It's Time To Come Up For Air

Photo via Flickr

Photo via Flickr

We can get so wrapped up in our work, our passions consume us, that we forget to stop and take a look around. We forget that there is more to life than what we love doing.

Come up for air. Breathe a little. Take a break from driving at your passions, building success, and looking towards making your dreams a reality.

As counter intuitive as this might sound, it's actually a great way to get ahead, to make progress.

Taking breaks can be extremely helpful for creativity and inspiration.

Looking around will give you the opportunity to change as you learn more about the people around you and how you are providing a service to them.

And if you're looking to build a business, product, or service, looking around can help you to really understand what you offer in the context of the world around you. Are you offering something that people will actually want or need? What about five years from now?

I've found a lot of inspiration in the solitude of the shower. Ideas fly fast and furiously, and I can't help but get out feeling clean and inspired. One of the consistent ways of finding passions, is to spend some time with yourself, to listen to what goes on inside.

But I've also had some of the great inspiration from discussion with others. Or through watching movies and videos that weren't where I would expect to find a connection. Or by reading books that don't really seem related to what I'm working on.

We can gain so much from diving in and focusing on what we are trying to achieve. In fact, it's necessary. But it's nothing when not in the context of the greater world around us.

When do you know it's time to take a break and look at the big picture?

- Ryan