← This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil
This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil
How To Take A Sabbatical with Katrina McGhee | 336
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Sabbaticals aren’t selfish — they’re smart. Katrina McGhee shows us how to take a career break without burning bridges or losing momentum, creating transformative breaks that lead to healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives.
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You say you'll never join the Navy.
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Never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit, or break the sound barrier.
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Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Learn why@navy.com America's Navy forged by the.
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Sea Support for this podcast and the following message comes from America's Navy the.
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Navy offers new graduates hands on training.
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And experience in careers like computer science, aviation and medicine. Plus education and sign on bonuses.
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Parents help your grad start their career.
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Today@Navy.Com I am Nicole Kahlil, your host of the this Is Woman's Work podcast and today we're going to talk about taking a break on purpose, possibly with pay. In other words, a sabbatical. I mean, sure I've heard whispers of professors disappearing for a year to write a book or do research, but I didn't realize normal non academic humans like you or I could take a sabbatical too. This concept is pretty new to me. Like embarrassingly new. Maybe I'm an idiot. Or maybe I was just so deep in my hustle, culture, conditioning, so obsessed with working my ass off, proving myself and earning every inch of success I could that I never even looked up long enough to consider a career break. The first time I really heard about it was from one of my neighbors who not surprisingly works for a company not based in the US where their sabbatical was required like it was part of their job to not work for a chunk of time. Meanwhile, I'm over here mentally trying to avoid a shame spiral if I so much as let an email go unanswered for a weekend. Then a friend of mine, also an entrepreneur, took a sabbatical too. A full on structured soul fueling sabbatical and suddenly I could not stop thinking about it. What if taking a break is an actual option? What if it's not just an option, but a strategic career move? What if it's powerful? What if it's necessary? Well, Katrina McGee is here to help answer those questions for us. Or maybe just for me. Because clearly this is a new concept. She's a career break and sabbatical expert, a certified Master Coach with an mba, a author of Taking a Career Break for Dummies and a co founder of the Breakspace community. She left her corporate job in 2013 for a 20 month adventure around the world and came back to five job offers in five weeks. Since then she's helped over 100 mid career professionals design transformative breaks that lead to healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. Katrina, where have you been all of my professional life? And let Me kick us off by asking you to explain what a sabbatical is and how it's different from a vacation or like normal PTO that we usually think about. Yes.
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A
Oh my gosh, Nicole, I am here now and that is all that matters. So I'm here for you. I've got you. And I'm so excited to dive into this. So when we talk about my husband.
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B
And everybody, when I said I do this. Yeah.
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A
Oh yeah, absolutely. Like I get partners on board so fast you wouldn't even know. It's like a, it's like a superpower of mine. Yes. Breaks are awesome. And there are different kinds. So to your point, there is the familiar, you know, vacation, few days of pto, maybe wrapped around a weekend to try to maximize it. And then there are sabbaticals. And sabbaticals we typically think of as leaves of absence where you're going to stay at the company. Right. So technically, like you're going to stay at the company, but you're going to take this leave. Maybe it's for a couple weeks, a month, three months, depending on what your company and you agree to, but you know what you're returning to. And then there's like a third level of the kinds of breaks you can take, which is the career break. Might have also heard the term gap year. Um, you know, like a midlife break. And this is where you're taking the scissors, cutting the cord, quitting that job and really taking a full on break, not knowing exactly what you're going to come back to once it's over. So when we think about these intentional breaks, to answer your original question, vacations are really, well, they can be many things to many people, but a lot of times it's this really compressed time where you're trying to get something out of this time that, I don't know, it's like a little, it's like a hit, right? It's like, oh, I just need a little bit of me time. But I also want to do these things. I want to travel here, I want to see these things. It, it can sometimes feel very hustle y to be on a vacation. And even when you're relaxing, you know, if you're taking up to a week off to go to a resort and just, you know, lay on a beach chair somewhere, it's really like work is still sort of on your mind. By the time you've really started to embrace vacation mode, it's time to go back to work. And you probably were like checking your email all along. The way let's be real, right? And trying to stay connected so that you don't have too many fires to put out when you come back, versus a break where we are getting full stop, disconnection, restoration, dream fulfillment, goals, all the things, right? We're making this time about nourishing ourselves, our spirits, our brains, our bodies, and really addressing our well being.
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B
Okay, so I feel like I finally, like, and I'm not exaggerating, like in the last year, figured out how to even take a vacation because as you said, it was a lot of checking email, it was a lot of guilt, it was a lot of checking in, it was a lot of feeling like I needed a vacation from my vacation because I'd come back to an absolute mess. And I kind of just worked out the kinks of that. And now there's this concept of sabbatical or career break. So I guess you wrote a book Career Break for Dummies. I'm clearly a dummy on this concept. So what are people thinking about? Why do people take sabbaticals and career breaks? What is like the sign that this is something you should be considering?
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A
There are, I mean, I have supported over a hundred breaks as we talked about, and it really comes down to three things in every situation. So you, you might be listening to this and you might resonate with one, but likely it's going to be a mix of these three. But I like to call them the three Bs. Burnout, betrayal and Blossom. So when we think about these primary motivations, burnout, I mean, we all sadly are probably intimately familiar with what that is. Um, you know, statistically speaking, we're incredibly likely to be experiencing that now and, or, you know, in our, in our near future. But it's really a sense of I cannot keep running at this pace. So it might be a health issue where, you know, just the pace you've been running at. But a lot of times it's mental. You might not be as effective at work. It might take you three times as long to do the things that you used to do. You might feel very apathetic about work that once interested you or really engaged you, or you just might feel like, I'm going to crack into and there's going to be nothing left. I physically can't hold all of this anymore. So that is one of the primary motivations. If you're feeling like you're about to break, right. That is a great sign that you should be taking a break. Betrayal is much more about that misalignment. So it could look like your misalignment with your values. Where you say, like, I value my health, I value quality time with my loved ones, but where are you actually spending your time? How are you actually making choices in what you're doing with your day? Right. There's that misalignment between what I say I value and what I'm actually valuing in my life. And then there's also that misalignment which I experienced of your job. Like, I don't feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm not doing something lighting me up the way that I want to be lit up or using the strengths and talents that I want to be using. And so there's this sense of, you know, something in my life is not fitting in with, with the alignment of my values or the way that I want to be living. And this doesn't feel like my life. So at that place, taking a break can be a really awesome moment and pause to take a step back, reflect, recalibrate, and figure out a path that does feel good to you, that does feel like it's in alignment. The last one, Blossom is all about wanting to invest in other parts of your life. So we think about career, we think about making money. You know, in the wheel of life, there are many aspects of our life. There's leisure and fun and play, community, romance, right. Our family, being physically active, having a spiritual connection, all the things. But career and money disproportionately get all of the airtime. They get most of our energy. And so Blossom is for the people that want to go chase some life goals, go reconnect to passions, interests, hobbies, feel like they have an interesting life again, and they're an interesting person again. Right? Reconnect to creativity. It's about really allowing parts of your life beyond work to Blossom and to move forward. And in my 20 month break around the world, that was absolutely, you know, a part of what I wanted to do. I actually had a mix, you know, of all three of these. But those are the primary reasons people would take a break.
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B
Okay. So that was super helpful. And my brain sort of jumped around two different things, a lot of them logistical. But before I get into the how somebody would do this, I want to ask why somebody would do this. Because I think there is an element of, and maybe it's just a me thing, but, like, that could be seen as weakness or like not being committed enough or giving up or quitting or, you know, that type of thing, or the fear of all the things you would lose, like, I'm going to come back behind, I'm not going to be able to explain the break. Nobody would hire me. Or there might not be a place for me, or you might get replaced. There's a lot of what I call head trash that could kick up around this concept. So can you help us with the why and what you're seeing from people who do this on the other side before we get into the how?
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Yeah, I love this question so much because I think it's really relatable to where people get stuck. And I am, as you can tell, I'm super passionate about this, which I think is great because. Because this conversation needs to be had, right? You are here for one, one time, one moment in time. And I believe like even just the definition of the word responsible, it is irresponsible to live a life that does not feel like the life that you want because you are afraid. Because you are afraid of what other people may or may not think about your life, right? And to point, I think it's, it's a normal part of how brains work to attach to and focus on what would I stand to lose if I made a change, right? What would I. What would I lose in this endeavor? But like a bad relationship, that's really toxic, right? It's like, I don't want to be alone. I'm going to be homeless and hungry on the street and die alone and cold or whatever. Like your brain goes to this worst case scenario, but it never stops to consider, what are you losing by staying in that toxic relationship, right? You're losing the potential to find someone someday that loves you in a way that makes your spirit feel so seen and so heard and makes you feel so good. You are missing time and energy you could invest into your own well being. It's the same thing with a break, right? I ask people to think about not only what do you stand to lose if you did take a break, because your brain will clearly like jump out with a bunch of stuff, right? It'll just like verbally vomit a million things to you, but it's not thinking about what you would stand to gain and what you're saying no to. If you don't take a break, can you continue hustling and grinding it out on the hamster wheel with your broken hamster knee and your like sprained hamster wrist, right? Like forever? No, you can't. So we're talking physical shutdown. I've had clients come into a break because health forced them into it. I like to say if you need a break, you either take the break or the break eventually takes you. So it's like don't let it, don't let it get to that. Right. But the other thing is like there's so much flourishing on the other side of a break. One of the biggest threads I see across everyone I have supported in taking a break is that taking this time and reclaiming your power actually shows you how you're valuing your time and how you see the world and you're no longer willing to settle for situations, employers, relationships that are such a low bar. It's like I, I am, I am like in the driver's seat of my life now and I want to drive this car some somewhere good instead of just being a passenger, gently suggesting where I would like the driver to go. And it just shifts how they see their lives. So I think for a lot of people it's this wall that they hit where it's like I'm terrified to take a break. I like to use the term scared sighted. You will always feel a mix of terror and excitement whenever it comes to doing this because it's going to be outside your comfort zone. Right. That's just, that's just like table stakes right there. But this scared sighted feeling of like I cannot continue with business as usual. It's like this energetic wall that you've hit and you might feel like you don't know what to do, but you just know that some time off would be such a relief.
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B
Yeah. Well friend, that was some really excellent coaching. So many good nuggets in there. And I love the. I think you said terror sighted. I always say all of the best things I've ever done, all of the things worth doing in my life have come with equal parts nervousness and excited. Like it's that vacillation between being super excited and then like you said, terr. Nervous. The going back and forth and back and forth. Anything I've been only a hundred percent excited about has never actually been a real thing and hasn't actually been worth doing. Like there has to be that element of what if. I mean even getting married, having a kid, starting a business, like there's always those elements of both and so that was a very good reminder. Okay, so logistically I have to imagine there's some planning that goes into this at least ideally. What would a good sabbatical or career break plan include? What should we be considering?
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A
Yeah, you keeping it really basic. You want to think about. There are seven Elements of a successful break. I'm going to share two really big ones right now because I think they are foundational to your success. And by the way, to your point, ideally, planning goes in before you take a break. But if you're listening to this and you're on a break or you're really close to starting, it's never too late to go back and sort of re engineer these things. One, you want a purpose statement. You absolutely want a clear, articulate statement and clarity around the purpose for your break. Two reasons. I mean, lots of reasons, but two big reasons. One, it's going to keep you motivated. Life is going to life. And whenever you're feeling those waves of self doubt, whenever you talk to someone and they question you and you don't like the look on your face and you have a spiral about, oh my God, like maybe this is a terrible idea. Do I really want to take a break like this? I don't know, like maybe this is a bad time, right? Go back to your purpose statement and remember what it's all for so that you can reevaluate your decision so it will keep you on track and keep you motivated and make your break way more likely to happen. But the other thing is you're predefining what success is. If you want to cheat the system and have a successful break, a break that creates a better version of you once it's over and gives you everything you need, you have to know what you need. So taking time to write a purpose statement is like making sure that you're going to hit that mark. You got to know what the mark is. So for so many reasons, right, this purpose statement is a very grounding thing to have. And this, the second thing, which some people don't think about this ahead of time, is you want to have a re entry period. You want to set aside time and money in your mind. You want to know your numbers for those to figure out what comes next. You want time to process all of the lessons your break taught you. The good ones, the bad ones, the hard ones. You want time to think about the parts of you that you want to carry forward from your break into the next chapter and how you're different and what's the same. And you also want time to do the logistical job searching, right? So it's kind of like if you don't have a re entry period, you're going to come in hot off your break, full of like desperate, weird energy. I've got to find a job. Oh my gosh, like Is this going to be hard? Is anyone going to judge me? Want to be grounded? You want to know why your break is an asset. You want to be able to tell that story. You want to have your narrative down and you want to be able to go into the job search feeling grounded and good and not having that please pick me energy, but instead being really thoughtful about who you want to work for. That will get you so much further. Those are two of the elements and they are like, if nothing else, I think sort of sandwiching from the very beginning to the very end. You want to set up your break to win, and that's a great way to set yourself up for success at Capella University. Learning online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care about your success, like your enrollment specialist who gets to know you and the goals you'd like to achieve. You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program. Plus career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella. Edu Mama Papa mi cuerpo crece Ah.
- [16:43]
B
You say you'll never join the Navy, that living on a submarine would be too hard. You'd never power a whole ship with nuclear energy, never bring a patient back to life or play the national anthem for a sold out crowd. Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Start your journey@navy.com America's Navy forged by the sea and a good reminder to start with the why. Because again, I know my brain, I'm sure other people's brains, we go to the money and the time and the logistical like the real logistical part of it. But all of that stuff is figureoutable and I love the idea of keeping in mind the benefit, the reason, the purpose of doing this in the first place. Kind of like your guiding light, right? I'm just curious if there is any differences, nuances in advice or strategy or plan for entrepreneurs versus people who are full time employed. No matter what. I'm assuming that we all need to think about financials, but for a lot of us entrepreneurs or solo entrepreneurs it can feel really scary because sometimes the work keeps going when you're not there and or at least the stuff coming in and there's that feeling if I'm not there to work it, then it's all going to fall apart.
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A
Absolutely. I mean let's acknowledge that. Right? I think taking a break as an employee is a simpler proposition. It's not necessarily easy, obviously. Right. But it's simpler. I think the biggest question sometimes that people struggle with beyond like what will I find another job once my break is over? Which the answer is yes, yes you will, is health insurance. Right. So when you have an employer like you probably have some great health insurance or at least, you know, affordable health insurance and you have to go on the exchange or find some other solution when you're going to be on a break. Entrepreneurs typically have figured out the insurance part that won't change necessarily when they're on a break, so they have that benefit. But to your point, the business keeps going and so it's harder to take a longer break. As an entrepreneur, I think I've had a couple of clients who were entrepreneurs. By far the majority have been employees, but, but a few entrepreneurs. One of them had a larger business like a multi six figure business. And so she decided to scale her team over the course of a year to prepare. So it was a longer ramp of put someone in place, putting systems in place, getting an SOP together, right. Of who, what she's doing and how she's doing it so that the team could run. And then her break went in phases. It was three months of real disconnect, please don't, don't text me, don't call me unless it's a true emergency. And then it was three months after that of okay, I'm here, I'm in the background, I'm not client, I'm not client facing like I don't want to be in the day to day, but like I'm a part of this team if you need me and like checking in, you know, and having weekly updates. So she had to take a phased approach. So maybe a phased approach with a shorter distance disconnection, just real break before you come back online is part of what you need. But I think if you have the ability to think about support and a longer on ramp, you know, getting someone up to speed or getting some tools in place to automate some things so that less is required of you. And then you know, if you can't do those things proactively, schedule two weeks or three weeks, like a year in advance, block your calendar and don't let clients or other people make appointments during that time. And just like you said, figureoutable, you will figure out if you hold that and you decide to be accountable to it, you will figure out how to cover, you know, those three weeks. Take it as a test run if you love it, if it changes your life, if you Come back really inspired with great ideas next week or next year. Go for four, go for five. Right? You can build up from there. You don't have to do it all at once. But for sure, the entrepreneurial sabbaticals are oftentimes shorter, unless you have a really big team that can sub in for you.
- [20:36]
B
Okay, so two questions popped up. First, curious your thoughts on. I don't think there's a term for it. I'm going to call it like a hybrid approach. So, for example, it's my goal to take three months off summer of next year. And the way I kind of mentally am wrapping my brain around it is I'll take one half day a week and just plug in, check the emails, delegate, do what I need to do, you know, have my out of office and everybody knows not to bother me. But is that like, is there a warning in there? Is that not technically a break? Like, is there something I should be considering there? Let's start with that question.
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A
Yeah, I would give you a warning. So I would say I would rather you do that than take no break at all. So by far, I would call it a break and I would give you a high five. I'd be like, yeah, you do it, Nicole, I'm proud of you. Right. But the warning I would give you is a version of the warning I give people that are employed, that are passively scrolling LinkedIn, for example, when you are energetically connected, it's like the thread doesn't get cut, right? So there is a part of your brain that will be having lots of thoughts about your business because every week you're coming back to the portal and you're plugging in, like, energetically, right? So if that's what you have to do, that's what you have to do. But what I would encourage you to think about is what if you had a complete disconnect, power down before you powered up? So what if there were, you know, two weeks or three weeks where it was just nothing and then you started to come back online? Because I think we also have to think about it, like experiments. You might realize that power down is amazing or it might be really triggering. Probably it's going to be a mix of both. But when you come back, right, you might, you might realize, actually, I want to do every other week and I want to do a whole day because if I'm being honest, the half day, I'm thinking about it and I'm thinking about, you know, stuff when I'm done. And so I should just surrender the Whole day, But a whole day every two weeks. Right. You might find new ways to approach it, but I would high, highly recommend giving yourself a period where you're fully disconnected. And to the same for LinkedIn, right? Please stop passively scrolling. Like, just shut it down, turn it off for at least, you know, a month. Because watching people achieve things, watching people have wins, watching people get jobs, watching people talk about how few jobs there are and how abysmal the job market is, like, all of that stuff is going to trigger you and you are constantly going to be thinking about work. So I would say, like, it's a version of that, but the entrepreneurial version.
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B
Yeah, great advice. Okay. And then I have noticed that I had it in my mind, possibly because it's how I want to do it. And you've used the word go a few times, like go on sabbatical. And so is there an element of going somewhere, or do people often take sabbaticals at home, like, just to, you know, because then that adds the extra element, the going somewhere of kids and home life. And you're not just taking a break from work life, you're, you know, changing up everything. So what are you seeing people do? Is it a combination of both? How does that work?
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A
Yeah, it's usually a combination of both. So even my break was a lot of traveling the world, but there were whole entire months I was stationary in one place. So, you know, I've asked my question, my. This question to my clients, because when Wiley asked me to write for Taking a Break for Dummies, I was like, oh, my gosh, I've gotta. I've gotta see what's true. I wanna put some numbers in here. And so what came up was about two thirds of my clients traveled abroad during a break. So by. By, you know, by far, if you have a lot of time off, a lot of people want to go places they can't normally go when they have a shorter vacation, which totally makes sense. But there are a third of people staying at home and not traveling at all. Some of them have kids, some of them don't, but it was. About 30% of my clients had children, 60% were partnered. So there's also that navigating the dynamics. This is what I would say about it. It. Travel is both logistically hard and also mentally little easier when you, when it comes to taking a break, because anytime you put yourself in a different environment, your old routines, your old habits, they kind of like get suspended in the air while your brain is like, what do I do? This is a new place and it sometimes becomes easier to focus on something, to have a distraction or to set new habits in this liminal space where you don't have an old routine. So I find that like moving forward with like healthier habits or not feeling so lost because you're, you're physically at your house but you're not working and you used to be working and now you just don't know what to do with yourself. Right. It kind of eliminates some of that. But there definitely is logistical stuff and financially that's not an option for everyone either. Breaks can be life changing. Even if you're at home. I think you just have to be more thoughtful about how you want your structure to go so that you don't spiral out when you have too much like empty space and you don't like, you know, have the panic of that set in and cause you to like hit the eject button. But also so that you don't turn your break into another full time job where you have a to do list from the ceiling to the floor and you're like, well, this is, this is the perfect time to repaint that room and to get this out and to go do you know, it's like the long list of to dos will never end. And so I don't want you to turn it into a job and replace it with that. So it's really finding that balance. If you can't travel, if you don't want to travel, if you can't afford to travel, I would recommend trying to take day trips or find new places or maybe even a short staycation of sorts to just give yourself a physical break in your environment, to just stir up new thoughts, new feelings, and to really create that mental separation from your old life and the old way as you're starting your break.
- [25:57]
B
Okay, makes sense. Again, good advice. You said early in our conversation, I think around the blossom idea of, you know, that this is a time to explore new things and like hobbies and lists of things you've probably always wanted to do that we all say, if I had the time, I would do this or when I achieved, you know, I would do this. Curious for the person like me who actually really does love their work, definitely subscribed to the hustle culture and got too sucked in many, many, many times and has experienced burnout a lot. I don't actually know that I have a long list of hobbies or things that I've always wanted to do and I can't sit around and read and eat Cheese all day. Because that's the only thing I know for sure I like to do. What about the person who doesn't have yet a good idea of what they would do with their time on a sabbatical? Any. Any ways to get the wheels turning?
- [26:56]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I love that you asked this question. So in the blueprint, actually, right after developing a purpose statement, I ask people to come up with three to four themes that might look like connection, it might look like adventure, it might look like learning. Right? But. But sort of a word that anchors you to the pillars of your break that are going to fulfill your purpose. And from that place you can start to think of activity. So to your point, you know, even with why, like with cheese, right? And reading. Okay, yeah, you can only read and eat so much cheese. But it's like, if you're passionate about cheese, maybe you want to take a cheese making course, right? Or if you're passionate about reading, maybe you're doing the book club. So it's even like branches out from something that you're interested in. But when we think about the day and how to spend your time, it really comes back to a mix of that purpose statement and your themes. So if your purpose is to heal burnout, right, you might want to really study some meditation or you might want to do an online course on, you know, like, how to heal your burnout. You might want to just go be in nature and decide that. Taking daily walks for two hours with no specific outcome, right? Like, I don't have to go so fast or do so many miles, but I'm just gonna go walk for two hours. That might become a part of your routine. So it really becomes about what was this time meant for me like to do? What would I want to do with it? What was the purpose I'm trying to fulfill? And then aligning your actions and the things you're doing or not doing to really embrace that. Right. And. And starting from that creative place. But you can also get so many ideas, from thing to podcast, blogs, all the things you can get inspired. I love reading books for ideas. I ended up in Provence because I read Peter, Peter Males A Year in Provence. And I was like, I'm gonna eat that and I'm gonna eat that. And then next thing you know, I was in Provence for like two weeks because Peter Mail told me about what I could eat there. So, you know, go with the inspiration, I guess.
- [28:35]
B
Yeah, that makes so much sense to my brain. That's how I. I could see doing it. Okay, so we've mentioned this a few times and I'm sure there are some disbelievers out there about the idea that this could actually increase your professional value or you know, that there will be jobs available and jobs you want that pay well. How have you seen this in real life? Increase professional value and create opportunity.
- [29:03]
A
I love this question. It's so juicy because I see I literally just had someone message me, a client message me yesterday about what she's doing after her break. This is what I'm going, I'm going to say at a high level and I'm going to give you really concrete examples, but high level. There are so many possibilities for people out there that are high achievers, that are smart, that have great expertise, that have strong networks. That is, that is the listeners, right? That is the people that are listening to us right now. Like you have so many assets that are working in your favor. When you take a break and you are restored, when you're that little hamster on the wheel that goes out and lives in the grass and gets your hamster feed and you've gotten your knee fixed and you've got your, you know, your sprain is healed, right? You are just bursting with ideas, you're ready to contribute, you're excited. You have a higher standard in your life of how you want to be treated and the kind of environments you want to show up in. It's incredible what that attracts and what possibilities exist beyond your current imagination. So, for example, I have one client client who was a VP of operations. She had a very good salary. She takes a break. She wants to write a novel. She starts writing her novel several months into her break, maybe around like month six or seven, she gets contacted by a recruiter for a contract position, a temporary contract position. She evaluates that, decides to say yes. It pays twice her corporate salary. She now works six months a year on a contract and then takes a break. Six months a year. This was not something that we could have ever predicted, right? Who knew that that was possible, but that was what was unlocked for her. I have another client who started a whole nonprofit. It was very successful, ran for several years. She burned out. That's very understandable. A lot of people in nonprofit know that feeling. She was intimately tied and felt a lot of obligation to making sure that she was still present for the nonprofit. But extremely burnt out. She quits, you know, the nonprofit. She leaves. She has this big transition. She goes to become a certified equine healer in the UK and gets a license and she spends her time Actually going on farms to heal people's animals that are sick or that have injuries. It's incredible. She started an animal sanctuary. She's exploring her passions and making money in a way that is so different than running the nonprofit. There are so many possibilities. Myself, when I came back from my break, I landed five job offers in five weeks. One of them was to change careers and become a Delta flight attendant. One job was for a 30% pay raise and a promotion. Another job was a dream job that I had asked the universe for four years earlier and didn't feel like was ever going to be possible. And it magically appeared in my LinkedIn, like, while I was scrolling. I applied for it, I got the job, and it was so amazing to fulfill that dream. I think there are so much possibility, but our brains are scarcity. They're wired for scarcity. Sort of negativity bias, and, like, they just want to keep us safe. They want us to survive. There are so many possibilities we can't see. And I think a break opens your mind, it opens your eyes so that you can actually start to create the life you want instead of just trying to double down on old versions of what you have or what you see other people around you having.
- [31:55]
B
Yeah, great examples. And I'll add, it's anecdotal, but every single time I've slowed down, my income has gone up. And it's amazing. Every single time I travel, it's sort of a running joke with my husband. Now, every single time I travel, there's a new speaking engagement offer in my inbox or like a new coaching offer or something that just like. I'm like, where did that come from? It just feels like there's something from a manifesting or attraction stance or something that happens when I'm not so locked in and focused and angsty and, you know, that creates space for new things. So people. So I have so many more questions. Katrina, I know we're at time. I'm going to encourage you, the listener, to go to kmcgeekoaching.com There is a free blueprint on the website that Katrina is offering all of us. Katrina, could you explain a little bit about that? And does it include the seven elements of a successful break?
- [32:55]
A
Does it Absolutely does. Yeah. So you can download the blueprint for free. It is literally the blueprint and framework I have used to power over a hundred breaks. So. So all the hundred breaks, it's always been the blueprint. It's sort of evolved and been honed over time, but it's going to tell you what those elements are beyond just the purpose statement and the themes. And it's really just about being thoughtful people. Over plan a break. To your point, we want to go into the logistics and figure out like the health insurance and the cost and all the things. But first we have to figure out what do I need to get from this and what does a successful break even look like for me? And that's what this blueprint is going to do, along with like the high level, you know, estimated cost, re entry period stats. It's a perfect blend of like, structure and not too much structure because I don't want you to over plan it and have like, basically like a crisis of consciousness whenever you're in the middle of your break and you're like, this is nothing like what I planned or I've over planned it and I've stressed myself out. Like, I want you to feel really good about it and have a flexible plan that can adapt as you move through your break.
- [33:52]
B
Well, Katrina, I am impressed with our guests 100% of the time. And so often I'll follow their work or read their book or whatever. But it's very rare that I'm like, I'm gonna hire you to coach me to do something. And I am 100% gonna do that because I am taking my three month plus next year. And I know I would benefit from all seven elements and some guidance and some challenge too, because as you probably saw, I can trick myself into like, oh, I'm just gonna do this. Or you know, as. As we often do. So, Katrina, thank you for an exceptional conversation and for doing this very necessary and important work.
- [34:32]
A
Thank you so much for having me. Nicole, this was a blast.
- [34:35]
B
It was my pleasure. Okay, friend. Maybe taking a break isn't about quitting or giving up. Maybe it's not selfish or lazy or irresponsible. Maybe, just maybe, it's the most responsible, badass, strategic, wildly smart thing that you can do for yourself and for your career. Because here's what I know. If you're constantly running on fumes, if you're always hustling for your worth, if you've bought into the idea that rest is something you earn only after you've done enough, been enough, achieved enough, with enough always being a moving target, it's time for us to call bullshit on all of that. No matter what hustle culture tries to tell you, you are not a machine. You're a human being. One who deserves joy, rest, adventure, space and time. Taking a sabbatical or a much needed career break. Well, let me be the first or the next if somebody has been in your ear already to tell you that that is very much woman's work.
- [35:39]
A
Hey JJ Virgin here on my podcast well beyond 40, we ditched the idea of aging gracefully and go all in on aging powerfully. Every week I host powerful experts who can give you powerful insights on building muscle, boosting your energy and feeling amazing no matter what your age. This is your one life and trust me, being smarter and stronger are superpowers that can turn lifespan into strength span. Listen to well beyond 40 wherever you get your podcasts.