0:00:00 - Betsy Jordyn
Have you ever thought about hitting pause on your work or your business but immediately wondered how in the world would that even work? Well, hey there, everyone. Welcome to the podcast formerly known as Enough, already now called Consulting Matters. I'm still your host, Betsy Jordyn, and this is my first podcast back from sabbatical that I've been on since October 2024, and I've got so much to share with you, including why I'm renaming and repositioning my podcast.
But the focus for this episode is really about answering those common questions that I'm getting asked all the time about my slow walk back out of sabbatical into my work. So the questions like why did you even go on sabbatical? Who takes them? Why you know how much planning was involved? How do you fund it? What did you actually do on a sabbatical? Well, is you know how much planning was involved? How do you fund it? What did you actually do on a sabbatical? Was it worth it? And then, how'd you figure out when and how to come back? So I cannot wait to dive into these questions so that you can appreciate why I've become such a passionate sabbatical evangelist. In case you want to go on your own, I also want to give you a roadmap, a better one at least than what I had when I started mine. I'll also be sharing what I learned about myself, my purpose and what's next for me and my business.
So first question why did you go on sabbatical? Simply put, I went on sabbatical because I was dangerously tired, not just like physically tired where I could just, you know, have a good night's sleep or go to the spa or something like that. I was like so tired. I had gone through so many changes in my life over the last couple of years or so. I went on two cross-country moves in two years, which is a lot. I became an empty nester, which completely blindsided me. I kind of assumed that you know, as a single parent for all of these years, that I'd actually be excited to have some time for myself. I had no idea how much of a change that was going to be and how hard it was going to be to go through that transition. And there was all these other changes that were going on in my personal life and my business and it started to show up in my work.
So that's when I really started to notice like I got to do something, because I couldn't mask all of these stresses and all of this exhaustion anymore. You know I have these clients who, because I couldn't mask all of these stresses and all of this exhaustion anymore, you know I have these clients who I really, really love, who I'm passionate about, who I really wanted to help, and how I was showing up with them was crabby, resentful, irritable, you know. So all of this stuff that I have about my business that I really wanted to do for my clients, those exact needs started to annoy me and that was like, okay, I really got to do for my clients. Those exact needs started to annoy me and that was like okay, I really got to do something. And then my podcast that I absolutely really love. I felt like I was phoning it in. I actually recorded a couple episodes before I decided like I need to take a break. And I really don't even know what I was even asking. I just was so not present, and that is not like me. And so I decided I got to do something, because if I continued to go the way I was, if I was operating in that same mode, I was going to do something worse, like I was going to do some lasting damage to my health or to my brand or I don't know what. So something had to change. You know, either my life and my business needed to change or how I showed up in it needed to change. But either way, I just couldn't keep going as I was. So that's why I went on sabbatical.
So now let's talk about question number two. What planning was involved? So there's like the actual like planning itself. And then there was like my mindset planning, you know, because I had this like whole idea like, okay, cool, let's go on sabbatical. And then I had this other part of me that was like totally resistant to the idea. It was like, oh my God, like how am I gonna live without revenue? Like that was part of the concern. But you know, it was also like, what will people think of me? Will they think I'm damaged of some kind? What will I actually do on a sabbatical? You know the big concern I had business traction.
The majority of my marketing is all around content marketing. So I'm like, okay, well, if I stop like this content marketing wheel, what's going to happen? And then there's this other part around. You know, if I go on sabbatical, you know, am I lazy? Will I become lazy? Like, if I stop, will I ever start again. So I had all of these concerns and fears. And so, to manage the resistance, what I did is I just sort of noticed it. It's like, okay, it's there, it's playing around in the background, and then I went into my planning mode and it was actually through the planning that I really overcame my own resistance, because I started like really creating the business case for myself of why I needed to do this, and I also got some encouragement from other people, you know.
So the first thing I needed to figure out was how long was I going to take off of work and how was I going to fund my sabbatical. So I just sold my house in Denver and I downsized into a much less expensive townhouse in Orlando where I moved back to, and I had some money set aside that I was going to put into long-term savings and I decided that's the money I'm going to use to fund my sabbatical. So then I just did the math. It's like, okay, what's my personal expenses, what are my business expenses? And then I just divided it up and figured out where did I feel comfortable and I decided a four-month sabbatical would be good for me. That's what I decided with at first.
Then I chatted with some experts on what do I need to have in place so that I made sure I had some sort of traction on my business. So I had my podcast team create shorts out of my existing content and post it on LinkedIn and YouTube. I hired a content repurposer to take some of my content, turn it into blogs to maintain my SEO. Unfortunately, that situation did not work out and I didn't realize it wasn't going to work out until after sabbatical. So I let that go, you know. And then I set up a wait list and made changes to my website to make sure that people could go to that wait list. I upstated the linked on my account, links on my calendar and all of that kind of like logistic stuff that I needed to take care of. And then I created my communication plan to let everyone know. So I first began with personal conversations with each of my current clients, then my email list, my podcast listeners and my social media connection and followers. You know all that kind of stuff. But what really helped me with my mindset? And if you responded to my LinkedIn post where I announced my sabbatical, I just want to let you know I read every single one of your tips and encouragement and it really helped me so much. I got so many great pieces of advice as well that I carried into sabbatical and I would return to that post over and over again, you know, just to kind of remind myself that I was doing a good thing. But one of my favorite things that I got in terms of advice was put my return date in pencil. So I took that advice and it allowed me to approach my sabbatical with a lot more grace and a lot less pressure. So that was the planning part. So now I'm on sabbatical.
Question number three what did you do on sabbatical? And I would have to say at the start of sabbatical I had no idea what to do. I don't even think. I think part of it is that I wasn't even sure what a sabbatical was. I knew I wanted to take one, you know.
But I'm not a pastor. You know who's like burnout on the people demands and I'm not an academic. You know who just like takes time off to go work on some sort of creative product, you know project of some kind or some sort of research. You know it's like I really didn't know exactly what it was, but I tried out all those different approaches, you know. So first I'm like, oh, I'm going to go travel, I'm going to go visit family, you know. So I went to go visit my mom in Tucson and my daughter in Denver and it was super fun, but I didn't get that clarity and reset that I really wanted. So I did try out that academic approach and I'm like I know what I'm going to do that will keep me out of burnout. This is my brilliant idea. I do this so many different times when I hit burnout. I will create a course, you know.
So I went and got my team to work on a logo and I got the course named. I started getting into the course itself and then I turned into an even crankier overtired toddler. I'm like, okay, this is not working. I don't know what a sabbatical is, but it's definitely not this. So I decided I got to figure this out because I got a lot riding on this. I got a lot of money into it, I got a lot public. You know like, I announced all of this stuff and I'm like, okay, there's like this skill of rest that I don't have. Clearly, I don't have this rest skill. So I decided I'm going to put myself on a week long silent retreat. I called it my device free, vice free and advice free retreat and I looked at it as a bootcamp for mastering this rest skill.
So, literally for one week in my own home, in my townhouse, I decided no devices, meaning no computer, no phone, no TV, no vices, like no alcohol it's not like I'm like a drink, that much, but there was nothing to escape from no work, no, nothing. And then no advice. The big part was no advice, no external guidance or people input. I needed to figure out how do I dial into myself and get the clarity that I was looking for and get that reset. And I'm not going to lie, it was super weird at first. You know, a lot of people were asking me like, were you bored? I'm like, surprisingly, no, I wasn't bored, but it was super weird to have that much silence. And so I wasn't bored, but it was super weird to have that much silence.
And so there's some things I would do normally, like I normally would do in this type of like alone time. You know, I would read, I would cook, but one thing I added to it and maybe it was just I needed to fill the time or I just needed to get outside because it's like I was going a little stir crazy alone in my townhouse, was going out for walks in my neighborhood, so I just moved to Lake Nona. I'm in Laurier Park and they have the most beautiful trails, so I'm like I'm just going to go and explore them and it turned into the most unexpected, incredible healing grounding. I don't even know what else kind of experience. It was the cornerstone of my sabbatical. It's the cornerstone of my life right now. It's how I stay in balance. Cornerstone of my sabbatical. It's the cornerstone of my life right now. It's how I stay in balance. And there was something about the idea of like walking in nature in silence that really kind of moved a lot of energy around, of like things that I was trying to figure out, things that I was trying to work through, and I got healing faster than I ever imagined. Clarity on so much. I'm going to share more on the specifics of what I got clarity on later, but that became the most important thing.
And so now this is where the shape of my sabbatical started taking form and what I understood a sabbatical to be. You know, it was the strategic pause that I was doing, but it's also like learning how to live in a different kind of pace. And so, through my walks, there's this house in my neighborhood that started adding an addition, and so when I first went on sabbatical, I started noticing it. But I really started noticing it with all these walks. And you know, it began with, like all these cement trucks that were there. They were making the bricks for the foundation, you know, and then the frame went up and it's like this is like a pace car for what it looks like, you know, to imagine like what's next for your business or how do you build your life in a different way.
And so what I realized were what I wanted to do on my sabbatical is I wanted to use the time in a more spacious sort of way to figure out what the next phase of my business and my life and what it looked like, but also how I wanted to operate in that next phase. I called it like figuring out like what my rule of life was going to be, like, what's going to keep me in balance, and so it was a little bit of like the what and the how together, because in the past, you know, I don't know if it's you ever have done this or not, but it feels like ever since I decided to really commit to my business, I feel like every time I wanted to make a change or a pivot of some kind, I was always changing my business in a way where it was like changing the wheels on the car while it's still moving, and I didn't want to do that anymore. It just felt like I was like almost close enough, but not completely bang on for what I wanted to do, and so I really just wanted to do this next phase of my business and in my life, since everything is like in a new phase. You know I am no longer having to worry about building my business around my kids. You know I could just do what I need to do for my purpose. I decided I'm going to use this as a container to figure this out. So I decided to go back to that advice around keeping my sabbatical and pencil, like my sabbatical return date and pencil, and I'm like, okay, I will just go back from sabbatical when I feel ready, trust that the money will come and you know and or at least when that addition on the house is done, like that might be a sign of like when I needed to come back, so that was my focus and that's what I wound up doing on sabbatical.
So it was a little bit once I learned some of the rest skills. It was learning out, like playing out with different things, like what would build my energy and what would I enjoy, you know so for sure. Like bringing in the daily walking. But then, you know, I took horseback riding lessons to see if that would do something to create energy. I started learning how to play pickleball, which is super fun, and I'm really not good at it, and so that's something that I probably would want to add. But the really heart of it was is like okay, what does a work life look like? So that I can also be more creative within that space where I was trying to figure out what my business was about. So that's what I did on sabbatical.
Now the question this is what everybody really wants to know Was it worth it? What was the ROI? And I have to say, sabbatical was by far the best thing that I've ever invested in. It was the most effective growth and clarity accelerator that I could ever imagine. It was unexpected in so many ways. I was like hoping like I'd get some rest, but I had no idea like how I was going to be transformed as a result of being on sabbatical. So what I walked away with is number one a sustainable approach to managing my energy, my capacity, my mental and emotional wellbeing that I created in my own space.
So I have a rule of life, if you will, in my own space, not somewhere else, not at some sort of retreat center, not at the beach that I don't live at, in my own space, and so I have in my rule of life, daily walking in nature. Now, the length may vary. Sometimes I do it in silence, sometimes with music, sometimes maybe I'll listen to a podcast. You know, depends on what's going on, you know, and where my emotional state is. If something's bothering me, you know, I might go into silence and do it a little bit longer. You know, if I'm in a more fun state, you know where things are good, you know, I might listen to music or a podcast and I'll just walk whatever feels right at that particular time. But I'm always in nature, I'm always walking.
I also have gotten really committed to my Sabbath days. So I was not I'm from a Jewish background, but I've never really practiced Sabbath and I decided that I'm going to take a Sabbath day, or what I've called more more accurately like my reset day, is how I think about it and I protect it and I treat it like our workout routine discipline. You know, like there's one day where it's like I literally don't do anything. That's super productive, you know. So I might take a walk over to Boxy Park, which is in my neighborhood, where I might go and listen to a band or I might do something else. So that's not like about like just being in more silence, like you can go and do fun things, but I don't, I'm not working, I'm not doing anything. That's like output related. And I've also practiced more digital free days. So Michelle Natalia Moore is one of my clients. She is going to be on the podcast very soon. She has inspired me about the importance of having a good relationship with your technology, and so just turning off my phone for dedicated days is really transformational from that standpoint. I don't think I realized until I went on sabbatical and until Michelle really brought it to my attention about how much our relationship with technology really keeps us for really being at peace in our own lives, you know, and so I learned about that I definitely recommend you check out Michelle's website and learn more about her coaching programs or she wouldn't call it coaching programs, she'd call them consulting programs and she has all kinds of retreats that she has set up. I highly recommend her. She's been a huge help for me around like my work and my life design that isn't built around like the performance and the productivity from that standpoint. So I highly recommend her.
But the ROI. So let's talk about the ROI of this, this sustainable solution to capacity management. You know, like I, it's so hard for me to put words around it. You know, like I, love nothing more than quantifying the value of something because I could give you the ROI, like in terms of like this approach I have is free. You know, every time, if I ever want to just be on a sabbatical mode and I just need to get regrounded, my approach is I don't have to go spend money on supplements, therapy or coaching. It's free, it's available whenever I want it.
But what I love about this like habit that I've just kind of stumbled upon, is it's really grounded. You know, for the past, like I don't know, 20 years, I've been really obsessed with the heroic journey. You know that Joseph Campbell put out, and that is the foundation of all the movies that we love, like Star Wars or, you know, wizard of Oz or any of those like stories where you have like the hero in their ordinary world, then they go into the unknown world and they learn a bunch of stuff. But in all of these hero's journeys they're always walking, you know, even if you look at it from a spiritual standpoint, like Jesus and his ministry was always walking. So I feel like I stumbled on these ancient practices that are super grounded. You know, like, if you believe it from whatever standpoint, about the 10 commandments, like Sabbath is a commandment, you know, like it's right alongside not murdering, you know. So I feel like I have like something that's really proven. You know that, and I just and other people now have verified the value of this Kathleen Oshab, another person I highly recommend.
She was on the enough already podcast. I'll put the link in the show notes around which specific episodes she talked about. But she had a traumatic brain injury and she healed herself a lot from walking in nature and so she uses that as a foundation of a lot of her coaching. I highly recommend her. So it's, it is a proven type of thing. But what's so lovely about it that I'm so passionate about is you could just like walk out the door, you know, and there you go. You don't have to run over to a retreat center, you don't have to eat, pray, love your way around the world, you can just go outside wherever you are. And that, to me, is great because I can sustain it.
The second thing I got out of sabbatical is I got absolute clarity in my purpose and what my next level is, and it's clarity from a different place, like it's not just in my head and it's not just in my heart. I feel like sometimes the clarity is like comes from my feet all the way out to me, you know, like all the way from like my feet through my hands, and it's everywhere you know. So for some reason, when I was on the silent retreat, there's so many different activities and different things that I did during that time period, but for some reason in that time period it became very important for me that I remembered that before I was a brand positioning and messaging strategist for consultants or coaches, I was a very good organization development consultant and I think part of the reason why that I needed to remember. This is because what I do isn't grounded in marketing but consulting, and what I really do with my clients is not just helping them to stand out in the market and get leads, but also position themselves to get their expertise used in a way that will create the greatest impact. That, of course, would naturally lead to greater income, but it's about really positioning yourself to make that bigger difference. That's what I help my clients do, like I'm constantly helping them figure out, like what's your most strategic positioning? Here? If you have, if you've worked with me one-on-one, you're nodding your heads like yeah, she's always doing this with me, she's always trying to help me say, like well, what's the most strategic positioning? My entire success as a consultant, a business owner, a business mentor is built around the strength of my positioning and influence skills.
You know, like how I even got started in consulting in the first place is I was taking a, I had my very first class in grad school and I was getting my master's in OD. And this class that I was in I had to create what they call a functional marketing presentation where I had a department. I wanted an HR department. I wanted and I wanted a department that had OD training and development and career development, so that was called human resource development back at the time. And so for kicks and giggles, I'm like you know what, I'm just going to send this to my VP of HR and see what she says. And she's like, oh, go ahead and start it. And like, voila, you know, now I'm an OD consultant.
That's how I got into OD consulting. I positioned myself for it, you know. So I took all of those skill sets and then every time I hit a juncture it's like, okay, what's the role that I want, what's the work that I want? And I went and went after it. I positioned myself for it, I talked my way into all the work and roles I wanted. You know, by the time I got to Disney, it wasn't like I just got myself into the rooms where it happened. I created those rooms time and time again. So this is what I do for my clients. I help get them positioned for the strategic clients and opportunities they want and are ready for.
Brand messaging comes after you figure out your positioning. You know your positioning are just the words, but it's clarifying like where's my position, you know, where do I fit in and stand out and what is the work I want to support and what is the role that I want to have. That's what your positioning is. You get that, then the words will naturally come Like that's what your positioning is. You get that, then the words will naturally come. So the what I do is really important.
But also on sabbatical, I got clarity on my purpose in terms of why I do what I do and why did I pivot my business from consulting to mentoring other consultants or coaches? And I'll tell you. It's not this neat story. I've been telling people for years about how I was on a plane to London, you know, in first class. But I was living somebody else's dream because I was on this big international assignment and my kids were home with a nanny and it's like, oh my gosh, I built the wrong business, like. That's not the story. It's because of this particular client that I was going to London to support and I was hired by a company to do focus groups to figure out why their employee engagement scores were in the toilet.
And what I uncovered in these focus groups that were really more like grief groups was the most toxic leadership and operating practices I have ever witnessed. I was beside myself. They told me horror stories about safety violations and mice in the break rooms and then eventually they started telling me this story about this employee who was so beside himself with how the leaders operated that he sent an email to the president and then hung himself in the workplace. Devastated is not even a word. I don't even know what word I could use after I heard about that. So when I got back and I talked to the VP of HR and asked him like why didn't you warn me, you know, before I went on all these focus groups, about what had happened? He's like well, where did you go? I'm like what do you mean? Where did I go? And he says to me then is like there was more than one. But that wasn't even the worst part of the story, not even close.
The worst part of the story is when I went to the consultants that I was. I was part of a professional community and there was a whole bunch of consultants there and I went to them for support and they asked me over and over again like well, why do you care? You already got paid. And I'm like, okay, this was the moment. It's like you know what? I need to retire from consulting.
I want to work with purpose-driven consultants and coaches and I want them to win against these type of consultants who are making a ton of money because they're out there promoting themselves but they don't really have the values. They don't have the values around people and they don't have the values around creating workplaces that value people like I did. And so the people that I knew who were really good consultants, were terrified of marketing. You know. They just had a hard time putting themselves out there. But it's like, and now they're the world's best kept secret and they're losing the business against these other people. I'm like I got to do something about it. But the problem was is that the situation was so upsetting I kind of threw my whole organization development consulting self into the closet and was like, well, I'm a branding person, but instead really getting clear and really owning the whole idea that I want purpose-driven consultants and coaches to win the business versus those who are just in it for the money, because I believe that consulting matters.
I believe that we are so much more than people who just work for organizations without being on the full-time payroll, you know, as a, as a field, I think, because there's so many people who do that management by magazine where they just like throw these generic best practices at companies and then walk away with a big paycheck. We get a bad rep. When we have so much we offer, we ignite transformation and leaders and organizations, good people, these good people who really, really, really want to make a difference, to get past any concerns, they have to fully the own, the power, what they do, position themselves for the impact and the income that they are fully capable of. That's my why, you know. So I have so many changes coming your way, not just with this podcast shift. Like the podcast, now it's consulting matters.
This is the conversation that we're gonna have about the work that we do, the art and science of the business of transformation. This is a special field that we are in and I want to be a part of the conversation where we elevate what we talk about and what we do and our strategic positioning, because we have so much to offer. Like you can see I can go on and on and on about it I have a new approach to my brand messaging and positioning that is grounded in more data. I'll tell you more about that later. I have new offers, new visual branding, website freebies more. I have a ton of stuff coming your way.
So technically I don't know what the ROI is going to be, as I fully haven't launched all of this stuff, but I can tell you I am so connected to the purpose that drives me. You know, I had my first intro call out of sabbatical with a potential client last week and she remarked like, oh my God, your clarity and confidence is so powerful. This is what I want. I'm like, yes, this is what I want, this is what I want for my clients. I want us all to fully own the power we do, because now is not the time for us to play small. We have to speak truth to power, because there's a lot of threats out there to the values that we hold dear, and so we need to get out there. We have to stop being these world's best kept secret. So that's the ROI from that standpoint, in terms of, I got number one. I got clarity on a sustainable approach to managing my energy. I got clarity in my purpose.
And then the third thing that I got out of sabbatical that made it totally worth it was how I learned to manage the part of me that has gotten me into trouble in my personal professional life for years and it created the conditions for my burnout. And it's the best part of me and my kryptonite. It's my idealist side. I am an idealist through and through. I believe the best and the potential in everybody and everything, and I have a really hard time conceiving that not everybody makes decisions that are in other people's best interest. This rose color idealism made it really hard for me when I was facing leaders, like in that organization, who really did not care, and I couldn't conceive a world that they did not care, so I did not operate in a way that planned in advance for the reality of where they were. There are some leaders who make decisions based on short-term profits alone and their bonuses and that there's no amount of data and feedback that I provide from their employees will get them to care. I can't make people care, but there's a whole bunch of leaders who do care, you know. So it's not my job to convert the people who don't care to care more. My job is to help people who care to become more effective.
I'm not even going to start about how my idealism has shown up and had a negative impact in my personal life, but this is my gift and my superpower. So you might have a similar thing going on, where you have something that's like you're really, really good at and you're kryptonite. But the thing is about my idealism and you know, as I'm working through this part of me is I don't want to lose it, because it's what gives me the ability to see people's gifts and what makes them special, and I wasn't sure what the balance was. So it's kind of like OK, what do I do about this? Because I don't want to become this cynic, you know, and I don't want to look at everybody through like some sort of negative lens.
Then I went shopping for some new sunglasses that were more sporty, given how much walking I was doing, and I wound up picking up this rose-colored pair for no deeper reason, you know. Outside of like, I wasn't like thinking about, like, oh, I wonder what it means to get rid of my, like, my rose-colored idealism. I just picked up this rose-colored pair because I liked them and it matched the outfit I was wearing and it's like, oh, these are cute. But then I went, went home and I used them for my next walk and it's like oh, my gosh, they're so clear, like everything here is so clear, like everything in my neighborhood. It was like bam, so clear. And that's like I don't have to give up my idealism. I just need to add clear eye to my rose color and see people for who they are as they are, not how I want them to be. Super hard lesson I'm still working that one through, but it's it's going to be so helpful and I don't know if you're an idealist like me is that we have to go in with a lot more reality of like, what are we really working with so that we could be smart about it.
That story I told you about that horrible client there were lots of signs before I went on that focus group, like just even looking at some of the employee engagement scores, like I could have looked at and say, all right, let me plan in advance for how I'm going to talk to those leaders to see if they actually will care about it, so that I could guard my heart more. And I didn't. I just like, okay, well, as soon as they hear this information, surely they will change. And they didn't. And the PS on that particular story is that entire leadership team got fired and I was like beside myself about that. But now, like years later now, as I work through my idealism, you know, because I was thinking for a little while, I'm like, oh, you know, everybody's gonna say, like you know, hire Betsy and you two can get fired. I'm like that's a horrible brand. But the thing is, is that I did the right thing by that company? You know, maybe they didn't change, but those employees are no longer subjected to that leadership. You know, hopefully the new leaders were better, but I did my job and I was faithful, you know, in sharing this information and I spoke truth to power and that's all I can do. But if my idealism was more in check, you know, that whole situation went to like, you know, cash me out to the level that it did.
So question number five so that's the ROI that I got out of sabbatical. So now, how did I work my way back? That's the last question. Well, first things first. I let go of a solid return date.
You know, after my silent retreat I decided like, okay, I'll come back when I'm ready. You know, and I really wanted to come back, ideally at that point, you know, because you know I was using that house in my neighborhood as an example is I want to go when my entire rebrand is complete, and I wanted to come back, ideally when I had a year's worth of content at least outlined in a lot of a lot created, you know. So I extended my sabbatical to. You know we'll see. And you know you might be wondering well, where did you get the money? And it's like I don't know. The money seemed to be there when I needed it to, but so I came back later than I expected when I initially went on sabbatical, but earlier than I wanted because all of the stuff that I just mentioned isn't done, my rebrand is not complete, I don't have a year's worth of content, but I decided because of what's going on in the world and the economy. I didn't want to sit on the sidelines, because I believe that now is an urgent time for purpose-driven consultants and coaches, and so I wanted to come back because I want to be a part of that conversation.
And so here's the biggest ROI from sabbatical is what I'm doing right now from a modeling standpoint, and what it's really all about is I'm choosing purpose over perfection. Everything is going to be in progress for a little while and half done, you know. So I'm going to be launching new pages and new things as they are created. So if you check out my website at wwwBetsyJordyncom and don't forget Betsy Jordyn is with a Y, not an A over the next couple of weeks there's really a good chance that you're going to see both my old pages and the new ones at the same time. But the truth of the matter is I don't really care like that. I'm in progress because it's more important for me to be on my purpose and I think it actually could be fun Really leaning into this whole like you know, launch with imperfection, because I think it will be fun to be able to see this progress go real time.
So how did I work my way back? It's a slow walk back, with intention and grace for being in progress and actually kind of the joy of being in progress, because my business is always going to be in progress. There's no end state, you know, of where it's going to be. Continuous improvement is really a way of life and that means constantly letting go of what no longer serves so that you can bring something new. So what did I learn about sabbaticals? As a recap, let me bottom line this for you, because I'm telling you a lot of my story and what I went through, but I want to make this transferable to you.
Number one sabbaticals are not long vacations from work. They are strategic, intentional pauses from responsibility. You know, and there's a difference between work and responsibility particularly work, but also people and external expectations who are telling you who you should be or who you need to be, so that you could dial into yourself and listen to what your inside is telling you about who you are and what you want. So sabbatical is not really about the length. You know. People are like well, do I have to go for like four months? No, it's not the length, it's the intentionality around the time that makes the difference. My first month, when I really didn't know what I was doing, I don't know like it feels like that might put into more of the prep for sabbatical phase than my actual sabbatical. It's about the intentionality.
I think in 2020, a lot of people were on accidental sabbaticals. You know, like if you lose your job and you have time off, if you just put some intentionality to it, like, voila, you're on sabbatical. Sabbaticals are absolutely for people who are burnt out to a crisp. Sabbaticals are absolutely for people who are burnt out to a crisp. Rest is the answer? I don't. I'm sure that supplements have their place, you know. I'm sure mindfulness practices have their place, they all do. But if mindfulness is not a part of your like daily, you know, if you're making it an add-on, it's not going to be restful, it's just going to be another to-do list, you know. But I think that taking rest is the is the prescription.
Sabbaticals are also for people at crossroads in their careers and their lives and they need direction because you could step away, because something's out of alignment, you know, and you're trying to figure out what that is. And the only way that you're going to be able to figure out what that is is if you close off the noise and see within, and then the tangible ROI for a sabbatical, the business case, if you will. Yes, of course we could put money on all of this. You know you could take, and take all the money that you might spend on a burnout solution that will give you temporary relief, like if I think about what I've invested in over the years. You know, amazing experiences to the magical Miraval in Tucson, which is the best thing in the whole wide world got tons of value out of the experience. But I came back to the same life, you know. So I don't have to spend money on that. Or, if I spend money on that, that would be a fun vacation. But I don't put a lot of eggs in my burnout recovery basket for the experience, you know.
Or avoiding money spending, avoiding all the money and wasted time spent on building the wrong business or career. You know all the personal stress, the emotional toll that goes with exhaustion, confusion and more like okay, we could talk all the time about this ROI, but let me tell you what the real, real, real value is. What it is is that taking a sabbatical for a high achiever is highly courageous, and it's not because of the money or the risks to our business, because the truth is we know how to make money, we have the skills, you know, so we have the ability. So even when I think about like oh, was I super courageous, you know, because my seo pretty much tanked in my website because I um, I didn't have that content repurposer, you know really doing the blogs on the regular, but you know what? It's okay because I have the skills. I could build it back up.
That's not where my courage came in. It was walking away from my drug of choice performance and achievement and being willing to face whatever I saw in that emptiness, and that is the real reward of a sabbatical. That's where the real ROI is. Yes, absolutely. I got work-life balance routines Amazing, I'm thrilled. But they only work because I really learned who I am and how to take myself seriously, as I am Not who I thought I should be, but who I actually am, what my personality type is Like. You know we've all done tons of personality assessments, but how many times do we really take those assessments seriously and build our lives like in accordance with our actual personality? You know, I was treating my personal professional development like as if I was a problem to be solved versus a person to be embraced. And what I discovered in sabbatical it's care, not cure, or perhaps like, care is the cure, you know so I didn't become lazy, as I feared, but my performance now isn't out of hustle, it's more in flow. I'm becoming more as I'm doing less.
So let's talk about next steps. For you, if you want to go on sabbatical, what I would say, you know, first and foremost, just try out a few of those sabbatical practices that I learned and see how they work for you, you know, like just try a 30 minute walk in nature or take a full day off and and go into nature in a more extensive way. Or maybe just try something more radical where you can like, take, get rid of all your devices, you know, for 24 hours and see what happens, you know. So there's different little micro sabbatical things that you can do If you want to go all in on a sabbatical. It is something that would be beneficial to get some guidance on.
I wish if I went back in time I had someone like me who could have guided me through a sabbatical. Maybe I wouldn't have wasted that first month or so. I could have kicked it off in a different way. If you're interested in that, email me at Betsy at BetsyJordyncom and let's talk about how I might be able to help you if you want someone like me and if you are interested in positioning your consulting or coaching for bigger impact and income.
I'm starting to take clients again And'm gonna have some, you know, back from sabbatical specials, you know for the first few people who sign up. So definitely head on over to wwwBetsyjordyncom, forward slash services and you can learn more about my up-level programs and request a discovery meeting and I'd love to help you. And lastly, if you're a transformational consultant or coach who wants to build a successful business that delivers on all your priorities, purpose profits and total life balance, you are in the right place. Please hit subscribe wherever you're listening. My plan is to release new episodes at least every other week, and thank you for tuning into the very first episode of the Consulting Matters podcast and joining me in elevating our profession and the difference that we, collectively, are here to make. I'll see you next time.
