Part 2: 7 Lessons learned from my cruise

Cruising is pretty cool, I learned a lot. For example, you can get sick of sitting by a pool 7 days in a row for hours at a time sipping a Pina Colada. Besides that, I contemplated the following 4 items, a continuation of the 3 from Tuesday.

1. Sometimes you need to be bored. As I was sitting at the pool drinking my 5th Pina Colada, I thought to myself – what do I do now? The motion sickness patch I had on was making me see double when I tried to work or read (I think God was forcing me to take a break) so I had no choice but to just sit there. I think for most business owners or professionals in general, it is hard to sit still and just think. We are not always comfortable being alone with our thoughts. Oftentimes, this is when our breakthroughs or epiphanies happen. Stop squirming. Sit still and just be.
2. Self-reflection is imperative. Because I was at the pool pretty much every day (did I mention how tan I am?), I had a lot of time to think about me. Yuck. How can I be better as a person? What are my major weaknesses? How can I be a better business owner and boss? Self-reflection should make you uncomfortable. I realized that I need to take a deep breath, step back and think before acting, saying or writing. I am too often moved to be pessimistic versus optimistic, so I am challenging myself to look at the positive when addressing the negative.
3. Read, read, read. This was hard for me to do, considering the double vision I was experiencing but one of the reasons I love getting away is because I can immerse myself in reading. I wasn’t reading business books, I was reading fiction by writers, Lee Childs and James Patterson. Giving your brain a break by using your imagination will allow you to look at ongoing issues in a different way, hopefully ending in a creative solution.

4. 

   Travel. I love traveling, I hate the getting there and getting back part (this is where the optimism will come in handy), but I love seeing new places, people and taking in different cultures and history. We have so much to learn from others and history. Perspective is a wonderful thing, it allows us to look at our life through a different lens. Life is pretty great after all (optimism).

What is your favorite part about traveling? When you come back how does it change your life daily?

Also, Has anyone worn the motion sickness patch before? I swear I am going through withdrawal…is that normal?