goofing off. NOT.
I had an interesting conversation with an amazing entrepreneur this week. Let’s call him Jim. He has founded and sold several business, has a not for profit enterprise to raise money for microloans to people in disadvantaged countries, and has a new internet based natural soap business. After an amazingly intense and successful period, Jim decided to take a sabbatical, which lasted for a year and a half.
When I asked Jim what he did, he said that he put things back in order, invested his money, but mostly just goofed off. I then asked Jim how he enjoyed this time-out and what he learned from it. Here’s what he said. “It was okay at first, but then I got really bored. I had too much time on my hands and no real purpose. I learned that I need goals and activity or I just become stale and non-productive. That’s the last sabbatical I’ll ever take!”
Of course, the moral of the story is that, if a sabbatical is to be successful, it needs to be thoughtfully planned. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself in order to make sure that there is a high ROI for the time-out you are taking:
1) What is the purpose of my time away from my regular routine/life?
2) If my sabbatical is wildly successful, what will have happened?
3) What areas of my life have been neglected and would benefit from some time and energy? (Health, relationships, home environment, friends, etc.)
4) What experiences would I like to have that would enrich my professional life and prepare me for my next career steps/challenges?
5) How do I want to allocate my time so that I can accomplish all my goals?
6) What spontaneity factor needs to be present to allow me to be in exploration mode, following my intuition?
7) What do I need to do to make sure I have fun, lightness, pleasure?
I can’t help but wonder how Jim’s experience could have been different if he had been a little more purposeful and thoughtful in his planning.
One Response so far (add yours)
Rebecca,
You captured the “critical element” of making a sabbatical count – thoughtful planning and goals. Elizabeth and I spoke to an audience that has a 8 week sabbatical opportunity every 7 years. Many were wasting that experience “getting the car serviced and going to the dentist.” ugh.
I just returned from a mini-sabbatical of 2.5 weeks. I established one primary goal and two sub goals. I nailed the primary but had to juggle the sub goals due to circumstances. Outcome was achieving the most important tone hus giving me a “success” for my time away from work. (I’ll soon share installments from this mini-sabbatical on http://yoursabbatical.com/the-sabbatical-mindset/.
Hopefully, Jim will try a sabbatical again – the right way.