I’m on sabbatical

Don’t try to hire me (for now)

Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal!

I’m obsessed with old European architecture

It’s been many years since I visited this city. It feels good to be back. I’m three cold brews deep and have a couple of milestones to share from last week:

1. I turned 34 years old 🥳

2. I stepped down from my full-time role at a marketing agency 🙅🏼‍♂️

So without further ado, let’s get into it…

Another year older

On birthdays, I always take time to reflect on my accomplishments. It’s easy to forget about progress and cast aside how far we’ve come, which is why I keep a journal.

It’s a steady reminder to help me stay focused on my goals.

When I look back at past entries, it gives me perspective on whether or not I’m staying true to my word. Am I taking action and getting results, or am I just spinning my wheels?

It also helps me notice repeating themes. One particular theme that has been very present the past few months is the topic of sabbaticals.

I’m no stranger to sabbaticals. My first one was in 2018 when I quit my engineering job and moved to Barcelona. It was hands down one of the best decisions of my life. I felt like a kid again, discovering a new culture, a new language, a new way of living.

I followed my curiosity and started picking up new skills.

I’d always wanted to get better at photography, so I learned the fundamentals and landed my first few freelance clients. At the same time, I worked as a tour guide and learned all about the history of Barcelona. Then in 2020, when COVID hit, I landed a remote sales gig.

This gave me the ability to generate an income from my laptop, which was the original goal of my sabbatical. I then took advantage of the digital nomad lifestyle and traveled the world while working multiple jobs. After working closely with a few founders, I started taking on my own consulting projects focused on helping online businesses increase their client retention.

In November, I got an offer to onboard full-time with a marketing agency for residential contractors. The money was good, and we were getting our clients results, but after a few months, I came to realize it was a toxic environment.

In the end, I decided I won’t tolerate a shitty environment just because the pay is good. I want to solve interesting problems and work with people who energize me.

So I decided….

I’m taking a break

This is the first time in a few years that I don’t have a “job” or freelance client.

I have no plan and no set amount of time I’m taking off. It feels liberating. Ever since getting a taste of what it’s like to make money online, I’ve jumped from opportunity to opportunity, never really leaving myself space in between.

There are so many things I’ve been putting off.

I’m going to dedicate more time writing and creating YouTube videos. I’m also in the process of getting my motorcycle license and as a non-native Spanish speaker, it’s proving to be more difficult than I imagined. Then there are all the miscellaneous things as well, books I want to read and friends I want to catch up with, etc.

The world is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Things are changing more quickly than any other time in history.

In the future, things will change so rapidly that instead of going to university for four years once in your life, people will take 6-month breaks to learn a new skill or just simply recover. Even if we look at nature and the cyclicality of it all. Plants, animals, and most living things go through rest and rebirth periods.

I think of it like a software upgrade. It’s healthy to take breaks and sharpen the ax.

Paul Millerd

even suggested offering people a money-back guarantee on sabbaticals because of how powerful they can be. He says:

If I had infinite money, I would offer people a money-back guarantee on a three-month sabbatical sometime after the age of 30. I would have people take three months off, actively shift away from “worker mode,” and do at least one small creative project. If they didn’t have some sort of “a-ha” or moment of clarification about what they wanted to do with their life, I would offer them $25,000 no questions asked.

I’ve literally talked to only one person out of close to 100 that took some sort of sabbatical in the last five years and said, “yeah, didn’t do anything for me.” The other 99% of people? They typically report dramatic shifts.

I’m excited to see what this next sabbatical leads to. I’m opening myself up to the randomness of life and following my gut.

I’m also opening up my calendar to Curiosity Conversations. I’d love to meet with anyone reading this to swap stories and share ideas.

I believe that with every person we meet, there is potentially something that we didn’t necessarily know going into that meeting. That information has the potential to transform our lives.

If any of this sparked interest, I recommend checking out

Tobi Ogunnaike

’s newsletter. He’s running a live cohort for people looking to seize the pause and take a sabbatical.

Until next time my friends,

<3 B