Page 177 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

STEP 6: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 165

MY ALTERNATIVE CAREERS

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It’s OK to Take a Minibreak or Sabbatical

If you just can’t seem to figure things out or are stumped by these
exercises, it may be time to take a break from your routine and get
some perspective on your life. It may be
that you pack it all in to volunteer for
the Peace Corps for a year or two, or it Your vision will become
may simply be that you book a three- clear only when you
day weekend at a B and B in the vicinity. can look into your
Sometimes we are so immersed in our own heart.
current lives, family commitments, and
work that we just can’t train our eyes —CARL JUNG
on the bigger picture. I strongly rec-
ommend that at a minimum you book
that long weekend away. That is often enough of a restorative,
but if it isn’t, then you can consider doing something a tad more
extreme such as taking an extended leave of absence or a proper
sabbatical.
During these tough times, you may think it’s impossible to
take a long-term sabbatical, and that’s OK, but there are numer-
ous other ways to take a retreat from your life. Besides staying at
a B and B for a weekend, you could spend a few days at an inn in a
small town, a quiet beach house during the off-season, or a cabin
in the woods. You might house-sit for a friend who is traveling.
The unifying theme here is to make a concerted effort to get out