The Importance of Vacation
Getting Perspective Through Travel
Entrepreneurs often avoid taking vacation due to a maniacal focus on the business. While this can be useful for certain intense sprints of growth, company building is a marathon that requires sustained creative energy and drive. To me, a key part of maintaining that long term hunger and perspective is taking vacation. In fact, I’m writing this while on vacation. Here are a few of my reflections on how important vacation has been to my perspective on the companies I have helped to build.
First, new landscapes, cultures, and rhythms help shake up stuck beliefs or viewpoints and free me up to come up with big new ideas about where the company could expand or shift. As I think back on many of the most important pivots or growth opportunities of the past decade, they came from inspiration while relaxing and resetting on vacation.
Second, as a business leader if you don’t take vacation you won’t likely remember to encourage your team to do so — which is crucial for their long term happiness and productivity. Employees who live rich full lives with family and friends outside of work tend to be more valuable contributors in my experience. A company culture that actively promotes time for relaxation and vacation attracts better talent.
Third, vacation often inspires personal growth and reflection. The greatest chokehold on the growth of a business is the psychology of the leader — so if you can make breakthroughs in your own limitations while traveling, those almost always translate back to improvements in the company.
Lastly, I want to note that for me personally it’s important to have a mix of types of vacations — lying on a beach, visiting a wellness retreat, touring cities, etc… because each of these environments brings very different perspectives and experiences. I hope you find time for a great vacation soon.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and agriculture.
Sign up here if you are not already subscribed to our blog.
