Radical Sabbatical

/

A radical sabbatical is choosing something so outside your normal way of living that it interrupts your identity, habits, assumptions, and automatic ways of being. It is about creating space for your soul to speak to you and interrupting auto-pilot-living long enough to hear it. 

I am calling my September and October break to walk the Camino a radical sabbatical for myself (read last week’s email if you haven’t yet.). When I say radical, I don't necessarily mean dramatic or reckless. The word radical comes from the Latin radix, meaning root. I’m using the idea of a radical sabbatical as one that goes to the root of your life. It interrupts our daily routine in such a big way that we can think more deeply from our soul than we would on a normal break or vacation. 

A radical sabbatical isn't about escaping your life. It's about creating enough space to encounter it differently.

I know it is a privilege of business ownership for me to be able to take a sabbatical. I can do this because I’ve built an incredibly capable team that can run things while I step away. But, I intentionally chose people I could trust so that the business wasn’t dependent upon me and they could shine. I was inspired by my clients who work for large corporations and educational institutions that require a sabbatical after so many years of service. I watched how these sabbaticals were beneficial for their mental health. I observed how alive and inspired they were when returned to work. I was also inspired by Simone Biles stepping away from gymnastics for mental health and then returning to win gold and Alysa Liu did the same thing in figure skating with a gold this year. They had the courage to pause and return even stronger. 

A radical sabbatical should make you nervous when you first hear the idea. 

It should sound a little impossible, a little impractical, maybe even a little irresponsible. That's because it asks you to temporarily release something you've organized your identity or daily life around.

It has been interesting to talk with my clients about this radical sabbatical of mine. Many express they wish they could do something radical, but then list many reasons why they can’t. And I understand that, this has been an idea in my head for the past four years but the timing was never right to make it happen. But over time, I was starting to get resentful of my commitments because I couldn’t take an adventure I longed for. So I had to find a way to make it happen. 

If you can’t leave town to walk 500 miles alone across Spain, what can you do? Here are some radical sabbatical ideas for all of us to consider. 

Could you take an extended break from any of these things? It should feel unimaginable at first - that’s what makes it radical.

  • Social media

  • Comparing yourself to others

  • Saying yes to everything asked of you

  • Talking negatively about people

  • Watching the news

  • Blaming someone else 

  • Phone scrolling as first and last thing of your day

  • A category of your diet

  • An activity you need a break from

  • Certain people or groups

  • Seeking approval from others

  • Hypervigilence (thinking something bad is about to happen)

  • Guilt and shame

  • Self-criticsm 

  • Online impulse purchases  

  • Over-performing 

  • Pretending to know 

  • Judging something about how people look or behave

  • Needing certainty 

  • Proving yourself to everyone

Can you take a radical sabbatical from any of those? Maybe a week or two or eight? 

I can tell you from recent moments of anxiety, it is scary to do something radical, but also liberating. Allowing yourself to listen to your inner wisdom and take action on it is life-giving. Also when you surrender caring about what other people think of your idea, you experience the liberation high even more. When you give people space to think you are crazy, it fuels your sense of aliveness and connection with yourself. 

A radical sabbatical often doesn't make sense to other people. Most people will tell you why it's unnecessary, dangerous, unrealistic, or inconvenient. That's because our culture rewards consistency, productivity, and predictability, not intentional pauses that invite transformation.

What can you take a break from long enough to discover who you are without it? 

From my radical sabbatical to yours,

 
Subscribe