You know I’m Australian. I’m also a US citizen. My entire family is in Australia. My honey and I moved here many, many, many years ago and I still call Australia home, and I call the US home as well.
I think it’s important to share this message about why I go back to see my family, I think it’s important to live a life that we don’t have any regrets. Often as busy professionals, we think, oh, I’ll make a vacation when I have time. I’ll make plans when I have time, I’ll put it off, I’ll put it off, I’ll do it when I’m not so busy. Here’s the reality, we are all busy. And one of the things I want to challenge you about is as a leader you are role modeling for your team the importance of recovery. If you don’t spend time with your family or do whatever recharges your batteries, then you become a tired leader and honestly, you become a boring leader.
My team knows that I must go back to Australia every year because I get homesick. There is literally no cure for homesickness except being with people that I love. There is something about the Australian culture, the food, sense of humor, beauty, sunshine, animals and it’s very different to what I experience here. I love living in the US. I love working with my American and Canadian clients and also love being able to go home to Australia, see my family, wrap my arms around my mum, see my baby sister, well they’re not really babies anymore, see my nephews and nieces. To shop at my favorite stores, to see my dearest friends there.
What are you doing to take care of your recovery? How do you recover? How do you show your family that they mean so much to you? You see when we pay attention it’s not just about what we pay attention to professionally, it’s who we pay attention to personally. And for me, that involves a trip to Australia every year. Sometimes even twice.
While you may not need to go to Australia when was the last time you visited with your family? And if you can’t physically visit them, when is the time last time you videoed with them? I want to ask you, what’s your Australia? What’s a trip maybe that you’ve always wanted to take but you keep putting it off? Now is the time to book it. I go back to Australia every year because I love and adore my family. I enjoy spending time with them and frankly, I need to see them. They are a recovery opportunity for me. What’s your version of Australia? I’d love to hear from you.
