There’s a dirty little secret about doing something you love as a career… it brings with it a whole different set of pressures, because how can you live with yourself if you fail at it? It’s hard to truly switch off. You’re so scared of the whole thing falling apart that it’s very easy not to rest or recover properly. As soon as the fatigue starts to lift you’re off again…
When we founded The Mammoths back in 2012, part of the plan was to try & take the summers off. 2 of our larger events traditionally take place around Christmas & Easter so we don’t really break between September and June. With staff on holiday at different points throughout the summer, organisations traditionally don’t pick this time of year to communicate with them. It’s win-win.
By the time June comes around we’re generally pretty fried & craving a break. For the last 6 years though, within days of switching to holiday mode I’ve started worrying: “What if we lose some business next year?” “Can you really afford to take a break?” It’s always there, niggling away.
For some reason, this year, 7 years in, it didn’t niggle. I managed to have a complete break & I can’t remember starting the year feeling so fresh, inspired & ready to go again.
So, what did I do for 3 months? Well, there was a family holiday to kick things off & then I overdosed on hobbies and passion projects really; racing bikes & blogging about it for Singletrack magazine, starting a podcast, playing football every Wednesday night before wrapping things up with another family holiday. Oh & I tidied the garage as well. Sure, there’s been the odd client meeting (3 months is a long time!) but none of it’s been too taxing, all done at a leisurely pace.
We’re already nearly a month into Year 8. The nights are already drawing in but the afterglow of an amazing summer still lingers on…