I wrote the post about my first journey in 2011 to shed light on why the year was transformative, and why I was motivated to plan for another.
As mentioned in the post, I didn’t initially plan that year off. It came about organically and the impact was only realized a few years later when I looked back to connect the dots.
10 years have passed since then, and now I’m deliberately planning a year off this time. This post is about how I imagine this year off to be!
Defining the‘year off’
I’m taking a year off from my current path* to rest, and deliberately create space to explore a different way of living. It’s just a timeframe where I withhold any immediate decision on what’s next, and just explore for the sake of exploring.
*When I say ’path’ I don’t mean just jobs, but a lifestyle that combines your job and a way of living.
I also decided to stay away from the term well-known in the academia called, ‘sabbatical’ to avoid confusion and refer to this year simply as the ’year off.’
… And why
Have you ever been on top of a mountain, get that birds eye view of the of the world and thought ‘wow things look different from here’? When we are down there, things we work so hard for seem bigger than they are. But it’s not that obvious until we’re physically removed for some time.
It is those moments when I would wonder about the path that I had been on. I think a lot of us have those moments, but aren’t given space to try out the alternatives.
To me, a year off is an enforced trial period of trying out the ”what ifs.”
What’s the intended outcome?
The goal isn’t necessarily to diverge from the path. This can provide a gateway to a new path, or you can also come back with renewed passion and conviction for the path you had been on.
I’ve witnessed people that reach a certain milestone that they had worked hard for, and (inevitably) get tired after a few years. And even if it’s the work we enjoy everyday, repetition and factors beyond our control eventually wear us out.
A chance to try something else for awhile seems like a good way to reground us in our calling, or finally make that leap.
A year off every 5-10 years — why the timeframe?
It is my hypothesis that 5-10 years is usually when one gets tired on a given path and starts the ”what ifs.” It also might be just long enough to recognize patterns and give the path enough chance.
A year of trying something new seems just enough time to rejuvenate and explore something deep enough. I don’t mean ’deep enough’ to know whether a path will give you the instant rewards, but just enough to know how your body feels in those moments (and repeatedly).
Context for my year off
Over the last 10 years, I’ve been working as a digital product designer and leader in a global consultancy and a tech firm. I’ve honestly been privileged with the life I wished for and hustled for.
As mentioned above, even with the life and career I enjoyed very much, I identified some gaps. For clarity, perfection isn’t the goal and some gaps are ok to be left unfilled. The gaps that are worth listening to are the ones that get in your way of living the life that are fully authentic to you. E.g. Is my lifestyle aligned with my values? Am I fully seen by people around me?
According to studies from How to Do the Work (by Dr. Nicole Lepera), we can find answers to such questions by listening to our bodies. Luckily they send signals everyday, both good and bad. And the bad ones turn into physical symptoms over time when we ignore them.
In the last few years, I had my journey of developing a closer relationship to my body and mind, and started to make notes of the needs that are unmet.
Intents for my year off
My primary intent this year is to understand and explore what it means to have the next chapter of life that fills the gaps I identified. To reframe, I wonder how I can achieve the following:
Better integrated health – mind, body, soul
What had been required of my jobs in the past were all “brain,” and little “body and soul.” ‘Soulful’ life is something we don’t discuss much but I was starting to find this to be an important element for our holistic health. I’ll spend time understanding the levers, and eventually a job or culture (city/country) that would allow me to have better integrated health of all three.
Flexible job and life style
This is one important lever for the point above. Flexibility in hours would allow more movement day to day, impacting the mind and body health. Flexibility in location allows more time with family and close friends which nourishes the soul. I’ll be spending time to understand what job would allow such lifestyle.
Explorations ahead
Since kicking off my year off in September 2021, I left my job at Facebook, left my apartment in New York, finished my coast-to-coast U.S. road trip, flew to Korea and set up this blog to document my journey of explorations.
I’m hoping that the rest of my time off will be about trying things out and eventually gaining insights on what levers achieve the lifestyle I envision for myself.
There are some activities that I think will guide my explorations and bring joy along the way.
- Meet people outside of my usual communities and learn about their lifestyles and to gain inspiration for my next chapter
- Learn about topics of interest nourishing to my soul, such as Korean traditional vegetarian food, tea, arts and design
- Learn about different investment strategies to support my potential new lifestyle
- Be open to new project ideas that I can do uniquely during this time and well aligned with my intentions
- Stick to routines that ground me – meditation, yoga, nature, friendships and family
I’ll use this blog to document my reflections, experiences and learnings along the way!
