I don’t know if you have experienced this or not, but recently everything I have been doing has felt like really hard work. Although I felt satisfied in one sense, in another I felt completely overwhelmed and noticed others around me experiencing those same feelings.

So, I decided to break the cycle and take four weeks off to travel Europe, something I have never done before for that length of time, in fact I am writing this message from the foyer of my hotel in Athens.

For the first week and a half I was still anxious, looking for things to do and feeling like I needed to be involved and I admit it was hard to relax. But then I realised, things were out of my control and it was time to chill out and use this time for what it was intended for, to break the cycle.

The thing we realise though, is that simply taking a break will not change anything for too long, it is about reflecting on the things that must change in our actions, behaviours and thinking when we return to normal life. So, that is what I am doing.

Here are some of the questions I am asking myself:

• What is it that I really love doing?
• Why don’t I spend more time on those things?
• What can I stop doing?
• What are the things that I do because I feel I have to?
• What am I in control of and what are the things that are out of my control?
• Who is important to me and why don’t I make more time for them?
• What will I really commit to changing when I return?

Just going through the exercise of having to answer these questions honestly has made me immediately think differently because it removes the unnecessary to let the necessary shine through.

Now I know that this is my journey, and we all have different experiences, but unless we Stop, Evaluate and Reset then nothing different will happen, because nothing changes unless we change it!

Just something to think about if you are feeling overwhelmed.

Des Penny - Co-CEO
Proteus Leadership