I just returned from two back-to-back trips:
✔️ Co-leading our Fit Body Mastermind Workshop in Boston
✔️ Then a 7-day adventure to the Azores in Portugal
There were plenty of highlight-reel moments—those wins we love to celebrate. But I want to pull back the curtain and share the “unglamorous” part of it that no one shares on Instagram.
- No gym
- Red-eye flights
- Spotty internet
- A cold, damp Airbnb
- Stray cats galore
- Relentless rain
Sounds glamorous, right?
But here’s the leadership truth:
Travel like this forces you to lead yourself.
It removes comfort.
It demands adaptability.
It trains resilience.
That’s the lesson.
Leadership isn’t forged in the perfect environment. It’s sharpened in the mess.
In the unpredictable.
In the uncomfortable.
And just like business, if you’re only “in it” when conditions are ideal, you’ll break under pressure.
So I use travel as a tool.
Not for rest.
For resilience.
As Anthony Bourdain once said:
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
So here’s your leadership lesson and challenge today:
Where can you stretch yourself this week?
That discomfort you’re avoiding.
That’s where the growth is.
Let’s lean in.
