The “why” of you

We have all heard (and may be envious) of a senior faculty member who is “on sabbatical”. Free of the worries of daily academic and professional life, they are at liberty to pursue an intellectual interest of theirs.

Sabbaticals typically last for an academic year. The activities can be unrelated to the faculty member’s grant supported research topic, and the scientists does not have to attempt to dovetail what they have newly learned with the focus of their prior research activities.

While commonly fulfilling, these sabbaticals rarely produce a tectonic shift in the core belief of the senior faculty member. The sabbaticals that we are talking about in this chapter are shorter, powerful and enabling, reaching to your essence.

A character sabbatical is a block of time that you take by yourself to plumb the depths of who you are. It’s specific goal is bring you turn over your fears, beliefs, motivations in order for you to see, to touch, and to re-become the “why” of you.

You will take hundreds of these sabbatical through your life and they will adjust, alter and steady your career.

An example of what happens without this focused self-evaluation is the example of Dr. Sinclair in Chapter One. Her attention, so focused on her work, marginalized the rest of her life, turning her essential non-work necessities into bothersome interruptions of her job productivity.

In addition, because she never knew to take the time to separate herself from work, Dr. Sinclair missed the opportunity to see what was happening to her. Retaining focus on the “why” of you” is essential because life is a rending experience. It is not linear, but chaotic with sudden changes in trajectory. There is no purpose in staying focused on a path when the destination has changed. Without paying attention, you miss the new goal.