
it more since probably the endof 2020, beginning of 2021, more
(06:48):
people in that realm of success.
So, these high producers,whether it's, you know, ceos or
whomever they are, these peoplewho we go to to go, wow, how did
they do it?
You know, how did Oprah do it?
How does you know Tony Robbinsdo it?
How do all these big names?
Apple CEO Tim Cook is his name,he came to me eventually.
How do they do this?
Most of them, when they talkabout their daily routine, they
(07:11):
talk about taking time in themorning for themselves, time to
sit down and have their tea ortheir coffee, or meditate or do
yoga, work out, whatever itmight be, but it's time for them
that they have scheduled as apriority.
That happens first, and theneverything else.
After that I will tell youright now.
I'll tell you right now I canlook back pre 2020, pre my body
(07:35):
shutting down, pre us having tostop everything because of the
pandemic, when I would try towork out, do something for
myself.
I, prior to that, I had someback issues, so I was doing yoga
, but even while doing the yogafor my back and I had to because
I was in pain so it was kind oflike, okay, I need to do this I
wouldn't prioritize it, though.
I would fit it in where I could, and while I was doing it, my
(07:55):
brain was racing on all thethings I should be doing that's
not this and all the things I'mgoing to do as soon as I'm done
with this.
And I kept looking at the time.
Oh my gosh, I was obsessed withhow much longer?
How much longer, how muchlonger till I'm done with this.
I was not in it.
I was not in it for me.
I mean, I was theoreticallydoing it for me, because I
needed to alleviate the pain inmy back by stretching out the
(08:16):
muscles, but I wasn't present.
I wasn't there.
And now, from my perspective,after years of changing my life
and looking back to how Istructured my days and weeks
before versus now.
I will tell you this I get upon average between 5 and 5.30 in
the morning.
I do not get up in a burst ofenergy to hustle, no, I spend
(08:38):
some time laying in bed,stretching and moving my body,
flexing muscles and relaxingthem to get the blood flowing.
I think about what I'm going tohave.
Am I going to have some teathis morning or am I going to
have some coffee this morningand I hand grind it?
If I'm going to have coffee,you know I want it to be a slow
process, and then I sit and Ienjoy it and I meditate for a
little bit.
I get up that early because Iwant to have time for me.
(09:01):
Those are my mini breaks, right.
Starting the day like that Openup the blinds, watch the sun
come up.
Now that's for me, some people.
For them, their me time isafter work or in the evening,
once everyone else has gone tobed, whatever it might be, but
having that me time, that stilltime, still, as in, it's just
quiet for you, is so importantin keeping your balance of your
(09:24):
mind and your body in your day.
Now, taking it to a biggerpicture also is giving yourself
permission to take a break.
This could be within the day ofa work project or within the
week of a work project, andyou're just going through and
you have to work long days andyou can't get up early and have
quiet time for you, and I get it.
These things should betemporary, though.
There shouldn't be a way oflife.
(09:44):
There should be a temporarysituation because there's a
project or something due whereyou've gotten squished on time.
You need to prioritize nothaving that be the norm.
It does happen on occasion,that's okay.
Give yourself permission to takea break in the middle of your
work day.
Get up and walk away from yourcomputer or from whatever you're
working on and go somewherethat is not required of you to
(10:07):
be there outside the building.
If you work in a building, togo to the courtyard, or if you
work outside, go see a doctor.
Go somewhere else with adifferent view, a different
perspective, for five minutes.
Five minutes reset your brain.
Take a break.
Giving yourself permission totake a break is very important,
as important as taking a break,because if you don't give
yourself permission to do it andyou force yourself to do it,
you're going to feel guilty,you're going to feel bad.
(10:27):
You're going to be checkingyour watch, like I always used
to do.
Give yourself permission tojust take a break.
Take a break.
Now.
The bigger picture goes back towhat I was talking about before
with vacations and how Americansonly, on average, take 14 days.
And I'll tell you what.
I know plenty of Americans whodon't even take 14 days because
they don't get paid vacation.
They're working at a facilityor a place that only offers
(10:48):
temporary or part-time positionsto help avoid giving them the
benefits and so, therefore, toget their bills paid, they just
got to work all the time andthey shift to a different
position that's temporary, orthey let go for a little bit and
come back on board for aseasonal job, whatever it may be
, so they can't take those 14days.
For some people, the idea oftaking 14 days they wish they
could take that much.
And then you look around thecountry.
(11:08):
Look around the country, excuseme, look around the world, and
there's other countries wherethe average is 24 days, almost
not quite, but almost twice asmuch.
Having the ability to take avacation in this country,
unfortunately, I believe, is aluxury many people do not have.
For those who get to take themoften.
I hope you don't take them forgranted.
For those of you who don't getto take many or any, please do
(11:31):
everything in your power to finda way to at least take a day
off where you can get away fromeverything and reset the value
in taking a break.
And slowing down and stoppingand resetting your mind is going
to allow you to show up moreefficiently and more
proficiently at the things youare taking a break from, Whether
it is your passion project,whether it is your day job,
(11:54):
whether it is your side hustle,a hobby, whatever it may be.
The value in taking a break isnot only good for you
holistically as a livingcreature, as a human being, as a
spiritual entity inside thismeat suit whatever you want to
call it but it's also going toallow you to come back to what
(12:15):
you are taking a break from thatmuch better.
I put this into practice myself.
I'm like all right, I'm goingto try this.
So I made sure every lunchbreak at work I would get away
from my computer, away from mydesk, and go for a walk outside
for 15 minutes.
I did this for two weeks and itgot to the point then where I
was like you know what?
I'm going to go out for a quickwalk right now, before lunch
(12:36):
and after lunch, because I foundthat it refreshed my brain.
I came back to what I wasworking on, with so much more
energy and if I was stuck onsomething, that whatever I was
stuck on, it seemed to go away.
I solved problems like crazywhen I could step away from what
I was working on instead ofpushing harder and pushing
through it, stepping away fromit, putting on pause and going
outside getting some fresh air,coming back to it.
(12:58):
Then I was able to just be thatmuch more efficient at my job.
And I know it's just our natureto want to keep working on
something, to push through it.
I can do this, I can do this, Ican do this, I get it, I'm the
same way, but if you can remindyourself to take that break
no-transcript, I promise you.
I promise you you're gonna feelbetter and you're gonna do
(13:19):
better.
And you might be thinking well,if I take five minutes, that's
gonna make it five minutes laterthat I, to get this done Like
what I'm working on, will befive minutes delayed.
If I take a 15 minute break,it's gonna take 15 minutes.
That's gonna be delayed by thatmuch.
I don't have that kind of time.
Trust me, the odds are in thefavor that you'll finish early
because you took that break.
(13:39):
I know mathematics is like well, wait a minute, you take away
15, how can you add?
It doesn't work here.
Here's the deal, because youcome back at it refreshed, with
your brain already to refocus,and everything else is going on.
You're more efficient, you'remore proficient, you're able to
get the work done.
There is a lot of research outthere about the importance of
taking a break, whether it's atime when you're frustrated,
(14:00):
whether it's a time that you'refeeling stuck, whether it's a
time that you're feelingoverwhelmed.
Take a break.
And here's the thing.
Here's the last bit that I'mgonna offer you before I wrap
this up, cause, hey, I'm onvacation right now.
You want to be able to take abreak before you hit overwhelm.
You want to take that breakbefore you hit burnout.
The lack of taking breaks, thelack of taking vacations, the
(14:21):
lack of stepping away fromsomething is what can easily
lead us to feeling overwhelmed,easily lead us to burnout.
If we can manage it upfront, ifwe can take care of things
before it gets to that point,then you may never get there.
And what a great benefit.
It's much harder to come out ofburnout and much harder to come
(14:42):
out of overwhelm and recoverfrom that than it is to
preemptively do behaviors thatmake it so you never get there.
I can't stress that enoughcause when you hit overwhelm and
burnout man, you start talkingabout physical illness happening
.
You talk about bringing thatstuff home with you for the
whole weekend.
Ugh, it's toxic.
You don't want to do that and Ihope you're not there and if
you are, I'm sorry.
(15:03):
I'm so sorry you find yourselfthere.
And I will tell you what when Icome back from vacation which,
when this airs, there'll be afew more days and I'll be back I
will have two more spaces openin my calendar.
So I have a couple of clientsthis month who have rolled into
accountability sessions.
So, going from weekly sessionsto monthly sessions, that means
(15:23):
my calendar is gonna open up.
I have two more spots open forweekly clients.
If you find yourself listeningto this podcast going yeah, this
is great, but too late for me.
My life is tanked.
Reach out, please.
Let's talk about becoming coachand client partners.
Go to my website,coachrichschwarzcom.
We can connect with a discoverycall, talk about what's going
on.
We can decide there if it weregonna be a good fit.
(15:45):
We both have to decide.
It's not just me trying to sellyou a coaching package.
We both have to agree that thisis gonna be a good fit and you
think this is gonna benefit you,and I also have to agree that I
believe my coaching will workfor what's going on in your life
.
There have been people whereI've said, nope, not a thing.
Here's a coach over here youshould reach out to, or actually
that's something more for atherapist to deal with, because
it's gonna require more work,deeper work than just coaching.
(16:07):
That's the thing, and I will dothat happily.
I have no problem with that.
But if you feel that maybe it'stime for you to start
rebalancing, restructuring andrefocusing your life so you can
start living the way you'resupposed to and want to, without
overwhelm and burnout floodinginto your life, I can't tell you
how many clients I have whereit's like it's all about.
Their passion is their work,but then they've been doing it
(16:29):
for so long.
They lose sight of theirfitness and their health and
their finances tank, and theirfamily is there, but not really
there and they've lost touchwith their spirituality or their
faith and no friends becausethey're all about work.
And even so, if you're in thatboat where it's all about work
and then the job disappears onyou for some reason, you get
that sense of being lost andthat's no good either.
(16:50):
So, yeah, take your breaks, takecare of yourself and if you
need to reach outcotrigschwardscom, all the
information is below in theepisode notes, here, along with
my social media.
And hey, if you're on threadsnow, I jumped on that bandwagon.
I'm loving it.
There's so much kindness andsupport there.
It's a very different vibe thanother social media right now.
I hope it stays that way.
Obviously, social media has itsown culture, does its own thing
(17:12):
, but right now it seems that alot of the users are really
trying to keep it positive,uplifting and educational, and
so I say, jump into it.
If you're not on threadsalready, go for it.
You can find the link for mythreads account down below, also
in the episode notes, or justlook for cotrigschwards there on
threads.
All right, I hope you are havingan awesome day and I future me,
(17:33):
future me.
You're coming back on vacationa couple of days and I hope you
had an awesome time.
I have a feeling you did, buteither way, I hope all of you
listening, aside from future me.
I hope you found somethinguseful here.
I hope that the ripple effectwe always talk about is in place
and maybe this is an episodeyou wanna share with somebody
else.
That's how this podcast grows.
It's a great way to support itby sharing it.
(17:54):
Word of mouth is huge inpodcasting, so I appreciate all
of you who have shared stuff.
We had a big spike what twoweeks ago?
That was crazy.
That was awesome.
I appreciate it.
Thank you so much as always.
I just wanna say thanks againfor listening.
You know I really do appreciateyou.
Have a good one, everybody.
See you next time the last ofat least nine minutes or.
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