The 4 R's of a Successful Summer

Summer is now fully upon us. School is out and many of us have planned or will soon get around to planning summer vacations with family and friends.

The relaxed days of late June, July, and August present all of us with some special opportunities that I like to think of as summertime “r’s.”

  1. Review – Summer is a great time to take a step back and reflect upon your professional practice. Were you successful in meeting your goals? If not, what stopped you?

  2. Resolve and revise – Set new goals over the summer. (Need help with goals setting? Grab a FREE copy of my Clear Targets Action Sheet here.) Also, be sure to review your personal mission statement and core values. (You can grab a values list here.) Much can happen in a year, in terms of shaping your direction and principles. Use these months to make new commitments while also revising your existing purpose and value documents.

  3. Record (your out of office message) – In order to get away in earnest, you have to be able to “disconnect”. Set your email and voicemail to away mode, with an out of office message that lets everyone know your summer schedule and limited availability. You’re not really on vacation if others can reach you and expect a timely response.

  4. Reload – No leader can continually give meaningful guidance and direction without being a lifelong learner. Summer provides many learning opportunities as well as chances to network and learn from peers.

These are 4 that I came up with. Would love to hear from you if you have more to add!