Six Months Off: How To Plan, Negotiate, & Take The Break You Need Without Burning Bridges Or Going Broke
Every time the word sabbatical appeared in the book, I replaced it with the word, life. A couple of my favorite parts talked about life, if you only had six months to live, what would you do? The authors sliced the answer into three parts: 1) Things that must positively get accomplished before departing, 2) Things you would like to get done and 3) Parts of your lifestyle that need to halted immediately.
The authors talked about BOOB Challenges…they just didn’t know it, yet…”Happiness and personal growth go up, when we push ourselves to the level of discomfort.” This is why The Ren Men try new things every week to push ourselves, learn something new, and perhaps have a little fun along the way.
The ‘menu of fantasies’ (sabbatical trips) list was huge. The three that interested me the most were: Insight Mediation Society, Europe Through the Back Door Inc. and Wilderness Travel. None of the aforementioned fantasies, have I tried. The one flaw of the list is, since the book was written in 1996, no websites were listed. I’m sure the sabbaticals can easily be found on the internet, it might take a little more searching.
The last portion of the book dissected exactly how to tell your boss you will be leaving, how to make plans for your work, how to plans for your personal life, and how to make a plan for your sabbatical. A ton of factual and helpful tips and hints shine through in the fantastic case studies. Three case studies fill the last pages of the book. I love reading stories of life-altering decisions and people living for the now, that is what lifestyle design is all about.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Grant and Alan,
This sounds like a great read. I’m presently working my way through something similar called “Gap Years for Grown Ups”, by Susan Griffith. It’s about taking time off from work with a primary focus on volunteering opportunities throughout the world.
The book was written for readers in the UK, so it’s not all relevant in the US. Additionally, the font is quite small, and sometimes the content can become a bit tedious. I’m a bit over half-way through it and I would presently grade it a C – Not at the top of my grading scale by any means, but interesting enough that I don’t want to give up on getting through it.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that you review “Gap Years…” but it sounds like “Six Months Off” may make for an enjoyable read for me. I’ll add it to my list of potential Amazon purchases.
Matt
Thanks for the book review.
Keep the info coming!