Life is a journey, not a destination. So sayeth an Aerosmith song! š Seriously though, whether we like it or not (and as the title of this blog indicates) we are all In The Midst Of A Journey called life. And there is no journey where you are constantly moving. In every journey there will be times when you just stop. You stop to rest. You stop to fulfill biological needs. You stop to get your bearings and decide if you are still headed to where you want to go. To name a few reasons. Work and careers are a major part of life for most of us. They are an integral part of the journey. So why not call a halt to your career every so often?
The last question Iām sure would elicit a variety of answers from people depending on what their life situation is. Itās a question that I have not pondered in many years but recently (over the past 12 months) Iāve been thinking about it more and more. In my 20s I used to think about career breaks a lot! I actually had about five different careers in my 20s as I was still finding myself and hadnāt discovered any particular thing that motivated me strongly. I also had few responsiblities. I either lived at home with my parents (in my early 20s) and then later (my mid to late 20s) I either had roommates in a small apartment or lived alone in a very small apartment. Children and family were not yet on my radar so my cost of living and responsiblities were minimal. So I got into this cycle of saving up money when I was tired of a job, then quitting the job, then taking it easy for a while (weeks to months) and finally seeking out a new opportunity. When I was 29 all of that changed.
At 29 I broke the cycle of revolving employment and found my career. That career has been at the forefront of my life for the past 25 years. Early on in my career I still longed for the freedom of the break from work although I pursued it in different ways. I became the master of the long weeked trip, and once I was able to have the opportunity to take a 6-week āsabbaticalā to do some extensive traveling. For a few years into my new career I thought I had that work/life balance thing mastered. But then my life situation changed again. Marriage and a first child being born changed the situation completely. The cost of long weekend trips became unsustainable and free time was often devoted to family and upkeep of our house (which included a mortgage). So began a long period where work, family and (later on) education became the top priorities.
If you are past your mid-30s by now the above change in life may be familiar to you. Or not! More and more people today eschew the traditional paths in life and stay relatively unencumbered till later in life if they ever take on such encumberences as marriage, family and a mortgage at all. So mileage definitely varies by generation. I do believe though that Generation X (my generation) still largely bought in to the cycle of life that I mention above. I know that I did. And the upshot of it has been decades working in the corporate world riding the ups and downs (some drastic) in life and business. We all know that life has become complicated, stressful and weird in recent years. And as if the things we canāt control (because they are decided by our ābettersā) arenāt enough to deal with there are things such as health, relationship and family challenges to deal with. The sum of which have me feeling absolutelyā¦burntā¦out! š®āšØ
By now Iāve dealt with the things I can deal with including, changing my mindset, eating healthier, exercising more and moving to a lower maintenance and lower cost housing situation. All of the above have improved my life situation unquestionably. But Iām still feeling burnt out. And if thereās one proverbial rock in my running shoe I am convinced that itās my present job and career situation. Iāve been chugging along in my career for a quarter century (yikes! š³) having worked for 3 different companies and having been in my current job for more than a decade. Many life changes (good and bad) have occurred during that time and Iāve still plowed ahead with my career. The demands of which have increased greatly in recent years with that trend expected to continue into next year. So after all this timeā¦Iām thinking itās time for a career break.
The first thoughts that came into my head when considering taking a career break were definitely not in support of the idea. Some include the following.
- Youāre crazy!
- Youāre lazy!
- Youāll go broke!
- Your boss will be furious!
- Youāll never get hired again!
Taking stock of them now the above ideas range from the ridiculous to somewhat likely. None of them change the dominant feeling I have that something more needs to change in my life. I did a bit of internet research on the concept of career burnout and found numerous articles from major business and health authorities. Based on this research two things became clear. First, that I have many of the feelings and āsymptomsā associated with career burnout. Second, that taking a career break is a subject thatās avoided in articles that cover the topic of career burnout. Something seemed amiss to me. āHow could a career break not be an option,ā I wondered. There may be another agenda in play though. No large, corporate organization wants to recommend that employees need to walk away from their jobs. At least thatās what I think!
Further research on the subject of sabbaticals (the traditional name for a career break) yielded many articles trumpeting the benefits of such breaks but usually in the context of some sort of corporate program that you have to apply to, ensuring that your job is waiting for you upon return. Unfortunately few companies offer a sabbatical option as a benefit and when they do numerous strings are attached. Strings that might not align with your goals in taking a career break.
The conclusions that Iāve come to after months of contemplation and research are as follows.
- A career break is an individual choice and you canāt expect your friends, colleagues or boss to encourage you.
- Like any major career move, a career break requires planning.
- The decision to take a career break should not be driven by corporate policies, which means you may just need to resign from your job.
- The decision to take a career break should be driven by your feelings and not what other people will think.
Having considered all of the above Iāve determined that a career break is right for me. I will expand on where this leads from here in future posts. For the moment I can say that the level of stress Iāve felt, the impact that has had on my state of mind and my ability to get a good nightās sleep warrants a change. I donāt see it as the end of anything with regard to my career, but the beginning of the next phase of my life journey. š«”
In The Midst Of A Journey 