Over many years, I’ve written a lot about what I do when I’m having a holiday. Today I’m going to do something different: I’d like to write about what I don’t do when I’m enjoying an overseas holiday. 😉
- I don’t look at my phone very often.
When I’m on holiday, I only check my phone once a day, e.g., after dinner. As to the rest of the day, I simply do everything else, i.e., exploring places of interest, hanging out with people that I care about, eating delicious food, etc.
This habit is so freeing and liberating. I don’t have to worry about what’s new on social media or which email I should respond to right now. Now I deserve more free time to enjoy life because I worked so hard when I was in my 20s and 30s.
Life has different stages, so I have shifted identity for a few times:
- When I was younger, I was working extremely hard to build my business.
- But now it’s time to have more fun – my current focus is health and happiness. That’s why I have at least one overseas holiday every year. 😊
- I don’t think about money frequently.
In fact, I allocate 10% of my income to my play account every year, so I don’t need to think about money in this regard anymore. In other words, 10% of my annual income is for my holiday – I can spend this money without feeling guilty. As a result, I don’t need to think about money when I’m enjoying a holiday.
I worked a lot and was very future-focused when I was younger. Nowadays, I’ve changed my mindset and don’t need to have many entrepreneurial thoughts often anymore because I’m in my 40s already.
- I don’t set goals anymore.
While I’m having an overseas holiday, I try nice food and drinks & visit places of interest with my family or friends. I also read at least one chapter of a book every day, but I don’t have any goal in mind. These are simply what I do because it’s become an identity thing. I eat healthy food and go to the gym. None of these has anything to do with a particular goal.
In my opinion, goals are weaker than identity as goals are future-focused rather than present-focused. Yes, goals were important when I was younger because I had to be more future-focused when I was in my 20s and 30s. However, these days I must be present-focused because I’m at a new stage in my life now.
“At some point in your life, you just have to switch from hustling all day long to living an enjoyable life, no matter you made it or not. Let’s respect the natural process of life which consists of different stages.”
