Summer Survival Guide for High Performers

Who Also Happen to Be Human

Congratulations. You’ve made it to June.

Your inbox is overflowing, your calendar is triple-booked, your kids are out of school and have suddenly cast you as both their chauffeur and cruise director. Meanwhile, your business goals didn’t get the memo that it’s summer.

You're under pressure to:

• Maintain quarterly performance,

• Show up for water balloon fights,

• Grill the perfect steak,

• And maybe—just maybe—fan the flame of your romantic life (or light a new match if you're single and optimistic).

Pro tip: You don’t have to crush everything at once. This isn’t a triathlon—it’s more like an obstacle course... with sunscreen in your eyes.

Your Executive Summer Playbook:

1. Schedule joy like a board meeting.
If it’s not on the calendar, it won’t happen. Look at what’s already booked. Then ask yourself: What’s missing that would truly give me joy?

When we were raising my daughter, we had an annual July 4th all-cousins gathering at our northern Michigan farm on Torch Lake. I can still see three-year-old Julia sitting in the garden, peeling peas straight from the pod. Grampa boiled the water while someone ran to harvest the corn. I wouldn’t change a thing about those magical trips.

Well—maybe one thing. I wish we had also visited some national parks or carved out more couple-only trips. As working parents, we often feel guilty planning time away without the kids. It sounds good in theory, but time and money feel tight.

But really—don’t you make the impossible happen every day at work?
Imagine what it models for your children when they see their parents prioritizing time together. They’ll feel the shift. The spark. And that matters.

As for adventure? A client of mine Zoomed in from an RV, clearly integrating work, family, and fun. It can be done.

2. Redefine success—for a season.
Sometimes, "crushing it" means keeping the kids alive, your team focused, and not snapping at your partner in the airport security line.

Ask yourself:

• What does a successful summer look like for me/us this year?

• How do I define summer fun?

• What’s a magical summer memory I want to rekindle—or create for the first time?

• How does my family define fun, and what memories do we want to make together?

3. Say yes to joy.
Ice cream with your daughter is strategy.
A long walk without your phone? Leadership development.

• What simple ways can I disconnect from work, devices, and stressors?

• What do I want more of in my life?

• How can I start living into that—this summer?

4. Reconnect.
With your people. With nature. With yourself.
It might do more for your Q3 goals than another Zoom call.

• Who are the most important people I need time with? How can I make that happen this summer?

• What does my team need for relief and support right now?

5. Laugh often.
Your beach body is fine.
Your parenting is fine.
Your leadership is (mostly) fine.
Lighten up.

Even high performers need time to float.

So take the break. Make the memory. Watch the fireflies.

The work will still be there when you get back.
But your 8-year-old’s knock-knock joke delivery won’t always be this adorably terrible.
And you and your partner? You’ll never again be this age, in this good a shape, with this one precious summer calling your name.

Happy Summer. ☀️

Thanks for reading The Inside Stuff! This post is public so feel free to share it and subscribe to my monthly post.