There are times in life when we operate on autopilot, whether that’s doing our job, taking care of our family or just going about our daily routine. Some of us stay on autopilot our entire lives. It’s comfortable and predictable. The problem is that it’s also incredibly boring and stagnating!
Since I’ve always been a workaholic, taking breaks from my jobs have been my saving grace in life. Before my last year in college, instead of working, I spent the summer at cousin’s house in Los Angeles. When I was approaching burnout in my high-stress job as a magazine publisher, I pooled all my vacation and holidays together and took a two-month sabbatical. Three years later, when I felt I had achieved all that I wanted in that position, I gave notice and left without a plan. I took time off and launched an entirely new career as a writer and speaker.
Taking a break is not about being lazy as you might think, but about being courageous. It takes courage to stop doing the familiar for the unknown and trust that everything will work out fine. It opens up your creativity, helps you reinvent yourself and rejuvenates you emotionally, physically and spiritually. If you approach a break fearlessly, you’ll have oodles of fun and new possibilities in your life.
Some breaks are more typical — a vacation to another country, a week without working out, a meatless Monday, a month without alcohol. Other breaks can be life-changing — quitting your job without another one waiting, leaving your marriage and living alone, moving to a foreign country. You may be ready for a break if you:
• Stay busy just for the sake of being busy.
• Are bored in your career, life or marriage.
• Avoid spending time alone.
• Are afraid of change.
• Wake up each morning dreading the day ahead.
• Have no passion for your work or life in general.
I’ve been writing books, blogs and articles that help people make positive changes in their life for over 15 years now. I will always be a writer, but I’m ready for something new to write about. So, I’m taking a break from my current genre while I await my next creative inspiration. I hope you’ll join me again then!