A little vacation...to let go

Tomorrow my family and I are heading down to Captiva Island for a ten day vacation...a much needed break at this stage of the game. It's been a pretty long winter and I'm ready for a little sun and some time to chill. I know my wife and kids are really looking forward to having my fullest attention, as I've been working pretty long hours lately with the spring busy season just around the corner. My body could use the rest as well. The last few weeks have been grueling with the added mileage I've been putting down. I'm really stoked about getting away.

I did have a message I'd like to share, though, before I get back to packing for our early morning departure. The past couple of days I've had a ton of stuff to do in order to be able to get away and not be distracted by loose ends while I'm down in Florida. Lots of details need attention before I bail out for ten days...paying people, paying suppliers, scheduling projects, estimating for material lists, sales follow through stuff, etc...a long, long list of pretty important stuff.

At about 6:30 tonight, as I'm still pushing through my list of work details, trying to make certain I don't leave ANYTHING left to chance, I realized something. I can not take this stuff so damn seriously all the time. We all need to take our work seriously, please don't misunderstand. I take my customers and their well-being as seriously as anybody. But, I just can't hold on to this stuff so damn tight. My expectations are so high, I expect every job to be so damn perfect, there's no way I could ever be satisfied with the outcome...because no job is ever going to come out perfect. I'll never walk away with a perfect record in terms of how my customers perceive me. I'm way too obsessed with the outcomes. I think I just need to make sure my crews know what's expected, make sure they have everything they need(from me on my end), and just let it happen. On the customer side, I need to make sure they understand what we interpreted their needs as being, what our solution is going to look like, and make sure they know that it's a major construction process and to expect things to stay fluid...there's no perfect process that will work on every project. If I'm able to create the expectation up front that we may run into challenges on the job, then I'll have less pressure to make sure everything goes perfectly on every job. I mean, I can only do what I can do. This isn't life or death here. Yes, it's important, and I'm going to give it my best. But, I can no longer worry about whether everything goes perfect and that every single customer loves me. Follow up, yes. Be a customer punching bag...no.

And in the end, the reason I'm doing all of this--the working ridiculous hours, knocking on doors(which isn't the most glamorous gig in the world), the huge risks I've made financially, the early morning runs(so I can work 12 hours and still get home at a decent hour), etc, it's all for my family...so they can have the best life has to offer. I want my life to serve as an example, not a warning. If I can't step away from my business and lock in 100% on my family, then I will end up a warning. It's the "richest man in the graveyard" story. No way. I don't care if it's at the end of the workday on Friday or on a trip to Captiva for two weeks, we've got to be able to set the shit aside and enjoy ourselves, enjoy our families, enjoy our friends. That's what this trip is going to be about.

I guess it's about faith, in the end. I just need to have faith that things are going to work out. The crews will do their best work, the customers will fulfill their end of the deal, the work will continue to flow, and people will continue to trust my team with their projects. Holding on too tight may just retard the flow of abundance, and hell, I might be guilty of this lately. Not any longer. I'm just going to give it my all, but that will have to be good enough. Just going to let it go. And let the chips fall where they may.

Take care, have a great night.

Flip the switch