Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Gene Marks suggests seven ways you can reduce expenses.
Businesses can provide tax-free assistance to employees who repay student loans.
California accuses Amazon of pressuring brands to raise their prices on other platforms.
Marcus Sheridan says there are some easy steps you can take to improve your AI search visibility.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFE
Josh Patrick says one week isn’t enough: “Here’s the story I told myself about vacations for most of my adult life. I can only afford to be gone for a week. Maybe less. Who’s going to handle things while I’m away? What if a customer calls and I’m not there? What if something falls apart? I believed that story completely. For decades. Here’s the thing I’ve come to understand about that story — it wasn’t really about the business. It was about identity. The business needed me because I needed to be needed. I was the indispensable guy. The one who kept it all running. And honestly? That felt pretty good. Except it wasn’t good. It was exhausting. I just didn’t know it yet.”
“Every year I’d take my one week. Come back half-rested, already thinking about everything that had piled up. By Wednesday, after I returned, it was like I’d never left. The grind just resumed. And I kept doing that. Year after year after year. Without ever asking whether one week was actually enough. Without ever wondering if my vacation policy was working — for me or for anyone else.”
“In the early 1980s, about 10 years into running my food service company, something awkward happened. We started publishing vacation, sick time, and bereavement time for the whole company. Standard transparency stuff. And there it was. Right at the top of the list: 130 days of accrued vacation. Mine.”
“It was embarrassing enough that I asked my controller to quietly take me off the list. Which, now that I think about it, is probably one of the least self-aware things I’ve ever done. Hiding the evidence rather than changing the behavior. I didn’t change the behavior for another 30-plus years.“ READ MORE
