How Unplugging From Work Can Skyrocket Your Career Success

Life can get pretty hectic for all of us.

Between work, family life, working out, commuting back and forth, playing with the kids…

… It can get very easy to find yourself being busy just doing stuff.

But how often do you take the time outside your daily routine to question what you’re doing.

Or how well you’re doing.

Or more importantly, why you’re doing what you’re doing.

I discovered just how crucial it was to carve out some “alone time” to really examine how my life was panning out, and to ask myself what really big goals I should start focusing on from the man next to me in the image below.

That man is Patrick Grove, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Patrick is known for being something of an IPO whiz kid. He has built FIVE multi-multi-million dollar business.

All of them went public.

One of them was sold for over $500 million dollars.

In short, the guy knows his stuff.

But what makes Patrick so remarkable is how he does it.

11 years ago in 2008, I witnessed the genesis of one of his big businesses.

It happened in our local Starbucks where I bumped up into him by chance.

I saw him scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. And he was clearly deep in thought.

I asked him what he was up to, and he said…

“I’m trying to solve this massive problem.”

“What is it?”, I asked.

“I’m trying to figure out how I can make $100 million in one year.”

Ok.

Wow.

Talk about thinking really big.

(Funny side note: At the time, I was planning to share my idea on a blog to earn some side cash as a teacher with Patrick. But after I heard what he was working on, I realized just how small I was thinking. So I thought better of it!)

Admittedly, when I heard Patrick’s absolutely outrageous goal, I was skeptical.

For most people, the very notion to creating that much wealth in their lifetime seems impossible… Let alone to do it a single year.

But for Patrick, this was a reasonable question.

He never wrote down, “Can I make $100 million in one year?”

He wrote, “HOW do I make $100 million in one year?”

To him, this was well within the realms of possibility.

He just needed to figure out how.

And in 2013, Patrick answered his question.

He acquired three small used car websites across Southeast Asia, renamed the group iCar Asia, took it public in Australia, and drove this investment to over $100 million in valuation. All in ONE year.

And it all started by unplugging himself from his usual routine, heading to our local Starbucks, and writing a single question on a piece of paper.

By giving himself the space and time (which according to Patrick, he schedules into his calendar), he allowed himself to not only dream big, but to also figure out the means to bring his dream into reality.

So, my challenge to you is this…

Get yourself out of the “do-do” trap and schedule some time for yourself.

Mark it in your calendar if you have to.

Then ask yourself what big “problem” you wish to solve, and write down your biggest, boldest and most audacious goal.

It doesn’t even have to be a wealth goal like Patrick’s.

It can be in any area of your life.

This is not just about making life a little more interesting.

It allows you to be better at what you want to do. 

Remember, Patrick Grove is the chairman of four public companies, and he still has time to step back and rethink the way he’s doing things, and set even bigger goals.

Some might say that this is the reason why he’s the chairman of four public companies.

Surely all of us can find the time to think in a different way about how to solve our own problems—massive or otherwise.

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