This is an end of an era for me.  No, really.   This post is my 568^th consecutive post.  Since February 17, 2009 I have written every Monday through Friday, come rain, come shine, or holidays or travel or illness or starting a new job or sick children or no internet connection (though I always found a way) or fatigue or stress or relocating (office and home) or even happiness… There have even been a few weekends where I couldn't stay away from posting...(Shhh, don't tell my kids)

Monday marks the first time in ten years that I will completely unplug.  I am traveling to a very remote part of the South Pacific where the internet is sketchy and there is no cell service.   Initially, I was going to write two weeks’ worth of posts and have them magically appear as if I were posting them each evening, like normal.  But here’s the thing:  Bonus Track has always been about that little extra something every day… none of these posts have ever been written more than four hours in advance of them being posted.  This project, Bonus Track, was about committing and dedicating myself to writing every single day.  Well, every working day, anyway.

I have kept my end of the bargain for 26 months.  I have heard many different voices - attached to individuals important to me - say to me at one point or another "you don't have to write tonight", "don't worry about it today", "why do you work so hard?" or  "just skip one night".  But..., I never have.  Until now.

As a matter of fact, I will be skipping ten nights.

I have learned more about myself and the industry I love over the last two years than I ever dreamed possible. I have spoken at conferences and Chamber of Commerce meetings and local, national, and international events about blogging and why I do it and why I think everyone should do it.  The clarity it has brought to my life and my work has been so substantial, so incredibly life-changing that I felt others could benefit as well and that I would be remiss if I didn't promote blogging as a good business and life practice.  And so I do. 

Bonus Track was born because there is more to recruiting than the process.  There is more to business than making money.  There is more to happiness than success.  I wanted to take every day experiences and make them matter, to have the personal story be the source of the lesson.  It has been the single most important thing I could have ever done for my career and for my personal growth and development.  Over the course of the next two weeks, there will be a countdown of the top ten Bonus Tracks that will appear as a blog, not a Bonus Track discussion. 

And then I will back - with more stories to tell, refreshed and ready for another two years! 

Just don't tell me I'll never be able to do it.

by rayannethorn