Make money by taking a vacation

I don't think I've ever had a really good idea while sitting behind a desk.

That's true even when that desk is in my motorhome.

Good ideas come when my mind is free—hiking in the mountains, running on the beach, or going fishing are just some of my creative places.

When I'm sitting at my desk, there are too many things that need to be done and need my attention.

Taking a vacation is one of the best ways to free your mind and be creative. And when you're creative, you can have ideas that will make you money.

A vacation to be creative doesn't have to be two weeks in the Caribbean. It can be one day hiking in the mountains or going fishing. Getting away from your home and office can be a vacation.

Consider this example

Lin-Manuel Miranda worked hard for seven years to bring his first musical In the Heights, to the Broadway stage. Then he finally took time for a vacation.

He took a vacation to Mexico. He packed a little light reading for the beach. The book he packed was Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow. It was an exhaustive biography of a mostly forgotten founding father. It was a book that had nothing to do with work.

He said, "As soon as my brain got a moment's rest, Hamilton walked into it. It's no accident that the best idea I've ever had in my life (maybe the best one I'll ever have in my life) came to me on vacation."

The play, Hamilton went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and eleven Tony Awards. It would have never happened if he hadn't taken that vacation.

Here's another example

Almost 13 years ago, I wrote my first book while I was in Costa Rica. That book is still selling and making me money today. I would never have taken the time to write a book if I had spent the time sitting behind a desk.

You may think you don't have time to take a vacation, but how about going on a hike, writing in your journal, or taking a mini-vacation. These are all ways to free your mind and let it be creative.

Consider these comments

Every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage, wrote Napoleon Hill in the granddaddy of all self-improvement books, Think and Grow Rich.

Mark Cuban: "In his 2011 book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, wrote: "It doesn't matter how many times you strikeout. In business, to be a success, you only have to be right once. One single time and you are set for life. That's the beauty of the business world."

That one great idea is more likely to come when you're on vacation than it is when you're sitting behind a desk.

The picture at the top of this article doesn't have much to do with the topic of this article, except it's a picture I shot this morning of a coffee plant here in Costa Rica that's beside my balcony. I could reach out and pick the coffee beans, but they're green and won't be cherry red and ripe until Nov. or Dec.

Bottom line: Being more or less locked down during this pandemic is not exactly a vacation, but it is a time that is different from our normal routine. Take the time to go for a walk (staying six feet away from everybody), free your mind, and let the creative ideas come flowing in.