Why are Holidays Important for the Health & Success of Top Entrepreneurs?

Why are holidays important for health?

Taking regular holidays from work could prolong life – a 40-year study published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging has proven.

The study was called the “Helsinki Businessmen Study” and it involved 1222 middle-aged male executives.

The main finding was that the longer the holiday time, the longer the life.
Shorter vacations were associated with excess deaths. Men who took three weeks or less annual vacation had a 37 percent greater chance of dying from 1974 to 2004 than those who took more than three weeks.

The research was presented at the European Society of Cardiology, and will soon be published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health, and Aging.

So holidays are important for health as they could extend life.

Past research demonstrates that other benefits of holidays include decreased blood pressure, reduced overall risk of heart disease, and easing of depression, stress relief, better quality sleep, and a boost in immunity and optimism.

Overworking and not taking a holiday can have a counteractive effect. A study suggests that people who work for more than 55 hours per week are 13% more likely to have a heart attack and 33% more likely to have a stroke than those who work between 35 and 40 hours per week.

Proof that top entrepreneurs do prioritize health as NUMBER 1

They prioritize sleep and exercise above business meetings

Tim Ferris
Tim Ferris prioritizes sleep and exercise over early morning meetings and social events. He realizes his sleep is more valuable to him in the long run.

Tim’s blog

If I sleep poorly and have an early morning meeting, I’ll cancel the meeting last minute if needed and catch up on sleep. If I’ve missed a workout and have a con-call coming up in 30 minutes? Same. Late-night birthday party with a close friend? Not unless I can sleep in the next morning. In practice, strictly making health #1 has real social and business ramifications. That’s a price I’ve realized I MUST be fine paying, or I could lose weeks or months to sickness or fatigue.

They take time to recharge at weekend & prioritize holidays

Gary Vaynerchuck
Gary takes some time out on weekends and takes substantial time out for holidays in the year.

Gary’s Youtube channel

There is not a lot of content coming from me at the weekends. I take 4/5/6/7 weeks of vacation a year.

If they did not prioritize it in the past, it was only because they were not aware yet of its importance

Gary did not always prioritize holiday time, or make any time for it at all! But if he could go back to the early ”20s, he makes clear he would have done differently.

Gary’s Youtube channel

If I could go back, I’d be working out and eating the way I’m doing it now all the way back since then.

Why holidays are important for success

It is an important time for discovery and ideas

Steven Rosenbaum
Forbes article

Vacation can be the magic inspirational time to see around corners, explore new ideas, and discover new things. A good vacation shouldn’t be about “checking out” but rather about “checking in” and discovering new things that can help you build new things

It is necessary to “shake things up” & may inspire a new direction

Richard Branson
Huffington Post

Maintaining focus on having fun isn’t just about rest and recuperation: When you go on vacation, your routine is interrupted; the places you go and the new people you meet can inspire you in unexpected ways. As an entrepreneur or business leader, if you didn’t come back from your vacation with some ideas about how to shake things up, it’s time to consider making some changes.

It allows you to jump outside your business & to see the bigger picture

Jim Moffatt
Forbes

A true leader steps back, trusts his or her people, and allows them to succeed,” he wrote earlier this year. “By taking a break from the day-to-day operations, not only was I spending some much-needed time with my family, but also I was able to focus on the bigger picture of where we were and where our business was heading

If you really unplug, you will start thinking about the long term, strategic issues, and what we have to do to be successful over the 9-to-24-month period, and that is essential

To read more about the many benefits of traveling, check out this article.

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