Why you should sabbatical

I'm going to beat the sabbatical drum until the day I die.

Many of the problems I see today (and certainly the ones I've experienced) can be solved by stepping back and slowing down. All too often, our instinct is to add more.

Take another course!
Learn another tool!
Get a side-hustle!

These all have their place, but without doing the deeper, inquisitive work… I fear they're just (potentially expensive) band-aids.

This is because of how incredibly hard it is to imagine something better or simply different when you're drowning in responsibilities and workload. Your mental bandwidth is burnt by the existing. If you're anything like me, it's borderline impossible to thrive in creativity & clarity when you're juggling a high workload.

The main question this will answer is perhaps one of the least asked questions in the modern day. But, in my opinion, it's one of the most important questions we can ask…

Who are we without our work?

So many thoughts & feelings around our identity hinge on work, productivity & providing value. It can be hard for people to understand how to exist without these things—it certainly was, for me.

You're lazy. You're being a bum. Useless. What makes you think you deserve this?!

Listen, I never said I was kind to myself. These patterns were rooted deep, and try though I might, they're difficult to remove. Progress is made not with giant leaps, but baby steps—constantly nudging and testing, as a way of life.

Trust yourself.

The simple act of planning a sabbatical is also great exercise in self-trust... Something most of us are sorely missing.

You diligently save the money, then you proudly tell yourself, "I believe in you, and you're going to figure it out. You got this."

It builds more space, more trust, & more room for reacquainting with who you are. I've gone through this, and believe me when I say... the first step feels like a leap of faith, but the second step is easier, then the third... 

Eventually, you can't imagine ever going back to the way you were living.

It's more fun with friends.

I wrote about finding your wayfinders last week, and that is equally true with the sabbatical.

When I embarked on mine, I had no clue what I was doing. I spent a few weeks just digging holes in the ground—seriously, I landscaped my backyard. I was the guy who never had more than a week off in a row, then I took 4 weeks, and now I was looking down the barrel of two years.

Then along came a mentor.

They didn't solve my problems for me... that wouldn't have been helpful long-term. Instead, they guided me to dive deeper, peeling back the layers of the stories I had been telling myself. The magic lay in the ability to help me figure it out for myself. It's been the most transformational experience I've ever been through.

That's why I offer this for others today—I feel called to provide that same space, perspective and support that I received.

(If you're curious, you can book a no-strings-attached chat, and we can get to know each other.)

No matter what path you pick next, everything becomes more exciting and fun when you start with trust, courage & a willingness to surrender to yourself.