Author Chris Brady's Blog

Caption Contest 2012.6 and a Winner Announced!

Ok, Ok, I know, it's been a while since we've had a caption contest and you're just dying to know who won the last one, right? Well, the truth is, those of us who administer this blog of lofty literary renown have been busy laughing at the many great captions turned in for the last contest! It really is a shame that only one winner can be chosen, but alas, life is tough. Therefore, after much wrangling, we have decided upon the following entry as the winner!

When a Butt crayon just won't do! Posted by: Jason Trimble 

Congratulations to Jason! Simply comment on this blog to submit your mailing address (which will remain confidential) and we'll send you your free, autographed copy of Orrin Woodward and my best selling book Life.

Now (drum roll please) we are proud to present the next caption contest! The winner this time will receive a free autographed copy of my upcoming book, A Month of Italy: Rediscovering the Art of Vacation. Enjoy!

Back Toward the Center

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 18 of my upcoming book, A Month of Italy: Rediscovering the Art of Vacation

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When life is a lot like a race, vacation shouldn’t be.

The danger in speaking of vacations is that it feeds the tendency in all of us to want too much of a good thing. What I am advocating is not idleness, but rather a respite from busyness. In fact, to me, idleness and busyness are opposite sides of the same coin: disorder.

Some people tend toward one extreme, languishing placidly and wasting the days of their lives. They buy into the lie that pleasure is the ultimate aim, pursuing personal peace, affluence, and gratification as their top priorities. They seek travel and experiences as an end, in and of themselves. There is a dangerous bait-and-switch dynamic at work behind the pursuit of pleasure as an end, however, and it comes from the fact that pleasure doesn’t satisfy. Instead, it leads to the pursuit of more and more pleasure, bigger and bigger stimulation, all the while satisfying less and less. I have read travel books that are plenty dreamy, well written, excellent descriptors of places and attractions, but they are shallow and Bohemian, leaving the reader feeling empty at the end.

Other people—in fact, most from the crowds I run in—suffer from the opposite malady: filling their calendars so full they blast right through years of life without tasting a morsel of food or noticing a sunset. They are busy, busy, busy; scurrying here and there, convinced that if there is a job worth doing it’s worth overdoing. The crowded schedule and unending demands upon one’s time are often displayed as status symbols. Busyness becomes an outward show of importance. The philosophy goes like this: “I am busy; therefore I am successful.” 

Both extremes are signs of disorder; it’s a fact we know deep down inside. "Get back toward the center," some inner voice seems to say, "you’re wobbling like an unbalanced wheel." By providing a chance to think, feel, ponder, pray, worship, learn, and realign with priorities, a proper vacation should ideally restore balance by transporting one back toward that center. 

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Sincerely,

Chris Brady

 

Sabbatical or Self Indulgence?

The more I've researched the category of vacations, sabbaticals, intentional work breaks, work-fasts, electronic fasts, time off, time out, or whatever else you want to throw into the category, the more I've come into contact with some philosophies that probably never would have made my radar screen. This has been very illuminating, but also a bit disheartening.

Why I Wrote the Book

I set out to write A Month of Italy: Rediscovering the Art of Vacation because I felt so entirely blessed to be on my first real sabbatical that I wanted desperately to share what I had learned with others. I had gotten back in touch with a program of maintaining peak performance and razor sharp clarity of focus. In my own life, I had truly rediscovered the art of vacation. In fact, I came back from that original summer sabbatical so refreshed, so recharged, that within just one year I relocated my family to a different state (a decision with which I'd wrestled for almost a decade), wrote one best selling book (Rascal: Making a Difference by Becoming an Original Character), co-authored another with my good friend Orrin Woodward (LIFE), and launched a multimillion dollar company with seven of my best friends. Not bad for a mere four weeks off.

My Formula from College

As I explain in the Italy book, I had once possessed a formula that, for me, worked perfectly. It was while I was studying engineering at an intensive undergraduate institute that I had first stumbled across this arrangement. It came from being outgunned and outclassed in almost every way as I struggled with the workload of seven classes per semester and more math and science than I even care to remember. The students around me seemed so much more unconcerned and laid back about it than I did, and, quite frankly, I panicked. They went out to get drunk and I hit the books. I worked so hard I earned the nickname "Machine." My homework was always done on time, I posted very good grades, and I had not an ounce of fun. At least, from Sunday night at about 8:00 until Friday after lunch. In between those times I was a quintessential workaholic. However, (and this is the part where the formula comes in), I would leave campus like a clown shot out of a circus cannon on Friday afternoon and forget all about the place for the weekend. I'd hang out with my girlfriend, visit my parents' cottage in the "up north" of Michigan, and do just about anything except school work. This usually involved all my favorite activities, such as jet skiing, motorcycling in the dunes, playing football with my buddies, water skiing, reading, playing at the beach, and camping. By the time I returned to campus I was clear-headed, wide-eyed, and ready to go. My ambition had been refueled and my tanks refilled. 

How Had I Lost It?

I have tried to go back and figure out exactly how or why I lost touch with something that had once been so powerful in my life. The only conclusion I can draw is that I didn't see it as such a stand-alone, creative program at the time. Let's face it, most of us grow up in a school system that sort of takes care of this for us. We are accustomed to summer breaks, holidays, weekends off, and time between level advancements to get mentally ready for the next step. Suddenly, though, we find ourselves out in the "real world" where no hours are off limits when it comes to working a job and vacations are scarce (especially for the new hire). A sort of sick ambition sets in as the aggressiveness of youth pairs itself with the resiliency of youth, blending to obscure the fact that we are not machines, and that we need regular "down times" to maximize the "up times." The older we get the less we can get away with recklessly abusing our schedule as though endless effort will somehow produce better results. It can't. In short, I had achieved a lot in my adult life, but I had gotten away from a formula of intentional rest and restoration which could have helped me accomplish so much more. Stephen Covey calls it sharpening the saw, and of all his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it has to be the most neglected. There are scores of books on goal setting, beginning with the end in mind, persevering, and game planning, but almost nobody talks about strategic breaks. It seems that rats in a race are not allowed a pit stop.

Is Vacation the End Goal?

This brings me to some philosophies of happiness which have gathered a following. Certain of these trains of thought suggest that time off is not merely an elixir to heal the wounds of stress and enable one to pursue his or her true calling in life, but rather that time off is the overall point. It's the old pursuit of happiness trap whereby pleasure is sold as fulfillment. "Just do what makes you happy and fill the space in between with enough work to pay for it." "The more you play the happier you'll be." To me, it's like the old bumper sticker that says, "He who dies with the most toys, wins!" except it's been modified for our twenty-first century sensibilities to nothing more than, "He who dies with the most adventures, wins!" The new version is just as much of a lie as the older. 

Don't Get Me Wrong (Thanks, Chrissy Hines for an ever-quotable line, stuck in my head to the tune of your old song.)

On the other hand, however, I am not advocating the workaholism that several generations of Americans have thoroughly proven as the path to ruined health, ruined relationships, and yes, unhappiness. All I'm saying is that we can't swing the pendulum too far the other way. If we're not careful, being idle can easily become an idol in our lives. We slide down the slippery slope of wanting too much of a good thing.

Meaninglessness

Remember: It is not all that important that we succeed, but it IS supremely important that we matter! Wasting our gifts in the pursuit of pleasure is ultimately not fulfilling, and tragically, it keeps us from impacting the lives of others and the world at large. I recently stumbled across this line written by Napoleon Hill toward the end of the Great Depression: "There is something infinitely worse than being forced to work. It is being forced not to work." When we are deprived of meaningful work, either by outside economics (as in Hill's time), or by internalizing incorrect philosophies of "happiness through self indulgence" (as in our time), we become sick with a sense of emptiness no amount of entertainment can disguise. Deep down, we know we were built for something greater than ourselves. 

Fulfillment

We must work in a useful service to truly be fulfilled. True happiness comes from being in line with our God-given calling in life, living consistently with that calling every day, and serving others with every fiber of our being. As I've said elsewhere, the only way to BE happy is to GIVE happy.

Sabbatical vs. Self Indulgence

So there is a significant difference between a strategic sabbatical and self indulgence. It is this distinction that I strove to demonstrate in the book. Some things are better "caught than taught," and therefore the book attempts to demonstrate what I mean without the specific pronouncements I've made in this article (for that, I imagine, the reader is elated). However, through some of the tools and other materials soon to be available on this website, I will give you specific step-by-step instructions how to craft an effective strategic sabbatical plan for yourself, consisting of micro, mini, and macro breaks scheduled into your life with the express purpose of maximizing your contribution, and thereby (as a by-product) your happiness. This is not double talk, it's doubling down on your effectiveness. Oh yeah, and it will be a total blast! Whoever said purpose wasn't fun couldn't have said that on purpose!

So, you probably need a break. But you need it at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reasons.

Stay tuned for more!

Sincerely,

Chris Brady

 

 

 

 

 

16 Tips to Make Your Travel Truly Remarkable

I came across a statistic the other day that shocked me: only about 10% of U.S. citizens have a passport. While I know that Americans are often criticized for ignorance about the rest of the world, I didn't realize just how little we get out and about!

I know of very few things that can provide the genuine education and adventure that comes with international travel: the fascinating views, the unfamiliar smells, the undecipherable languages, the unidentifiable foods, the interesting people. It is almost a cliche to say that travel broadens one's horizons, but sometimes cliches are as true as they are literal. Myopic, insular, narrow views cannot but be blasted by the wide vistas of the rest of the world "out there."

I will not try and convince you, however, to dust off the suitcases and buy a ticket to somewhere. Instead, I would like to present to you my random list of things to know so that your international travel is the best it can be. It is my hope that in doing so I will tear down whatever walls of fear or inertia have been holding you back from experiencing more of the world.

1. Don't travel like everyone else, suit your own style. What this means is that there are many different ways to travel. There are pre-packaged trips, organized tours, mainstream routes, structured adventures, luxury or rustic, city or country, etc. The first rule of travel is to thine own self be true. Don't take someone else's trip; take your own. Know yourself, what you like, what you must have in terms of accommodations, and make it fit YOU. A trip is like an extension of your personality; make sure it's authentic.

2. Prepare without becoming rigid or locking yourself in. It's the little serendipities that make travel so rewarding. Be sure to allow enough flexibility in your time-schedule and your attitude for the unexpected to happen. Remember: you can't plan wonder, you can only discover it. Your trip should be one of discovery if it is to be anything at all.

3. Pre-learn: read up on the areas to which you will be going. Study maps for geographic reference and understanding. Put a little history into your noggin so you will have context when you get there. Also, it NEVER hurts to learn as many little bits of the language as you can; locals will always be appreciative of your efforts to speak to them in their tongue. This goes for customs, too. Learn how they bow, shake hands, and any other important little norms that can make or break your ability to connect.

4. Go off the beaten path: at least once on your trip wander off. Go somewhere you haven't planned. Take a walk, or rent some type of native transportation so you can get away from the worn grooves tourists have made through the same exact routes. In essence, you want to make your way through the lives of the locals.

5. Make meaningful contact with local people. Try to initiate conversations and make friends. With the Internet it is easier than ever to stay in touch. This prolongs your travel and continues the learning experience. It is also enriching and provides ongoing insight.

6. Travel light. Let me say this one again: TRAVEL LIGHT!!!!! You really don't need to take as much along as you might think. There is no sin in wearing a set of clothes more than once, or taking the smallest sized toiletries you can buy. Trust me, the more you have to lug that baggage into taxis, through train turnstiles, around airports, and up stairs, the more you'll come to hate your material attachment (this becomes a great metaphor for life, by the way).

7. Take a lot of pictures. When you get back, especially with today's technology, there are endless ways to continue enjoying your experiences. Digital photos are nearly free, and can be displayed and enjoyed and shared endlessly. Don't slack in this department, you really can't overdo it.

8. Keep a daily journal. This is a great way to wring the most out of your experiences, stimulate deeper thought and introspection, promote learning, and provide a record of dates, times, names, and events which may be useful later.

9. Seek first to understand. You don't know what you don't know, so act accordingly. Be inquisitive, curious, and open to learning new viewpoints. Travel as a student and not a critic, be a participant and not a judge.

10. Stay flexible. Detours, re-routings, inconveniences, and little frictions of all types will confront you as you crawl your way around unfamiliar lands. Remain easygoing and understanding. Don't demand your rights or place your own personal comfort at the top of your priority list. No matter what happens, it may be helpful to realize that even if what you are experiencing is uncomfortable, unfair, or a little bit scary, you are gaining a great story. As the saying goes, "No guts, no story."

11. Always have money. One of the best insulators against travel troubles is money. It allows you to travel lighter, knowing you can buy what you need when you need it. It can fix problems or procure accommodations when plans fail, and it can even grease palms when and where it might be needed. A little tip here and there can work wonders in many parts of the world. I would also recommend having at least some of a country's denomination on hand before you get there (otherwise you might end up in France without even enough euro to pay for the public restroom for your toddlers - true story! I won't bore you with the details). Also, have credit cards of many different types. However, credit cards aren't nearly as popular or widely accepted in most parts of the world as they are in the U.S.. In many, many places, cash is your best bet. Paying in correct change is also highly recommended, otherwise you will end up with huge pocketfuls of heavy coins (according to a cashier I met in Japan, it is a strictly American trait to pay in rounded off sums of cash instead of in correct change).

12. Keep your passport on you at all times.

13. Take time to notice things, to ponder, to think.

14. Find a way to contribute. Figure out a way to become a blessing to the people or places you go. Is there a charity underway in that area? Is there a relief organization that could use donations? Is there a youth that could use an international pen-pal? In other words, take pictures but leave a part of yourself.

15. Buy gifts. Don't forget to expand the impact of your trip by including others back home. This may be as inexpensive as an email, or may take the form of trinkets and keepsakes. However, make sure any gifts purchased are small and travel-durable. It's the thought that counts.

16. Go "Dark:" What this means is to take an intentional fast from electronics (at least for a portion or portions of your trip) of all kinds; television, video games, smart phones (the average American checks his/her phone 150 times a day!), Internet, iPads, etc. Have the guts to truly unplug. If I were a betting man, I'd wager this will be one of the biggest benefits of your trip.

I hope this ramshackle list proves helpful. However, it will be much more fun for you to construct your own list based on your own experiences. Let me know if I've missed anything!

And don't forget, it's 3 euro for the public restroom in Nice, France.

Sincerely,

Chris Brady

 

The Top 10 Reasons People Have Lost the "Art of Vacation"

One of the themes in my upcoming book, A Month of Italy, is that Americans have lost the "art of vacation." According to a recent Harris poll, only 14% of Americans take more than one week of vacation at a time, while the Center for Economic and Policy Research reported that 25% of Americans and 31% of low wage earners take no vacation at all anymore. In a 2006 survey conducted by Expedia.com it was estimated that workers would give back to their employers more than 574 million unused vacation days that year! So less people are taking vacations, while those who do are taking fewer vacations, shorter vacations, and even less vacations then they've earned!

The question begging to be asked is, why?!

In my experience working with thousands of people in business and leadership functions for almost twenty years, and supported by research from sources as diverse as "happiness experts" on one side to government agencies and pollsters on the other, there are several distinct reasons for this bizarre trend. For argument sake, and in an attempt to hopefully get you to challenge and analyze your own prevailing beliefs about vacations, sabbaticals, and leisure time in general, I hereby present my own list of reasons. If you ever get time, that is, if you're not too busy, I mean, if you can catch a break, maybe you can read through these. Or, at the worst, perhaps you can wait and go through them on your next vacation.

For what it's worth . . .

The Top 10 Reasons People Have Lost the "Art of Vacation."

10. Concern for Work Accumulation: The fear of the work that will pile up in their absence.

9. Dread of Competition: The fear that other employees will pass them up if they are gone.

8. Fear of Termination: The worry that they will lose their job or be replaced if they are gone.

7. Pride of Workmanship: The belief that nobody can do their work as well as they can.

6. Avoidance of Hassle: The perception that vacation isn't all it's cracked up to be (it's too much trouble to travel, it's a "fix" that doesn't last anyway, etc.).

5. Fear of Intimacy: A distaste for relating to a mate and/or children outside of their usual structured and frenzied lives.

4. Addicted to Consumerism - in essence, people choosing things and status over time and memories

3. Leisure Guilt: Vacations aren't seen as proper 

2. The "Blackberry Effect" - with all the technology of today, people feel as if they can't really "get away" anyway.

1. Financial Inadequacy: Money is too tight.

To varying degrees, each of these reasons may have some validity. But very clearly it is necessary for human beings to do as Stephen Covey teaches in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, and that is to "Sharpen the Saw." Legitimate or not, reasons such as those in this list should not hold us back from properly unplugging and recharging (which, electrically speaking, is impossible. But in the figurative world you know what I'm trying to say!) We are not machines. Without proper rest and restoration, we lose our edge. Taken to extremes, we can lose our grip, our health, our relationships, and our ability to perform at anywhere near our peak output.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not trying to become the poster child for self indulgence, dilatoriousness, or laziness. I believe our lives are precious and our gifts are imparted to us for a reason, and neither should be wasted in mere idleness. What I AM saying, however, is that the old jingle, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," is still true, and I like to think of the word "dull" there as the antithesis of Stephen Covey's "sharp."

So determine which of the above reasons may be holding you back from properly implementing restorative breaks into your schedule. Make a plan to sharpen your sword on a regular basis. Buy my book when it comes out and learn anew the "Art of Vacation." And stay tuned into this blog where I'll be bringing further information and insights into this neglected topic.

Stay sharp!

Sincerely,

Chris Brady