How To Have Your Best Vacation Yet!

by Cory MacNeil

You've worked hard all year, and now it's time to take a break....the question is, what makes a great vacation?  After all, you only have a limited amount of time and you want to make the most of it.  We're glad you asked!  Taking a vacation doesn't have to be difficult.  A vacation can be an amazing part of your year....a time to recharge and make great memories with friends and loved ones.

The problem is, the human experience doesn't go away just because you have a week's worth of free time.  Let me explain.  Just because you have a week off, it doesn't mean your marriage is going to improve if it's been on the rocks awhile.  This applies to every area, including personal debt, health, spirituality, fitness, etc.  It's great, that you have a week off, but if you've let the chickens out during the last year, be sure they're going to come home and roost!

Maybe by now, you're not so excited about your upcoming vacation because there are issues you'll have to deal with.  Relax, there's hope.  You can still have a great vacation.  In fact, it can still be your best vacation yet.  Here are some tips to help.  But first, a bit of wisdom.

"Go to the ant, you slacker!  Observe its ways and become wise.  Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest."  Before you get all out of sorts about the slacker bit, think about what the writer in Proverbs 6:6-8 is saying.  Although you lack wisdom, it's yours for the taking if you'll take time to take ONE small step.

If you're thinking about stopping for an extended period of time, it MAY do you some good to stop beforehand.  Look before you leap.  Huge change doesn't happen over night, it's a result of lots of baby steps.  Ants are tiny, but they are able to do great works over a period of time, by carrying out small, simple tasks on a daily basis.  By the way, a slacker is someone who avoids pain.  We all get that.  Most people prefer comfort and pleasure.  Let's be honest.  Those aren't bad things.   Beware: don't  allow yourself to gravitate toward ease and the path of least resistance.  It's easy to stop doing difficult things that will improve not only the quality of your own life, but the life of others.

If you're planning on having a great vacation, the first step you might take is to make a plan.  A failure to plan is a plan to fail.  Sit down with a cup of coffee, some paper and a pen.  (Yes, paper!).  There's just something about writing things down.  Now, write down 5 or 10 things you'd like to do on your vacation.  If you're planning on a stay- cation, still take the time to make a list.  The weakest ink is stronger than the strongest memory.

Believe it or not, a lack of finances doesn't have to be an issue.  You're not taking a break to spend money, you're taking a vacation to spend TIME.  You can have just as much fun at the local public beach as you can in California.  Your wish list might include visiting an old friend.  Do some gardening, complete an unfinished product, meet with a spiritual mentor, etc.  Write down whatever comes to mind, you can always edit later.  The list doesn't mean that you have to do everything on it.  At this point, you are brainstorming.

If you've decided to work on one of the issues that surfaced earlier in this post, write it down!  You don't have to stress and work on it for your entire vacation, but you can take an ant step.  For instance, if it's personal debt, plan on taking a book out from the library that will educate you.  Plan to meet with someone who seems to have their financial act together, over coffee.  Balance your checkbook.  Look at your bills and identify needs and luxuries.  You get the idea.

The key is balance!  Too much of a good thing can be a not so good thing and this includes vacations.  Scrap your fitness routine for a week and you'll see what I mean.  Sleep in every day until noon and you'll understand.  Go on a drinking binge and eat fast food every meal....Ignore your relationships.  You get the idea.  Disrupting a routine you've worked hard to establish will derail your growth and progress.

Congratulations!  If you're about to take a break, you have a wonderful opportunity to experience your best vacation yet!  Hot dogs on the grill with some good friends can be just as wonderful- if not more- than an extravagant meal at an expensive restaurant.  Besides, that kind of meal won't take you ten years to pay off!

#20- The Key To Unlocking Your Dreams in 2015

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have all of the luck?  I've been there.  It's so easy to take a look around and see people finding success in areas that you are failing in.  Social media only exacerbates the problem.  Rarely do people post about their failures, all we get to see are their celebrations.

In our latest series at church entitled "Change Anything!" we've been talking about the importance of planning and reaching our goals in 2015.  This series is based on a book called "Change Anything" by Kerry Patterson and Joseph Grenny.  You can find this book on Amazon.com.  I found the book very insightful.

Early on in the series, we made the statement, based on the book, that "we don't lack willpower, we are just blind in certain areas of our lives'.  This is important to understand because willpower can only take you so far.  More than willpower, you need to have a plan and educate yourself if you're going to reach your goals.

More than a plan and personal education, you need social support.  You need to be around people who know your dream and are cheering for you.  Likewise, you may have to disassociate with people who want to sabotage your plan.  These people are easy to recognize because they say things like: "You've changed" or "You never cared before", not to mention the classic jab: "What, are you too good for us?"

Once you examine your own weaknesses and temptations, you are are ready to map out a plan.  Write down the necessary steps that have to be taken.  Come up with more than one way you are going to counter the things that tend to make you deviate from making a bee line to your goal.  For example, you may set up alarms on your cell phone to remind you of your vulnerable times.  Or, you might wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it every time you find yourself thinking self- defeating thoughts.
While you're at it, make plans to reward yourself when you reach incremental goals.  Promise to buy yourself that new book on Friday if you've reached your goal for the week.  Rewarding and punishing yourself along the way will help you stay on track.

Sooner or later, despite your best efforts, you will fall.  Get back up again and keep on going.  Learn from your mistakes.  Take the information you've learned from your failure and use it to better refine your plan.

Change is hard work.  If you don't roll up your sleeves and get to work on your plan, you'll get rolled up in the motions of just getting by.  Don't depend on the things that have helped others, customize a plan that is going to work for you.  You don't have to run 5 miles a day like your neighbor, maybe a brisk walk every other day is a better fit.  Maybe you'll have to start out by just walking a hundred yards down the road and back.

Studies have shown that most plans work: the problem is most people never work their plan.  You don't have to be one of the 98% who make a New Years resolution and blow it by February 1st.  Find a plan that works for you and stick to it.

What happens is the snow ball effect begins to take place: your little changes add up to one big change. Again, change by the yard is hard, but change by the inch is a cinch.  

You don't have to go it alone; I've written a book to help you begin your journey called "Life Coaching: 7 Myths Keeping You From Your Best Year Yet."

In the meantime, I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have on this topic.