t’s about a man who, despite a successful career, is driven to put what he does under self-examination by getting away by himself - in this case, a round trip in a passenger train so that he can think about his life.

I do this myself, and for the third time in recent years, I will go on a silent weekend retreat at a Trappist monastery in Virginia. I find it refreshing to “shut the world off” for a couple of days, reflect on life, and get closer to God.

It is so easy to focus on day-to-day responsibilities and lose perspective on the big picture of your life. This break can turn into improved performance, professionally and personally. Try it, you’ll like it.

Most of my professional career has been focused on serving commercial “for-profit” businesses like McDonald’s, John Hancock, several very large banks, Hormel Meats, major utilities, and more. Throw almost twenty years in classrooms teaching marketing, advertising, and sales into the mix for good measure.

Now, still working in my 90’s (the “thank God” part helps here), I find that a share of my current work is in supporting non-profit entities that help veterans, families touched by cancer, and people in need of affordable housing. It has a nice “feel good” flavor to it.

In conclusion, if you are good at what you do - and you probably are - build time to step back and examine your work from an outside perspective. You may find you can always do better.

View previous monthly morsels on our Free Marketing Advice page.