Holiday Travel Bonus: Bring Home a Life-Changing Insight

Holiday travel: two words that can strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned traveler. If visions of screaming kids, lost luggage, and airport delays share space in your imagination with the joys of the season, consider this: you could bring home a life-changing insight.

The process of travel offers a natural opportunity to receive fresh insight. Awareness is heightened by the steady hum of the engine and the blur of the landscape, new sights and sounds spark your imagination, and the pressure to produce is extremely low – you’re on vacation!

Yet unless you capture it, that expansive optimism has a sneaky way of vanishing once you get back into your regular routine. Follow these 5 simple steps to catch the creativity of your next big insight:

1. Realize that your fresh inspiration is real. Expect real insight when you travel – you may even start with a solution-focused question. When it comes, accept your "aha" as a valuable gift.
2. Capture that thought! Once you arrive at your destination, grab a pencil and something to write on. Capture your insights in as much detail as possible. If you think you didn’t get anything, write anyway. You may have picked up more than you realize.
3. Schedule integration time. Give that expected insight a place in your return schedule. Shun extra commitments for a day or two following your trip. Use the time to flesh out an action plan.
4. Take one solid action. No matter what the insight, it’s ever-so-tempting to put off acting on it until "later," when you think you’ll have more time. Don’t wait. Take one small step on your very first day back. Warning: don’t cancel major commitments like a job or marriage just yet!
5. Get support for your new idea. Enlist a trusted friend, find a coach, or join a support group. It’s much easier to follow through on a new program with the support and accountability of an outsider who believes you can do it.

Venturing over the river to Grandma’s can create a stress-filled nightmare or a life-changing breakthrough. The holidays come and go without your endorsement, but thankfully you do have something to say about the gifts of insight you bring home!