After a long pause, I started hot yoga again. If you know me, the visual of this is quite frightening, so suffice it to say I am usually one of only a few men in the class and the largest and oldest participant in the room!

In other words, yoga does not come naturally to me, and flexibility and balance are not my strongest physical attributes.

The First Class

My first yoga class after the hiatus was a microcosm of being a travel advisor for the last two years. It hurt.

The amount of convincing myself to go was extraordinary, just as there have been many days when it took every bit of energy and determination for you to turn on your computer and put in one more day.

Once the session started, I was frustrated that it seemed that everything I did was painful. There were no happy poses and even child’s pose, which is supposedly a “resting pose,” was uncomfortable.

Sore and Exhausted

Sound familiar? There were many days over the last two years that were painful from start to finish. By the end of my class, I was like you at the end of many of your days: numb, sore and exhausted.

However, like all of you, I finished. If someone filmed me (and I would see them in court if they did), you would not have seen a graceful, smiling, perfectly balanced practitioner of yoga. Many of you probably felt the same way as you toiled through a career you once loved. But you finished too. And that is worth celebrating.

The Long Run

The question, “Why am I doing this?” ran through my head as I am sure it did yours over and over again – and the answer for an old guy practicing yoga is the same as a vibrant travel advisor practicing their craft: In the long run, it will be worth it.

You have made it through a long and difficult period, and you have stretched every aspect of your flexibility and balance. Like yoga, the payoff is not quick but the rewards over time are more than worth it.

Think long term and the pain you have been experiencing will become a gain in the relationships with your clients and supplier partners, which will pay off handsomely.