I am about to head off on holiday for the next six weeks. There are two holidays, one to the Outback, one to Europe with a few days in between to wash clothes and repack my bags. The anxiety is very real as I am sure you can imagine. It is tax season, and this is when I choose to take a holiday? Am I completely crazy? I have been asking myself this question for the past few weeks.

I have been planning for this break for a year. I have been preparing my team and my clients for my absence by making sure Jigsaw runs just as well without my presence. I have an amazing team who can handle anything and I trust in their skills and the processes we have in place. So why am I feeling so anxious?

I believe there is a level of guilt as I have never taken this long off work before. At times I am going to be in places that have no internet connection or in different time zones. I am not going to be as readily accessible as I am right now. These past few weeks have involved lots of questions, phone calls, emails and requests from clients, so how am I going to handle this while I am away? Perhaps it would be easier to just cancel my holiday and be available to take the calls and do the work?

No, that is not going to happen!

What is the point in working so hard if you cannot enjoy your life as well? If I do not go on this holiday I will regret it for the rest of my life. I want to work hard so that I can live a wonderful life and have great experiences. Here is how I am going to reframe my anxiety around taking a long holiday.

The Opportunity – This is an amazing opportunity to test the work we have done to ensure that Jigsaw is not completely reliant on me. The best businesses are based on a team of people who understand the processes that deliver the product. They are not solely reliant on the owner. I have confidence that my team can do the work just as well, and often better than me.

Learning to say No – I have never been good at saying no, but right now, for the next 6 weeks I need to. We cannot take on any new clients until October. I cannot be the one to meet with clients but I have a team there to help and I know they will do an amazing job at getting the work done. I am learning to say no with confidence and without guilt.

A reset is necessary to be the best me – I am a little tired and I know I need to take a break. I love my life and I love the work I do but being able to completely switch off is necessary for me to be creative and perform at my best. I am confident I will come back invigorated and inspired.

I deserve this! Rather than feel guilty about doing something I have wanted to do all my life, I am going to embrace every moment. Life is about experiences and creating memories and this is my chance to do something I have worked really hard to be able to do.

So yes, I am going to be away until October. My emails will be monitored and forwarded to the appropriate team member to address I will still be there in the background but I will be doing my best delegation work.

Thank you for allowing me to live my best life and take a little break.