Clay Nelson, Life Balance: The Lazy Days of Summer

We all have days when we 'don't wanna,' but we can make the choice to keep going

By Clay Nelson, Life Balance | Published on 07.06.2009

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Summertime for most children brings with it a carefree feeling. They sleep in, stay up late, drip ice cream down the fronts of their shirts, play on the beach and soak up the sun — and most of us adults long for that carefree break, too. However, as adults we have commitments to live up to, bills to pay and jobs to do. We can’t take a two-month break, and given the current job climate, a lot of people are concerned about taking even a one-week break and coming back to no job, so they choose not to leave at all.

Clay Nelson
Clay Nelson

Gone are our childhood “lazy days of summer,” but that doesn’t mean we don’t still think about them and wish for just one more week of vacation, or one extra day at the end of an already long weekend to sleep in. (How many of you felt this way the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend?)

It happens all the time; I’ve done it, too. We check out mentally and don’t want to talk to anyone at work or motivate anyone. We don’t want to go to the grocery store or do anyone’s laundry. We just want to go back to the beach and stay there. It is what I call the “I don’t wannas”; we are back at work and living our normal daily lives physically, but our heads are in an entirely different place.

How can we get going when we “don’t wanna,” when the lazy days of summer have us longing for our favorite vacation spot or simply an afternoon to sleep in the hammock?

First, regularly take time for you. You don’t need an official vacation to charge your mental and physical batteries. Take time for you on a regular basis, which doesn’t have to cost a dime, require a travel agent or take a great deal of time. Go to the gym, settle in the hammock with a good book, do what you love to do and give yourself permission to enjoy the summer; just don’t allow the season to take you over. If you work-work-work without taking opportunities to recharge your energy and passion, the “I don’t wannas” are more likely to take hold, and if you allow yourself to wallow in the summer slows too long, you will find yourself out of integrity with your commitments.

Second, to stay focused and committed, it helps to have a written plan. Keeping a written plan visible and active will help keep you present to your goals, your commitments and what you need to do and when in order to be your word and get what you say you want. Without a written plan, the “I don’t wannas” will take you over, stopping you cold and putting you behind the eight-ball when the world takes off again.

Third, ask for help and accountability. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: If we could get to where we are going by ourselves, we would be there already. We all need help and accountability getting to where we are going. Circumstances and the “I don’t wannas” are always going to creep into our lives, and very often we need others willing to point out those stops and hold us accountable for breaking through them.

Fourth, be unstoppable and committed to moving forward no matter what obstacles or opposition come your way. It is your passion and commitment that keep you moving forward. Without the “want to,” no amount of poking and prodding will get or keep you moving. You’ve got to really want whatever it is you want in order to get it.

If you have already been caught up in the lazy days of summer, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, get present to what you want, brush the dust off of your plan, ask for help and get moving. We all have days when we “don’t wanna,” and what separates those who move forward anyway from those who don’t is that they make the choice to play full-out no matter what.

Getting going when you don’t want to is all about recognizing that you are stopped and making the choice to play, making the choice to have fun, making the choice to be your word and asking for help when your brain is stopping you.

You can’t always lay around on the beach or your preferred place to get away from it all, but you can have a clear mind and a “go get ‘em” attitude whenever you choose.

You can complain about the life you have or create the life you love. Choose!

— Santa Barbara resident Clay Nelson founded Clay Nelson Life Balance™ to provide businesses and individuals with what may be missing in their lives: purpose, personal and business planning, fun, effective delegation through team management, and accountability. Click here to download Clay’s complimentary e-book, The Balanced Life — How to Put Fun, Family and Financial Freedom into Your Business and Personal Life. Click here to subscribe to the free podcast of The Clay Nelson Life Balance™ Hour.

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» rian on 07.08.09 @ 08:38 PM

I found an interesting article about this.
Check this out:
http://breaking-news247.blogspot.com


» xs on 07.13.09 @ 03:47 AM

Clay, it is mid-winter here in Melbourne, Australia. Cold, wet & dark. It would be easy to slip into “don’t wanna” mode but I am managing not to thanks to some of your work. Back in November 08 I attended a 1.5h Life Balance session of yours in Las Vegas and purchased some CD sets. Well, over 1/2 a year later, some niggling post-LV turbulance in my mind had me stripping the celophane from those box sets. A purpose, plan, & a commitment to (re-)commitment is underway. So thank you. And maybe one day in the future I will get over there for a Santa Barbara CN Session. All the best to you and your SB readers.


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