The holiday season is approaching, and for many people, it’s a time to take it easy. Use this time to reflect on your work. Do you still enjoy what you do? Do you want to get more out of it? Experts tell you how to use this summer as a time for reflection.
We live most of the time on autopilot. Then there is little room to think about whether we still enjoy our work, says Marloes Halmans of The Happy at Work Agency, a company specializing in career coaching and coaching of starting entrepreneurs. “If you listen more to your feelings and follow them, you will see that you will make very different choices in your work.”
To get to that feeling, we need to go on vacation. Or at least take a few weeks off. “You don’t have to worry about daily work stress and don’t have to meet expectations. This gives you time to zoom out and discover what you want in your career.”
Take the entire summer period off from work
Growth strategist Josiene Borgers is the owner of Winning Impact and always takes the entire summer period off to disconnect from her work as an entrepreneur. “To find out what you really want and what you would do if there were no obstacles, you have to seek silence.”
At the beginning of the year, Borgers already plans the free period and based on that, she determines her work goals. “You just determine what you need to earn that year and see how you can manage that in ten months instead of twelve months. That gives so much more space. Many entrepreneurs are only busy making hours, don’t plan well and therefore don’t have the space to take a long time off.”
People who are employed can of course take a few weeks off less easily. But try it, says Borgers. “I have worked for large international companies and I know that you sometimes have the idea that you can’t be away for long. But what is six weeks? That period really won’t make a difference in your career.”
According to Borgers, real rest is valuable for every working person. Suddenly you see how you can solve certain problems or why you are always so restless. “We have to do so much all day, we have forgotten how to listen to our intuition. We think ‘stilling’ is too floaty. But if you don’t seek peace, you only hinder yourself and your potential. That’s a shame.”
Go on vacation alone and find a different environment
Halmans also says that you won’t get there with a week of relaxing under the Spanish sun. “I often see that people in my area are still complaining about the same things in September. My tip is: go on vacation alone. If you go with the family, you are still a parent and partner. If you go with a friend, you mirror yourself to her. Going on vacation alone actually works like a retreat. You lose your frame of reference. It also has to be uncomfortable for a while, then you only let go of what you think you are and discover who you want to be.”
To arrive at these answers on vacation, you don’t necessarily have to take a yoga mat to the campsite, says Borgers. “Some think they have to immediately start yoga or meditate. They make it such a big deal. During my vacation I go into nature a lot, hiking or cycling. That’s how I automatically get new insights again.”
It is also not necessary to go to a far destination, says Halmans. “Just by looking for a different environment you break the rhythm and patterns of home. Try writing down for yourself what you find important in your work, in your life. Just grab pen and paper and see what happens.”
Are you afraid that nothing will come of the change? Then the pain is not great enough, says Halmans. “It has to become too painful to go back to the life you led after your vacation. Only then will you feel the motivation to really change something.”