Over the course of June, I’ve managed to take a few days for myself away from everything and in many instances - away from many of the most important people in my life.
I had gone into this timeframe with a slew of expectations:
- drafting the outline for a new project set to be published next year – already have the copyright secured
- reworking some legal topics that are aligned to future goals
- drafting up a plan for another channel or two
- building out some refreshed operating models for work
- getting some rest
- catching up on some training for myself
- preparing for another coaching meeting setup upon my return
- having a ton of fun with my partner in crime
- diving into waterfalls
- the list goes on and on…
Well, I have a tendency to over estimate and under deliver with my internally imposed expectations. The dissonance is a self induced stress machine that has historically enabled me to crank a ton of output with an even greater volume of stress that I swallow down along the way.
Expectations coupled with self judgement are awesome ways to kill yourself.
This time was spent in a radically different way than I had intended, and it has been perfect. I cut that unreasonable list down to two main points.
Stop with my prior list.
Start getting simple and listen to my body.
I instead spent the time along the following lines:
- The time away was really time spent reconnecting.
- Recovering.
- Sleeping in.
- Getting some online resources refreshed and doing some substantial research.
- Rediscovering child like joy in a new setting.
- No self imposed schedules
- Revisiting a number of things that I had started the year — hell even things that I had launched last year — to see if there were some opportunities for approaching things in a fresh manner.
- Reading out loud to someone very close to me – a book that I had to put down months ago – this book is still too much to share broadly.
The sabbatical that I had was redesigned on the fly…
The sabbatical that I had planned needed to be cut short.
The planned sabbatical was not the sabbatical that I needed, nor really the one that I wanted. It took someone very close – to pull me aside and verbally slap me aside the head for me to recognize it. Another gift given.
I have a tendency to press forward and to ignore some of the more obvious signs – especially once I have decided upon something in my personal endeavors.
The sabbatical that I just experienced is precisely the one that I had to have this time around. I can say as I am flying back to my upcoming return to my daily routine – this time was truly a gift for my future self. Not the guy that was pressing to fit 5 pounds of beach sand into a 1 pound bag… that was sand wasn’t it?
The last time I did a true sabbatical like this was in Clearwater, Florida back in January 2017. That time away jumpstarted what has been an unreal period of self development and of delivery. I had a slew of plans, of goals, of action items leaving Clearwater. In many ways – the mechanics necessary to start transforming my day to day life. It set the stage for the next 12 months.
It was a set of time unusually focused on coming to grips with my familial relationships across the board and of my owning a number of things that had happened in the past. The time in Clearwater was also largely a retrospective exercise aimed at forgiving a number of surprising relationships in my life at the time. I then spent a few hours focusing on building a goal and achievement-based framework that unlocked a bunch of dreams and goals since then. This framework is something I’ve shared with a few close friends, an it has proven valuable to them too. I’ve continued to round this framework out, and this most recent sabbatical has unlocked the next revision of it as well.
This most recent sabbatical was longer in duration, deeper in self reflection, richer in connection, and incredibly humbling. I return with a newfound appreciation for the blessings in my life, and I’m ready to hit the gas on a variety of options that I’ll be choosing in the next two weeks as June closes out.
I leave the beaches from this most recent sabbatical convinced of the following:
- I have the space and opportunity bring forward some amazing creations now that I have put the work in
- There is no longer a need to press so hard – there are other ways available to me
- My body is ready to help me take all of this to the next level (this is something I’ll build out in the coming weeks)
- There are parts of this upcoming quarter that will likely be shared right here, there are more people in my life than I thought – that are ready to walk this journey with me
There are a number of things I must say to a number of people very close to me in the next few weeks, as I crack open the next chapter of my journey here in Q3 2018. I have seen at least two miracles in the past week that frankly have left me speechless.
- Both were exceptionally unplanned. Okay, freak accidents is more like it…
- Both were very jarring.
- Both involved amazing settings that most will never be able to experience in their lives.
- Both could be viewed positively, negatively, or for what they were – simply events to be experienced and reflected upon.
- One involved a near death experience on a cliff and the other involved a lightening storm sunset that was 3 minutes of pure glory. Both moments never to be repeated.
- Both were incredibly personal, and an outsider likely could characterize both as coincidences.
Anyone that knows anything about me – knows this – there are no coincidences.
In time, coincidences become obviously required events aimed at bringing forward whatever it was that you were building towards in your life. Coincidences and miracles abound — provided that you are open to them.
My ability to create and to build in the upcoming weeks is going to evident as a result of the last few days spent recharging and getting re-centered.
If you have been reading any of the content since I launched the 84 days of bare knuckles, I strongly endorse you taking a 3-7 day sabbatical aimed at whatever you need to get done for yourself.
This idea of taking time for yourself is something that I let languish for a solid decade. In the past two years, I have taken two major sabbaticals and many more ‘mini sabbaticals’ – every single time I have come back completely re-energized a changed man that is closer to where I intend to be as I build the future version of myself.
Give it some thought for your future self, take a few days away.
