I just got back from vacation in Mexico the other day and it was awesome.

Of course, things didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped, but we traded up our snowy, frigid, weather for sunshine and beaches.

The rest was great. I had just finished up an intense season of life, finishing graduate school, moving, some job changes and Mexico was at the finish line.

Rest is vital for working with youth. There is emotional burn out, frustrations with youth, families, systems and one can get tired very quickly.

For this vacation, my goal was a simple one, chill out. I crushed it. I read some great books, got refreshed,  grew closer to my wife and had some adventures.

Heading to Mexico may be a stretch for you right now, but finding rest isn’t. You might just have to fight for it.

Talking with my friend yesterday, we started mentioning these benchmark tasks we do to stay refreshed.  The benchmark tasks are something you do to fill up your bucket, find rest, get refreshed and find some energy to keep moving forward. The timeline for these tasks can vary, but we like to have them be daily, weekly, quarterly and yearly.

What is something you need to do everyday that will allow you to be happier, do more meaningful work and find your passion?

In the next three months, what is something you can do just for yourself?

How do you get refreshed? What some things you have learned about yourself that allow you to get re-energized to jump back into the lives of youth better? What fills your bucket to be able to help others fill their own?

Maybe, for the first time in a long while, you can take a moment, a make a list of things to do today and this week to fill your own bucket back up and find some R&R.