Girls Trip.
Eight days. More than 40 years of friendship.
Recently, I spent eight days at the beach with women I’ve called friends for more than four decades.
Think about that for a minute. Forty-plus years.
We’ve known each other through different careers, relationships, families, moves, successes, disappointments, celebrations, and more life changes than any of us could possibly count.
And yet, when we get together, something happens.
We pick right back up.
There were long days at the beach, cocktails, late nights, a ridiculous amount of laughter, a few more wrinkles than when we first met—and definitely a LOT more stories.
But there was also something else.
I unplugged.
And I was reminded how important that is.
When Did “Busy” Become a Badge of Honor?
Like many professionals and business owners, I’m used to moving.
There is always another email to answer, presentation to prepare, client to coach, call to return, social media post to create, or idea bouncing around in my head.
Even when we technically aren’t working, how often are we still working?
- We check email while drinking our morning beverage.
- We answer a text from a client while sitting by the pool.
- We tell ourselves, “I’m just going to take care of this one thing.”
And suddenly, work has quietly joined us on vacation.
Technology has made it incredibly easy to work from anywhere. The problem is—it has also made it incredibly difficult to stop working anywhere.
You Can’t Recharge If You Never Unplug
We talk a lot about charging our devices. When our phone hits 10%, we immediately start looking for a charger. But when we are running at 10%, what do we do?
We keep going.
We push through.
We add more caffeine.
We convince ourselves we’ll slow down when things settle down.
Here’s the problem: Things rarely settle down on their own.
We have to intentionally create the space.
That’s what these eight days gave me.
Time to laugh without watching the clock.
Time to sit on the beach without thinking about the next item on my calendar.
Time to reconnect with people who knew me long before the titles, credentials, business, and professional accomplishments.
And that kind of time fills a bucket that work simply can’t.
Sometimes You Need People Who Knew You “Before”
There is something wonderfully grounding about lifelong friends. These women knew earlier versions of me.
They knew me before Communicate With Influence. Before speaking stages and coaching clients. Before many of the roles that define my professional life today.
And after 40+ years, they know the current version too. That perspective matters.
Because our careers are an important part of who we are—but they aren’t all of who we are.
Sometimes we need to step away from the professional version of ourselves and simply be the friend sitting on the beach, laughing about something that happened 30 years ago.
No agenda. No deliverables. No strategy. Just connection.
Stepping Away Can Actually Make You Better at Your Work
There’s an irony in taking time away from work.
We sometimes worry that stepping away will cause us to fall behind. But I believe the opposite can happen.
When we allow ourselves to disconnect, we create room to think again. We return with more energy, more creativity, more patience, and often a clearer perspective about what actually deserves our attention.
Rest isn’t the opposite of productivity. It supports it.
And “me time” doesn’t have to mean an eight-day beach trip.
It might be an afternoon on your bike.
A hike.
Dinner with friends.
Reading a book without checking your phone.
A weekend when you leave the laptop closed.
The activity matters far less than the intention: Give yourself permission to be unavailable.
Same Girls. New Stories.
After more than 40 years, our lives look very different than they did when our friendship began.
We have changed. Life has changed. Our responsibilities have certainly changed.
But eight days together, experiencing sunrises and sunsets, reminded me that some of the most important things haven’t.
Friendship. Laughter. Connection. Shared history. And making time for the people—and the experiences—that make life bigger than our work.
Yes, I came home to emails.
Yes, my to-do list was waiting for me.
And yes, there was some serious catching up to do.
But work waited.
Those eight days mattered more.
So here’s my challenge to you:
- Look at your calendar.
- Not for your next meeting.
- Not for your next deadline.
- Look for you.
If you’re not somewhere on that calendar, maybe it’s time to put yourself back on it.
Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do is close the laptop, put down the phone, find your people… and go make some new stories.
If you are ready to use speaking as a growth strategy for your consulting business, schedule a speaker coaching call today. Let’s turn your expertise into a message that connects, converts, and creates new opportunities.
Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.
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In case you missed it.
Watch the replay, “Leading With Presence: Ways to Influence Every Room You Enter.