Over the past few weeks I’ve been enjoying going to the ocean and playing at the beach. Every 2 years pink salmon spawn going from the ocean back to the same river they were born. (I know, nature is just so darn perfect isn’t it?) Very predictable, they KNOW their path.

I’m right in the midst of putting together a year long program that is very INTENSE, so if I had my way I would work all day and night, but my husband has been saving me! Almost every other night we have been going to fish, since the “humpy” season will end here soon. The salt air, the sea and time away from creation gives my brain a rest and I feel completely relaxed and refreshed by the time I leave.

During these little trips I’ve been pretty much fishing with the boys, I’ve never seen so many boys (grown men) so focused on one thing before. It really is quite cute!

Of course the “girly-girl” comes out in me where I get bored from fishing and start looking for sea glass, cool rocks and the ultimate, perfect sea-shell. I enjoy making jewelry out of these little treasures during the winter time, and this winter will be perfect for that since Seattle lives up to the rainy-days it’s known for. I love all of the treasures that the sea has to offer. Even drift wood! I decorate with it too! Last weekend I made little drift wood sail boats, they are adorable!

NEEDLESS TO SAY, that I can’t wait for our vacation that we’ve decided to spend travelling up and down the coast of Washington, Oregon and California.

I know you are thinking to yourself, okay this is all wonderful and all, it’s lovely catching up on Deb’s downtime, but what does this have to do with my business? Everything!

Tide tables are very predictable and determined by the moon. This ebb and flow of the sea can be determined to the MINUTE. Think about that for a moment, it’s pretty miraculous.

My questions for you are these:

Wouldn’t it be much better for YOU to determine the ebb and flow within your business versus being surprised and reactive when things are crazy busy, or your cash flow is slow?

And, what if you looked at the slower times, or down times, in your business as a gift, versus a negative?

What if taking “a break” could increase your creativity and cash flow?

When I’m at the beach and its high tide, the water comes all the way up to logs. I can barely even see the beach, so it’s not so good for discovering seashells but, when the tide goes out I discover all of these pretty little treasures that I couldn’t see before.

So why don’t we do the same thing in your business?

Plan and leverage your personal ebb and flow – up and downs within your business. Be predictable, know your path. Be proactive instead of reactive. KNOW your own “tide table” within your business.

All of my customers and I plan for the upcoming year’s calendar in November the year prior. There are just natural times of the year that you really want to amp up your business promote and market launches, and other times you just know that are going to be pretty slow.

January and August are pretty slow for us in the coaching biz. BUT, instead of taking off during that time I usually am busting my buns to create new products and services. As soon as everyone else comes back from vacation and are busy getting their kids in school, is when we actually go on vacation.

The reason I do this, is because ONE I know there won’t be as many people wherever we go on vacation and TWO when I come back from vacation I know that most of my stuff will be complete and I will be able to use my new found energy from my time off to connect with my clients on a whole new level.

When I go on vacation, I don’t worry about a thing. NOTHING! I don’t check my emails and barely use my phone. I am totally immersed into our vacation, spending time with my hubby enjoying the sites and adventures we are on.

During this time something magical happens, it’s like when the tide goes out and I discover all those pretty little sea treasures at the beach, the same thing happens in my business. All of a sudden, my creative juices start flowing and my energy is re-ignited. Some of my best ideas come from when I am on vacation. My ideas ARE my sea treasures!

I teach my clients how to take off 145 days a year. You can start leading towards this by working Mon-Thurs and taking 2, 10 day vacations, plus a few long weekends off a year.

Downtime is needed in your business, just as much as busy and abundant times.

So here are a couple tips for you.

Decide which times are slow in your business. Use this time to create, get ahead, re-organize or to take some time off and just relax.

Plan your days off ahead of time: YES, even if you don’t know what you are going to do during that time, mark your calendar for time off in advance. (WAY in advance – YES, November in 2013 is a good time to plan your entire calendar year for 2014!)

During these downtimes, plan to repurpose or re-launch items you already have done and totally automate it so you can bring in money while you are resting.

Be predictable! Know your path by having your business system set for the year.

Create your own time table for your business and for YOU!

I used to work so much that I would go to bed at 10pm sleep for 2 hours and then get up in the middle of the night and work all night long, go back to sleep for an hour and then get up at 6am and start my work day. I can’t even think of working that way anymore. I like my 8 hours of sleep!

Working your business this way is NOT healthy. Not spending time to take care of you or your family because of your business is not healthy either. When you take time off you show up more fully, more energized to give your clients what they need. Holding the empowered space for your customers to step into takes a lot of energy.

If you are not making the money that you desire, but you are crazy busy all the time it means to me some pure focus, systems and a TEAM need to be implemented.

This is a tough concept to swallow when you are just at that breaking point of making a profit, or just starting, but there are ways to implement all of these in some small way today. You don’t have to wait until you make gobs of money in order to start thinking and acting like a millionaire. Systems and planning, equal freedom… financial freedom, not to mention a piece of mind.

REMEMBER, YOU need a break, your clients need breaks and even your TEAM needs a break.

I challenge you to take a break and recharge, update outdated systems in your business, or even go into a creation, hibernation mode for a couple of weeks.

Learn to find the treasures within your business when your “business tide” ebbs.

I can’t wait to hear what you implement in your schedule to take a break and how you plan in advance for slow times. We’d love to hear about all the ways you automate income while you are on vacation, too!