Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 298 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 298 of our trek, and yesterday explored our final trail of the total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth. It was quite an extensive trek and was a little different than our previous treks that we have taken. I trust that you found this information valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek.

Today we will remain at camp and sit around the campfire as we invest some time exploring ways to relax and recharge. I struggle with this on a personal level, as there are always more projects to work on than there are hours in a day. I do realize that time for proper sleep, rest, and relaxation are an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. I am certainly trying to learn these lessons as we explore them. We have covered many different types of terrain on our nearly 300 daily hikes, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are making good progress on both our client workload and renovations. I have completed the library woodwork and floors, so we will be able to move the furniture back in this weekend. Paula is going to paint the back wall of the built-in bookshelves in the library before we move all of the books back in. It is the old plaster walls and they could use a good coat of paint. I will post some pictures in the journal later this week. Although it is difficult work doing the renovations, I also find it a relaxing time away from constantly being at my standing desk in front of a computer.

It is time to share 9 tips to relax and recharge around our campfire today. I learned these tips from one of my virtual mentors, Brian Tracy whose courses I have learned much from over my business career so far.

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

Most of us realize that regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. The question is, if we know that, why don’t we make it a priority in our lives. I certainly am pointing my finger at myself on this one, so let us digest these nuggets of insight together. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that are used by the most successful people in our fast-paced society of the western world.

1. Take Time Off Every Week

First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days. Of course, God was the original designer of this concept as it declares in Genesis 2:1-3, “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

2. Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere

During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

3. Get Away on Mini-Vacations

Take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

4. Take Big Chunks of Down Time

Take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You’ll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

5. Give Yourself a Break Today

If you are involved in a difficult client relationship or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least once day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don’t continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it, or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

6. Go For a Walk in Nature

Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

7. Eat Lighter Foods

Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

8. Be Good to Yourself

Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more particular you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that highly processed foods, carbs, and sugar are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.

9. Three Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

1. First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
2. Second, reserve, book, and pay for your three-day vacations several months in advance. Once you’ve paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
3. Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important. It is nearly impossible to do both at the same time.

I trust that you see the value and have enjoyed exploring these powerful and yet simple to implement tips that will help you and me to relax and recharge completely. I plan on putting them into practice, what about you? Tomorrow we will hike up an interesting trail to discover the difference between a legacy and inheritance. So, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person, so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!