There is no try just do

One morning as I was prepping for a TV interview, my daughter-boss Rachel came up with a comment that made me laugh. She said: “You know, dad, the pandemic has confirmed the reality that you are an introvert. You don’t mind being cooped up in the house for most of the year. You enjoy doing what you are doing-giving countless webinars. This is torture to a lot of extroverts. They want to get out of the house and be in the company of people but not you.”

I gave her a lovingly-fatherly look and said, “why would I be itching to get out of the house when everybody I love is with me in the house – do I need anything more?” She gave me that feigned look of awe and wonder, indicating that she understands flattery, and flashed me back that Korean “love sign” gesture with her two fingers.

While I am staying home and loving it, not many feel the same way. You begin to hear new terms like: “Pandemic Fatigue,” “Zoom Fatigue,” “Cabin Fever,” etc. These few days away from work celebrating the holidays offer an opportunity for rest, recovery, and recharge. And we better not blow it. Here are some practical tips I hope you find useful:

1. FOLLOW WHAT YODA SAYS.

Yoda, the legendary Jedi Master from the Star Wars series, says: “Do or do not. There is no try.” Many motivational speakers quote him, and good thing they do not begin to look like him. The practical truth here is that you need to stop saying, “I will try to take some time off and rest these holidays but start doing it immediately.”

Type A leaders stink at vacation and do not know what the word “rest and pause” mean. But you need to unplug. Pull out that lazy chair. Take a nap. Get some sleep and guess what happens when Yoda meets a famous athletic brand; the phrase would now say: “No trying, just do it!”

2. PRACTICE JOMO.

“FOMO” means “Fear of Missing Out.” A friend posts a photo of lasagna or a vacation spot on IG, and the YOLO generation of the pre-COVID days says: “I want that too, and I do not want to miss out on it.” But now that restaurants are mostly closed and travel restricted, the whole scenario changes. “JOMO” means the “Joy of Missing Out.”

Rather than being on the move and having to be restless for the longest time, perhaps you may intentionally enjoy the stillness and quiet of the home. There is joy in missing out on those parties, events, and endless company activities, and enjoy the blessings of being at home in the company of your loved ones.

3. RESET YOUR SMARTPHONES.

One of the smartest things to do is to allow your phone to be less smart than you. Those predictive spellings have a mind of their own. I remember a friend saying, “I thought I sent a text to a friend saying, “I want to tell you...” but later on, to my horror, my phone says, “I want to kill you.” Now, how can you be smarter than your serial-killer phone?

Make it less smart by messing up its settings. Turn off all those app notifications, news feeds. There was a time when you can press a button in your hotel room, and it registers a “Do not disturb sign.” Do you know that you can put up a “Do not disturb button” on your phone while you have an honest-to-goodness rest? That is, if you do not want to turn it off or ditch your phone? Let me remind you that you are way smarter than your phone.

4. DO WHAT YOU LOVE DOING UNRELATED TO YOUR REGULAR WORK.

You might suffer withdrawal symptoms; you will be tempted to go back to work. And if you do, you might miss out on taking this holiday break to rest and recuperate. So why not do something that fuels you? Read, write, do some gardening. Develop a new routine for fitness. Join your small groups if you have one in church and do some teaching online?

Switch goals. Whereas you and I, as leaders, have been programmed to accomplish goals and solve problems, we can use the time available to switch goals that can fuel us to accomplish something meaningful and therapeutic. Rest and recover. What you are doing is that you are prepping yourself for the challenges as well as opportunities the New Year has to offer. So you better be fit for the job.

(Connect with Francis Kong at www.facebook.com/franciskong2. Or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 DZFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch,’ the classical music station.)