As an entrepreneur, Bob Lotich loves growing and expanding. But after a particularly stressful year, he realized he had burned out.
He woke up one Monday morning and, for the first time since he’d started self-employment, he realized he didn’t want to go to work. This was a new and uncomfortable feeling.
He decided to take a mini-retirement.
He had taken long breaks before. In the past, Bob had taken a full month off of work. This time, he wanted to a more ambitious break. He wanted to take a quarter off.
He went to his whiteboard. He wrote the goal “take a sabbatical,” intending for this to last for three months. But then he paused. He wondered if he spelled the word “sabbatical” correctly.
He Googled the word, then started reading about the concept. Bob learned that a sabbatical is historically a one-year break. Hmmm.
That’s when he changed direction. Bob decided to take a full year off work. He was going to embark on a one-year mini-retirement.
He reviewed his budget. He set up systems with his assistant. And when he felt comfortable enough to step away, he started his 12-month mini-retirement.
He read books. He worked outdoors in his garden. He allowed himself to feel bored. And then, quite unexpectedly, he received a phone call that changed his life.
By coincidence, a few weeks after his sabbatical started, Bob received a phone call from an adoption agency. He and his wife had applied to become adoptive parents, but they thought that they wouldn’t get matched with a baby for several more months or years.
To his surprise, the agency told him that they’d matched the couple with a baby. Normally, adoption agencies give parents at least three months’ notice, but in this case, the agency had found a baby that was born last night. If they’d like to adopt this child, they could meet their new child today.
Less than an hour later, Bob and his wife were in the car, driving to pick up their newborn. He spent the rest of his one-year sabbatical being a full-time dad.
Today, Bob joins us on the Afford Anything podcast to discuss why and how he took a mini-retirement, and to offer advice to anyone (whether traditionally employed or self-employed) who might want to do the same.
Resources Mentioned:
- Seedtime.com
- Seedtime on YouTube
- Pause, by Rachael O’Meara
- affordanything.com/
onlinebusiness - affordanything.com/water
- affordanything.com/store
- Mini-Retirements, Semi-Retirement, Early Retirement – What’s the Most Awesome Lifestyle? – Afford Anything blog post
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