I’ve no idea whether or not this phrase is a thing, but it sprung to mind last week when I saw in the news that Elon Musk had declared you couldn’t ‘change the world on 40 hours a week’ and that a more revolutionary level was more in the region of 80 to 100 hours.

I confess to being queen of the ‘go hard or go home’ crew too and my friends will know that I’m not averse to a military or sporting analogy as part of my tough love motivational armoury.

But when I read this, despite the prevailing belief that success is founded upon working yourself into the ground (Elon’s not the only one who says things like this after all), I visibly sagged.

Because, full disclosure: quite frankly, I’m knackered. Running your own business is a great privilege and one that, despite the colossal effort required daily, I relish. But recently I realised that in the 15 months since I started focusing my mind properly on how to bring rainchq to life, I have taken no more than a week off in total.

The good thing about this of course is that (cliché cliché) when you love what you’re doing, you really don’t mind. But you don’t need to be a business coach to realise that if you’re hoping to build a brand with longevity, ‘no days off’ is completely unsustainable.

Yet depending on your school of thought, this rhetoric is so seductive. But if like me, you’re someone who is constantly striving and pushing for bigger and bigger goals, when do you ever recharge your brain? It’s a bit like carrying around a water bottle that you never fully finish, but every time you drink a bit, you top it up with fresh water, thinking smugly: yay, I’m going to be well hydrated today. But all you end up doing is mixing the murky old water with fresh new water with no way of separating them out. So in theory, yes, tick for hydration, but how fresh is the source?

I feel like it’s the same with any big project in business or in life – sometimes you need to unplug entirely and purposefully to give yourself an opportunity to reboot and unlock a new flow of ideas. Not hit a brick wall and slide down it comedy style. But actively slow down and seek out inspiration from a different source, go outside, get some fresh air, visit a gallery, go to the movies, do something completely unrelated to the project in question to revitalise yourself and give you a fresh eye when you return.

Who wants to drink murky water after all?

So I’m now on a countdown to the most highly anticipated Christmas holiday ever. If you’re following me on instagram you’ll see where and what I’m up to over there on my personal page. But if not, just know it will involve bottomless rum punches and a spot on my favourite beach in the world!