Why I Decided to Take a Sabbatical
By Warren Wong
This is the story of why I decided to take a sabbatical. There was a time in my life when I thought attaining money, status, and things was the only worthwhile goal in life. I blame it on being young and following what society and people around me told me. But after getting those things, I realized that they didn’t give me lasting happiness. I knew then that something was wrong. What I had subscribed to all my whole life was all a lie.
Somewhere between a corporate job that didn’t excite me to living for the weekends, I knew that there was more to life. I knew that on the other side of fear, was purpose, my purpose. But, it’s not that easy to just give it all up and throw away years of hard work on some feeling. But, there were a few reasons that gave me the courage to take a sabbatical.
I’m not getting any younger. At 30 years old I don’t have a family or children to take care of, and no real responsibilities other than making sure I have a roof over my head and food in my belly. Both of which I had proven I could handle. I knew that down the road, an opportunity like this would be hard to come by. Knowing this, gave me comfort that the timing was right, even though it felt like a career setback.
I wanted some time to rest and recharge. I had spent the last decade grinding and working hard to build my career. I was tired physically and mentally. I knew that taking a sabbatical would be an opportunity to focus on other areas of my life that I had neglected for the sake of career and money.
Perhaps the greatest reason why I decided to take a sabbatical was to allow space and time for new opportunities to grow in my life. I heard a quote recently that really changed the way I viewed my time, which I am paraphrasing. “If you’re a moderately successful business professional, imagine what you could do if you used all the time you spend at work you don’t enjoy or care for, on something you are passionate about, imagine the possibilities.” You find yourself with energy to go above and beyond. All the credit, the good, bad, and the ugly goes to you. It’s freeing and scary. But, I knew deep down that this feeling was exactly what I needed. Taking this sabbatical is the best opportunity for me to practice not caring what others think, and to act, despite fear. To take the reins in my life, and not let it be dictated by others.
I’ve gotten into a habit of writing down the pros and cons when I have to make a tough decision. It’s one of my go to processes to decide something important. Let’s start with the cons.
One of the biggest worries people have when deciding whether to take a sabbatical is fear of judgment from others. Whether that’s friends and family thinking you’re crazy or you’re subscribed to what society pushes on us. That we need to work until we are 65 when we have earned our right to retire and now we can do as we please. Inside our lizard brain, fear of judgment keeps us caring what others think for fear of being ostracized from the group, which in prehistoric days meant you might get eaten by a sabertooth tiger. I don’t claim to be perfect in this aspect either, I know how paralyzing it can be to constantly worry about what other people think.
What ultimately helped me push past this fear of judgment, was the realization that at the end of my life, grim I know, the only person that I would have to answer to was myself. I knew I needed to take a risk and do what I felt was right. Sometimes decisions are purely emotional. And that’s crazy coming from me, as I like to claim I am a very rational thinker. But, with some of the most important decisions in our lives, logic flies out the window. Of course this doesn’t excuse not making the necessary preparations for a sabbatical, like having a plan and finances in order.
Another con to taking a sabbatical is that you lose all structure in your day. Especially if you don’t have a plan. If you need someone to tell you exactly what to do day in and day out like a boss or manager, then a sabbatical might not be for you. When I took my sabbatical, I no longer had a boss. I was the boss. Every single minute of every day was mine to own. That was freeing and also scary. You can spend the entire day binging Netflix, or mindlessly scroll on social media and not realize it. In my preparation for my sabbatical I knew that I needed a plan. I picked a few goals that were near and dear to me and devoted each morning and afternoon towards those goals, almost like a job. It’s ironic now that I traded one job for another job. When I tell my friends that my sabbatical is like a job, they either think I’m crazy or think I’m lying. Without structure and a purpose a sabbatical can drive you mad. I was determined to not let that happen to me.
Career impact is another fear I had. I was worried that taking time away from my craft would lead to a rusty skill set, and missed opportunities for career advancement. I had just recently switched careers, and after building up to a successful career start, I was throwing it all away. Or at least that’s how I felt. It took 2 nerve wrecking years of back and forth. Agonizing over whether or not I was throwing away a career by taking a sabbatical too soon. Would I even get a job in this profession when I came back? Will I even have the same interest as when I first started? But I knew that there would never be a good time. A lot of the most important decisions in my life appeared when the conditions weren’t good. I still did it anyways I almost always was able to figure it out on the way. Taking those lessons I took a leap of faith, knowing that I was a high performer, that I would be able to get another job post sabbatical.
While I was going through the process of listing out the pros and cons, the list of pros outnumbered the cons almost 3 to 1. Here were the most important ones.
Youth is on my side. I’m not getting any younger. Time is the most precious resource we all have. My thought process was this was as good a time as ever to take a sabbatical. The experiences and memories that I could have when I’m 30, in shape and healthy would be different from my 60s during traditional retirement. Maybe my tolerance for late night outs in Barcelona or Sao Paulo wouldn’t be as high. I probably wouldn’t want to share a hostel with other backpackers out in the beach city of Santa Marta, Colombia. Or hiking the mountains before sunrise in Rio De Janeiro won’t sound as appealing. There is a balance to everything. If I over optimized for one area in my life, such as my career and chasing wealth and neglecting others, it would have left me with a lot of regrets.
Taking a sabbatical frees up time. Time that I could use to do whatever I want. If I wanted to lounge around and catch up on all the classic TV series like Seinfield, and How I Met Your Mother, I could. If I wanted to visit all the local museums, sit and ponder on the meaning of obscure artwork, I could. I definitely spent some of my time doing that, but it wasn’t my main goal. What taking a sabbatical would allow me to do was chase my dreams. I could explore new hobbies, projects that piqued my interest, travel to far flung corners of the globe, and take my time, where I couldn’t with a full time job. This was a major benefit of a sabbatical.
What ultimately pushed me over the edge was a conversation with a friend. He was already on a sabbatical of sorts. He was living in the countryside of rural Colombia on a farm with over 10 acres of land. There were horses, goats, chickens, and dogs running amuck. His day to day consisted of taking care of these little critters which are now family. Each with their own names. Pepe the Goat, Candy the adorable neighborhood Labrador, and Luna the full of energy German Shepard. The rest of his time was spent productively on passion projects, building community, and living life according to him. To me, it was quintessentially how life should be lived.
After that fateful conversation with my friend, I decided to take the sabbatical and not look back. I informed my manager that I was taking my 2 week notice, and slowly transitioned any remaining work to my co-workers. With that out of the way, my sabbatical was in full swing. I remember the feeling of freedom, of lightness, and even fear. But, I was excited to see what life has in store for me.
