Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

It is good to get away, to sharpen the saw, to step off the hamster wheel … so that you can gain perspective and answer questions like:

Why do I work so hard?

What am I working toward?

Do my contributions make a difference?

Who knows whether the sacrifices made along the way will be fruitful or in vain?

We need occasional reminders that we are human, not machines or robots. We are social, emotional, spiritual. We seek approval, admiration, acceptance. Not just from our closest family members but colleagues, industry icons, hard-working, enormous responsibility-carrying leaders from every walk of life and all industries. We all matter. We all contribute. We all feel. We all care.

What I learned this week while spending time with generous, long-term friends and the beautiful guests that joined us was an elegant balance of competence and connection, strength and compassion and it can be found anywhere you look. It may be easier to notice when you’re uninterrupted with the latest crisis or question requiring custom answers but the struggle and the solution are interrelated. It simply requires you to observe and influence.

I encourage you to take time away. Fifteen minutes in a work day, an hour on the weekend, a day per month to reflect on who you are and what you want to do rather than allowing your title to define your path. Whatever the increment and wherever the solitude is realized, make your time away count.

Have a blessed weekend!