When I started out at The Big Firm, the supervising partner sat me down for the onboarding talk. He said we got three weeks of vacation.
Then he leaned in, lowered his voice, and said, “But no one ever takes them.”
I remember thinking: That’s messed up.
So I scheduled all three weeks that first year.
Because if they were giving them out, I was taking them.
Summer’s coming. And a lot of folks are about to pretend to take vacation.
You know the kind.
You set the out-of-office message that says you won’t be checking email. But you do.
You tell your team you’re “unavailable.” But you’re not.
You’re at the beach, supposedly. But also on Zoom, in a collared shirt and swim trunks, fielding client calls while the kids are standing at the door with their sand toys.
That’s not a vacation.
That’s self-deception with a suntan.
Fake vacations will leave you more depleted than before you left.
They’ll frustrate your partner. Disappoint your kids. And shortchange your spirit.
A real vacation means you unplug.
It means you go away—mentally and emotionally, not just physically.
It means you rest.
Because rest isn’t a luxury. It’s a discipline.
Every elite athlete knows this. Rest is baked into the training schedule. It’s where strength builds. Gains consolidate. Energy restores.
But in business? We treat rest like weakness.
We grind. Hustle. Burnout. Brag about how long it’s been since we’ve taken time off.
And then wonder why we’re exhausted. Frustrated. Lost.
In our coaching work, we do it differently.
We begin with lifestyle design before business design.
We ask: What do you want your days to look like?
What do you want your life to feel like?
Because you weren’t born to live for work.
You were born to live; to laugh; to adventure; to love.
And yes, to rest.
So please—take the damn vacation.
Not a half-vacation. Not a performative vacation.
A real one.
You’ve earned it.
And your life is too precious to waste.
P.S. When you’re ready to create the work and the life you really love, we should talk. Email me: [email protected]
And when you’re done recording your away message, check out our website at: https://summit-success.com/
But that’s entirely up to you.
