I just got back from an amazing “vacation” to Waikiki, HI (which was in part why I was absent on this blog… you’ll see why else later, so keep reading )

Boy was it a blast!

I got to go:

• Snorkeling in the warm water
• Lie on the beach
• Boogie boarding in some nice waves
• Off-roading in a rented Jeep
• Sneak a peek on the site of “Lost” as they filmed future episodes SPOILER ALERT!»
• Scuba dive with a bunch of sea turtles
• Dive with some scary sharks (and by “some” I mean over 50 of them…)
• Sip pina coladas on the beach
• Stuff myself silly with some amazing Hawaiian food
• Sail the awesome Hawaiian waters
• And on and on and on…

No doubt it was an adventure filled vacation and I got some nice R&R in as well.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I took my “office in a laptop” with me for sure along with my trusted USB modem!  I mean, can you imagine me going on a 7 day excursion without being connected to the web?  Oh the nightmares!

So yes, I did connect to the internet and I did get my daily fix.  However, I am proud to say that throughout the whole trip, I checked my email less than 70 times a day

And I did sneak in to check on my SEO Networker students via our live forum.  And I even managed to check in on our live webinar that took place on Tuesday (although to be honest, my good buddy and business partner Fernando took care of that for us all )

But all in all, my work level was at an all time low…  Heck, just a quick peek at my Twitter activity is a testament to that!  (I.e. I hardly “Tweeted” at all…)

Don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of opportunity to “work”.  I had a lot of downtime in my hotel as we recuperated.  But I chose not to.  The bottom line is this…

I Didn’t Get Much Work Done, and I am Darn Grateful and Proud of It

Now, I imagine that you are either thinking:

1. WHAT?  You didn’t work?  But you are an entrepreneur!  Aren’t you guys working 24/7 – never able to stop thinking about your business? (You would be with the group that’s read the “E-Myth” by Michael Gerber)
2. Of course you didn’t get work done, you were on vacation! (You would fall in either the group that only sees “vacation” from the Jobber’s perspective or think that by being an entrepreneur, it’s all cake walk… and that money just falls from the trees for you.)

Well, whatever you may be thinking, I’ll tell you that I didn’t NEED to work on my “vacation” In part because... » but that I am sure it wouldn’t have hurt had I done a bit more work on my trip.  In other words, I didn’t NEED to work, but probably should have.

But I didn’t care.

Loving What I Do, But…

Truth be told, it was atypical of me to have done so little on my trip.  I am the type of entrepreneur whom some might say is “married” to my business.  I can’t stop thinking about it.

And I don’t say that like it’s a bad thing.  I can’t stop thinking about it because for one, I am ambitious as heck… I am always looking for ways to improve on myself and my pursuits; and for two, because I actually ENJOY what I do!  I know, what a concept right?

The last few times I went on trips, I couldn’t help myself but think about work none stop.  Even when I was visiting Australia for a week and a half with my family – I carried my laptop with me thousands of miles around the world and I managed to stay connected even though the closest thing I had to internet was a 15 minute walk from my hotel.

I just can’t seem to get away.  Maybe it’s ambition, maybe it’s obsession, and heck, maybe it’s even fear (fear that if I take my attention away from my entrepreneurial pursuits for even a split second, that everything will fall apart).

Know what I learned from this trip?  Being like that can get really tiring really fast and it can be dreadfully unhealthy.  You should not lose yourself in your “business”, ever.

Finding a Balance

With the urging of my wonderful girlfriend, Iva, I did my best to “relax” on this vacation.  To realize that this is indeed a “vacation” (Whatever that means right?)  I forced myself to not take all the emails flooding my inbox so seriously So... » .  I stepped back from the everyday grind of running a business.  Every time I felt the urge to even THINK about work, I forced myself to chug a pina colada (kidding of course… well, sort of).

And you know what?  At first it was hard.  At first I felt guilty as heck.  But that guilt slowly gave way – day by day.  With each day that passed, I felt more and more weight lifted off of my shoulders, I felt my head clearing.  I felt refreshed!  I learned a big lesson from this trip.  I had an epiphany.

And you’ll have to wait till my next post to learn what it is since this post is already getting darn long!

For now, enjoy this short video I put together of my dive with the “sharkeys”

Raymond
P.S. Pictures are being uploaded soon!  Stay tuned.  Until next time.

[kaltura-widget wid="umte9yme3y" width="410" height="364" addpermission="3" editpermission="3" align="center" /]

if you are one of those who emailed me during that time and didn’t get a response, my apologies