I recently went on vacation for a week, to Morocco and saw the Sahara desert, rode camels, Marrakech, Casablanca and everything. I had a great time.

One thing that I didn’t expect though, especially on the Sahara trip

My girlfriend and I had to travel light and we went straight from the airport to bed and got picked up at 7am.

We didn’t expect to be traveling so long for 3 whole days – totally unprepared LOL

We had to eat from fuel garages, pringles, chocolate, donuts.

When we stopped for dinner, it was rough and ready and there was no choice, Tagine or nothing, and she didn’t like it.

After 3 days of this, plus traveling in a small tour bus.

The bad food had us (certainly me) feeling depressed

When we got back to Marrakech, it didn’t get much better.

For breakfast, we were given cake, coffee, pancakes and bread.

Piles of carbs and sugar.

I haven’t eaten like that in years.

Not working, no gym, drinking alcohol then had my head in a blender by the end of the week.

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Oftentimes we think a good break from everything we do is going to be just what we need

This trip gave me the opposite effect.

To make things worse, I got home and had 2 days in work, which of course were hectic while I caught up, then I had a wedding to attend Thursday and Friday which involved more alcohol for 2 days.

I rolled into this week begging for my good habits back, and only now on Wednesday can I say I am back to normal.

It got me thinking…

The good habits you cultivate, sometimes you disdain. I HAVE to go to the gym today. I HAVE to take these calls. Damn ANOTHER healthy meal I would love a greasy take-away.

While these things are fine in moderation, they really wreak havoc with your body, and as I discovered, your mind, when taken to excess.

No shit, Sherlock, right?

I know these are all true, bad food is bad, alcohol is poison, the gym makes you feel good.

But damn its on thing to know it – and another to experience it in your mind and body.

Over the past 7 years I gradually introduced a lot of good habits one by one into my life, but not all at once.

During the past 2 weeks I took them all away at the same time.

I wasn’t expecting such a crash…

I’ve probably now said this a few times in my newsletters but when I was 18-22 I was overweight, partying all the time, drinking and taking drugs on the weekends.

Suddenly in January 2015 when I was 23 I started to hit the gym, this time I stuck with it after many failed attempts.

Then came eating better, sleeping better, avoiding the unhealthy lifestyle, emigrating to Canada and growing up and becoming independent, dating, starting a business.

Then phase 2 of the business habits, reading books, learning as much as I could, public speaking (even a TV appearance) and learning the ins and outs of online business

Then phase 3 was chasing my true potential, up at 6am, habit tracking, nutrition plans, supplements, time blocking, meditation.

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The things we sometimes feel like we’re forced to do, if we shift our mindset to what we GET to do – it becomes a lot easier to do hard things.

Work nourishes noble minds – Seneca

The big problem with all of us is we all spend our lives busy and yearning for being hassle-free. I would rather be on a beach, sipping cocktails and enjoying the sun.

What about the hangover, the sunburn, the flies and the humidity?

This is not to put a negative spin on everything…

But yearning for another place, another phase or another thing in our lives is what causes most of our unhappiness.

When you actually go and get to experience it, in moderation, it is great.

But wouldn’t you miss your family after a while? Of course you could bring close family but ALL of your family couldn’t up sticks to live on a beach and never work again.

Work gives life purpose and meaning. Sure, it’s hard as F**k. Especially entrepreneurship. But it’s your choice, and the grass is not always greener on the other side.

So today, think about what you GET to do instead of what you HAVE to do.

Be present and enjoy your work today, the weekends just 2 days away but getting back at it on Monday’s just 4 days away too.

Be happy in the struggle, it’s what makes everything worth it when you achieve your goals.

But remember, when you achieve your goals, new ones will already have appeared on the horizon.

Enjoy, and get going again.

Work nourishes the mind. Work gives you purpose. And the only way to solve your problems is to work on them.

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Long story short, I had a vacation and I’m happy to be back 😆