Exactly 365 days ago, I embarked on my Sabbatical journey - Key Learnings I would love to share!

It‘s a wrap! Exactly 365 days ago, I embarked on my Sabbatical journey.

What is the actual definition of a 'Sabbatical'? (Source: Wikipedia) Sabbatical (from Hebrew ??? shabbat, 'to stop, rest'), derived from Sabbath or Shmita year in the Torah (Bible), was coined by U.S. American professors as a term for a research semester or sabbatical year. In a broader sense, Sabbatical or 'Gap Year'... or in other words, taking some serious time off that is genuinely off. Not a rushed long weekend, nor a week with occasional email checks - but a time to truly recharge.

I used this gift of time to travel, to not do much or nothing really (which was quite challenging !!!!), and acquired new and diverse skills. I learned a lot – about myself, about others, about life – simply broadened my horizons.

Looking at my initial to-do list, it reveals as follows:

• Have free time – time just for myself - Surprisingly, I was never not busy. Unlike the initial expectation/hope, there weren't many days with an empty schedule, and some days I even had a packed schedule. Yes, life still gets in the way.
• Learn new things - I engaged in self-learning activities, although some of them were not voluntary.
• Physical exercise and more sleep - ironically the once I ignored the most before and during my time off
• Explore new places – so really travel a lot
• Inspiration – meeting new people and learning new things (not just job-related)
• Revive old contacts – meet with friends, relatives, or old colleagues. I spoke to and met some people after 10+ years
• Decide what I want to do at the end of my time - decide whether to continue solo or return to corporate
• Share my (life) experience and knowledge – meaning mentoring and coaching and not asking anything in return (for free to give)
• Give back and volunteer - Going beyond my professional realm and giving my time for causes that help socialize with a wider network. Supporting nonprofits is meaningful and rewarding work
• And last but not least - Be (even) more authentic – simply not being afraid of sharing my weaknesses, failures, and low times

A long list, right?

In summary and all honesty, what did I really do?

The majority of my time off I actually spent in South Africa – my (new) happy place Cape Town. I met many new people, learned about different perspectives, and life models. I threw my goal of doing nothing for a year overboard, and after only 7 months, I took on a Fractional Enablement job at a brilliant and promising tech startup (thank you #Keboola and Olli Krebs . Over the entire 12 months, I had the opportunity to share my years of experience and know-how through mentoring and coaching young people in Germany and young ambitious entrepreneurs in South Africa.

So guess what - sweet doing nothing is not for me, or was it FOMO?

What can I share as two key learnings from my own downtime?

1.???? It is important to accept transition.

When taking off into the sweet doing nothing, your body, and more importantly, your mind needs to accept the change to make the switch from 100 down to zero. That was a major transition process and even an emotional shock for me! How many of us do not transition between meetings or rush between major discussions or make crucial decisions?

An emotional and mental switch is imperative – set every 2 hours a 15 minutes blocker in your calendar or start practicing 2 mins breathwork exercises at least twice a day!

2.???? We see more when we look up.

Walking around our day-to-day, we tend to only look down, at the walkway, our phones, laptops, etc. I realized that during a star-bathing retreat in the middle of nowhere in South Africa. I am part of something bigger, a galaxy where magnetism and attraction are key to survival. When we work or lead teams, do we take the time to look up and understand each person – or is it easier to look down and see a name on a spreadsheet of numbers?

How about paying more attention to people we meet and genuinely care about them? #peopleleadpeople

Thankfully, a sabbatical doesn’t just give you opportunities to do new things; it also allows you to experiment with new ways of being.

And the good news I take away from what I hear and read - Career breaks are no longer perceived as a pause in progress but rather as a strategic move for personal and professional development.

Now, at the end of mine, I have taken up things that I have never done (and could never have imagined doing) before. I became a fractional entrepreneur, being bold and determining (and owning) my own agenda. But most importantly, I lived one of my core values in HELPING others to grow. That will continue to be part of the time I can give, and for anyone who likes to profit from it. Let’s talk!

Cheers to my next chapter!

#personalgrowth #gapyear #worklifebalance #corevalues #future