You can probably think of lots of reasons why a #gapyear is NOT a good idea. Or, it's a good idea for others but not for you. Your reasons may have to do with money, family, or other responsibilities. Really, the decision is yours to make. As we now know...
"Self care is not selfish"
If a year off is what you need, who's to say you can't do it?
Creating a list of common blockers is the best way to tackle them. This works not just for gap years, but for all things in life. Here are some I've been hearing lately:
1. It’s great for other people
2. I feel like I'm abandoning my family
3. I don’t speak the language
4. I can’t afford it
5. Going away is selfish
6. People will judge me
7. My business needs me
8. My spouse is a homebody
9. I can't plan that far ahead
I'm going to address these one at a time in my upcoming posts and I encourage you to address yours too. Your top ten might be different from the list above. Maybe you only have three; maybe you have twelve. Write down your own list of blockers so that you can work through them on your own schedule.
Clockwise from left: me at Avellanas, mangos at the local fruit stand in Villareal, shell at Avellanas, sunset in Tamarindo
I've been in love with #CostaRica ever since my first visit (more about that later). As for #myadultgapyear I've been thinking about this for a while, and I know nothing is going to stop me.
You might not be there yet, and that's ok. Stick with me - you've got this!
Chrissy,
Thank you for sharing and role modeling - way to take care of yourself. Incredible that your hard work paid off and you were able to take time for yourself and your family.
In my experience COVID has both made time off harder and more necessary. For everyone, and for care givers in particular.
I love this "I have confidence the right opportunity/vision will present itself in the right time."
And thank you for your kind words. Anything I can do to let us all open up this conversation and create safe spaces for all of us - I'm in!
😍
Mikaela,
I have been thinking for some time that I needed a sabbatical. Self care has always been a challenge for me routed in my experience as a single mom struggling to provide and then as a business owner striving to be successful.
As you know, I fought hard to re-launch my career in 2012 after a 8 year career break to raise my young kids. I spent the last 6 years growing my small business Talent Gap. I even came up with the company name because of the “gap” on my resume and the “war” for talent with organizations.
After all that hard work - how could I consider taking another break? I sacrificed time for myself, with my…