Typically, our family trips are go-go-go. Try to see and experience as much of the new sites and scenery as we can. Our most recent family adventure took a different approach partly exploring as much of Athens as we could followed by a slower pace adventure in the most beautiful region I’ve ever been blessed to see, the island of Crete.
The combination of high activity combined with moments to take in the beauty of the sea worked well for our family. While some of the family may have needed more go-go-go and some may have preferred more relaxation at times, overall, we found a good balance for what our family felt we needed. The trip was a good reminder on how we are all unique in what we need for pace and activity both mentally and physically and this level of need will be very fluid.
There are times that call for us to have more of a go-go-go mentality. Work spikes, numerous kid activities, additional classes we may take, community events, and the list goes on. I know what many of us are thinking. These times aren’t fluid – it’s always busy. This is where we need to focus on the skillset of awareness. We need to play a much bigger game than simply exhausting ourselves today. Awareness is critical if we’re to understand our personalized balance of go-go-go mentality vs. more time for relaxation and reflection.
Some of us may need more frequent and shorter moments of reflection and relaxation while others may need less frequent but more extensive periods of pause. Others may rarely need moments of pause and can constantly be on the go. We each have unique needs for how we’re able to be our most effective and impactful selves.
One of the traps we fall into is we think our right amount of go-go-go and relaxation should be the same as anyone else. It doesn’t work that way. We are each unique with the amount we need.
Instead of worrying about how someone else is handling the stress and craziness at work or any envy passes through our mind of how much someone else can take on, anchor back to the awareness skill. Pour your time and energy assessing within to develop the awareness of what balance you need to be highly active vs. relaxing and reflecting. We must find our own approach and balance of what that go-go-go vs. relaxation looks like.
One of the best ways to find our approach is through trial and error. We must keep exploring what most effectively recharges us. Quicker ways to recharge like music, exercise, sitting with nature, meditation – not scrolling endlessly through social media – can be impactful ways to reset and be more effective moving forward. Bigger ways to recharge like taking a little time off work for a long weekend, going on a vacation, taking a longer relaxing cruise in the car may be what your current situation calls for. It’s your life to recharge so continue to experiment with your balance of go-go-go vs. relaxation and reflection and be ready to adapt your recipe for recharging as your life demands continue to evolve.
If you’re interested in exploring the importance of recharging along with some tips, check out this 5 minute video: Give Me a Break | Tyler Archer | DisruptHR Talks – DisruptHR.
Take your step: take a few minutes to reflect on how you approach go-go-go vs. relaxation and reflection in a given week. How do you feel you’re balancing the two based on what your body and mind needs? Are there ways you need to tweak where you’re at on the spectrum? Are there different methods to recharging you may need to start trying? Start exploring what’s worked well in the past and what opportunities to improve there may be for the future.