Do You Have the 4 Week Vacation™ Mindset?

Can your business run without you…for 4 weeks? No?! Uh oh! We have some work to do!

If it feels like a 4 Week Vacation isn’t possible for you, let's start with working on your mindset.

When it comes down to it, a 4 Week Vacation is a mindset shift. Sure, you will need to get the right people and systems in place in your business so that you can be away and the business can still run without you.

Underlying all of those changes… is a critical mindset shift.

I call it the 4 Week Vacation™ Mindset. It's a mindset of asking POWERFUL QUESTIONS. When you have the 4 Week Vacation™ Mindset, you're replacing limiting beliefs with POWERFUL QUESTIONS.

For example, if your first thought in reaction to me asking you, “Can you take a 4 Week Vacation?” is, “I could never do that,” then you have the opportunity to replace that self-limiting thought with a POWERFUL QUESTION.

Asking “How can I make that happen?” is a POWERFUL QUESTION that opens up possibilities. It opens up thinking. It opens awareness to opportunities that might be right in front of you.

Instead of thinking, “I don't know…”, ask, “Who can I learn from?”

Instead of thinking, “It won't get done if I'm not there,” ask, “How does this get done without me?”

Instead of assuming, “My team and clients will give me a lot of pushback,” get curious and ask, “I wonder how they'll respond?”

You get the idea. The 4 Week Vacation™ Mindset is a mindset of curiosity that leads to new opportunities and possibilities.

The 4 Week Vacation Mindset™ is a powerful, elevating mindset.

It leads to massive shifts in how you run your business. Ultimately, it supports you in designing a business that supports your life, and not the other way around!


How can you set up systems, people, roles, responsibilities, and other efficiencies to make sure that you are not your business?

That's a powerful question that is at the heart of making a 4 Week Vacation happen.

Ready to elevate and delegate? Are you ready to give yourself a promotion?

Still can’t imagine it? We have work to do!

For one, you truly have to believe it’s possible.

It IS possible. In fact, the story of entrepreneurship is changing right before our eyes.

There are Trailblazing entrepreneurs who have taken a 4 Week Vacation. Here are 5 of them. We are entrepreneurs just like you. We are in various industries and have been in business varying lengths of time — from 15 years to 40+ years. We've all made it happen and YOU can, too!

The 4 Week Vacation™ Trailblazers. From left to right: Mike Michalowicz, Dr. Sabrina Starling, Donna Leyens, Dr. Nancy Trimboli and Steven Bousquet. Not shown: Chuck Parmely.

What if I like working?

If working in your business is what gives you the most joy, that’s fine too! The 4 Week Vacation™ mindset shift is for those of us who are passionate about what we do, and love our business so much we are willing to let go and take care of ourselves. We recognize that doing so makes our businesses more sustainable and empowers our team members to step into their strengths.

Will it be easy?

No! There is indeed a lot that goes into being able to truly turn it off. You’ll define a new role for yourself (and probably quickly realize that your strengths are not fully being utilized because you are being “sucked into” other tasks that weigh you down and zap your energy).

Things won't go as planned. Something (or several things) will fall out of place at the last minute.

When you're off, it will feel strange. You will question what to do with yourself. You might get… BORED! You might realize your life and relationships away from work need a lot of attention.

Regardless, you will grow, your team will grow, and you will come back to a business much stronger than the one you left 4 weeks earlier.

Ultimately, we all leave our business, whether by choice or by nature.

Here’s the thing: there is unlimited potential to your business and in order for it to be of value (think about a possible exit strategy of selling your business, taking a partner, or merging with another company), your role in the business also has value–and a price tag. So many entrepreneurs pay ourselves last in money and time. How dare we value ourselves so little?

This is about you!

You need time to recharge. And, your business and team need a chance to shine without you there every day. You’ll be amazed at the trust you will build within your culture, as you more highly engage your team. They will not only feel more accountable, but they will feel ownership in the outcomes. They will feel empowered. And, you will feel such a sense of pride in bringing your business to the next level.

Are you ready for a 4 Week Vacation?

Find out if Your Business is On Track for a 4 WEEK VACATION™. Take Our Assessment Now. 

Dr. Sabrina StarlingThe Business Psychologist™ and author of the How to Hire the Best series is the founder of Tap the Potential.

At Tap the Potential we specialize in transforming small businesses into highly profitable, great places to work and sending business owners on 4 Week Vacations to celebrate that achievement.

Never one to accept the status quo or back down from a challenge, Dr. Sabrina’s How to Hire the Best series grew from her desire to solve the toughest hiring challenges interfering with her clients’ growth and profitability. What sprang from her experience working with entrepreneurs in rural areas catapulted her into becoming the world’s leading expert in attracting top talent in small businesses — no matter what hiring challenges those businesses are facing — and earned Tap the Potential’s reputation as the go-to resource for entrepreneurs committed to creating Great Places to Work with thriving coaching cultures and highly engaged team members working from their strengths.

With her background in psychology, and years of driving profit in small business, Dr. Starling knows what it takes to find, keep and get exceptional performance out of your biggest investment — your team members.

Access Dr. Sabrina Starling’s How to Hire the Best Masterclass and team building tools at www.TapThePotential.com

About The Author

Dr. Sabrina Starling, The Business Psychologist and international best-selling author of the How to Hire the Best series and The 4 Week Vacation™, is the founder of Tap the Potential and host of the Profit by Design podcast. At Tap the Potential, we work to free business owners from the constant demands of a growing business.

We believe work supports life, not the other way around. Clients in our Better Business, Better Life coaching program have more time for what matters most and more money in their bank account than they’ve ever had. Next, we send them off on a 4 Week Vacation™ to celebrate their hard-earned journey to take their life back!

Dr. Sabrina and her team at Tap the Potential are on a mission to change the story of entrepreneurship from one of long hours, grinding it out, to one of sustainably profitable businesses that support and enhance life. The Tap the Potential Solution™ and our Tap the Potential Family of Business Owners are disrupting small business as usual. We are on our way to making the Tap the Potential Solution™ the mainstream model for growing business.

By 2023, 150 Tap the Potential clients will have taken 4 Week Vacations. These are the trailblazers, role modeling what’s possible for entrepreneurs. In many entrepreneurial circles, it is becoming more and more common for one entrepreneur to ask another, “Have you taken a 4 Week Vacation™?” (as opposed to asking “How many employees do you have?” or “What is your annual revenue?”). Taking a fully unplugged 4 Week Vacation is rapidly becoming the recognized symbol of entrepreneurial success.

Never one to accept the status quo or back down from a challenge, Dr. Sabrina’s How to Hire the Best series grew from her desire to solve the toughest hiring challenges interfering with her clients’ growth and profitability. What sprang from her experience working with entrepreneurs in rural areas catapulted her into becoming the world’s leading expert in attracting top talent in small businesses—no matter what hiring challenges those businesses are facing—and earned Tap the Potential’s reputation as the go-to resource for entrepreneurs committed to creating Great Places to Work with thriving coaching cultures and highly engaged team members working from strengths.

As The Business Psychologist, and with her years of driving profit in small businesses, Dr. Sabrina knows what it takes to find, keep, and motivate exceptional performance out of your biggest investment—team members.