Bounjour!
I'm currently in Paris, France and enjoying a fun vacation. I'm here with my girlfriend, also celebrating our 1-year anniversary.
Some of the many benefits to living the “internet lifestyle” and making passive income that I feel very fortunate and blessed to take advantage of!
I took out the camera on an early morning, while visiting the Eiffel tower and decided to record a few videos with the beautiful background. I answered a few questions from subscribers and will likely do some more filming while I'm here.
In this video blog, I talk about the importance of taking time off and how I structure “vacation time” in my life.
Watch the video below:
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
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Vacation Is The Reward For Achieving Your Goals!
I'm a firm believer that any break, time off or vacation is best used as a “reward” for achieving your goals. Throughout the year, when I set my yearly goals, I usually have many goals for travel and fun. I plan these fun trips usually as a reward, set sometime after a deadline that I've set for myself for a goal that I'm working hard to achieve.
When I set a goal, I aim to achieve it. I work hard, make sacrifices, am determined and do whatever it takes to make it happen. Sometimes the process of achieving a goal isn't fun. It can be a challenge, frustrating and even sometimes feel like giving up on it. What pulls me through is the reward and pleasure that I give myself afterwards.
“If I achieve this goal, then I'm going to take a week off and reward myself by going to XYZ”.
Sometimes I might even set up a consequence for not achieving my goal. I might say to myself “If I don't achieve this goal, then I have to skip out on the trip and lose the money that I paid on the flight”.
Painful?
Harsh?
Yes, but often necessary leverage to get myself to follow through and make it happen. This leverage is what makes it a “MUST” for me to follow through and take action. And sure enough, as you can tell, I achieve most of my goals. Here's the best part…
When I take my vacations, breaks, time off, or “fun time”… I really ENJOY it! There's an amazing level of pleasure and fulfillment I get knowing that I EARNED this vacation! I celebrate my goals being achieved and really acknowledge myself for it. I'm not thinking, worrying or stressing about work on my vacation. I have total peace of mind.
This is the best kind of vacation there is. Here's another tip, another useful way that I use this: every evening. You see, I love sports. Especially right now, the NBA playoffs are going on. I'm a huge LeBron James fan and so I've been following the Cleveland Cavaliers this year in the playoffs. I love watching their games in the evening, however I don't allow myself to unless I got done what I wanted to for that day.
Watching the game, TV, movies and relaxing are the REWARDS that I give myself every evening after a productive days work. Again, it feels great taking that time off knowing you had a productive day. On the other hand, if I had a lazy day, then it doesn't feel good taking that time off. I will be thinking about work in the back of my mind, not able to enjoy myself fully.
And like I said earlier, often times I will sometimes use NOT watching the game as a consequence for not taking action. This might sound a bit crazy to some of you, but give it a try. I use these little tricks and mind games all the time, to push myself to be more productive and achieve my goals.
Au revoir for now!
Please leave a comment below or let me know any questions you have. I'd love to hear what you think!