Brian Clark’s Post

A sabbatical isn't a holiday. A sabbatical can be a journey of deep reflection. I never envisioned myself taking a sabbatical. Just the notion felt strange to me, reserved only for a future older version of myself. Yet, the relentless pace of a seven-year hypergrowth sprint and the life-changing arrival of my first child challenged this belief. As my chapter at EVBox closed, I faced a crossroad moment: dive back into the frenetic world of scaleups (and there were a fair amount of opportunities to take on) or pause and seek a new direction? In early 2022, amidst the shadows of COVID-19 and with an exit package in hand, the choice became clear. My family and I chose Costa Rica for a period of unstructured exploration. For the first time in "forever", I had "nothing" to do. I journaled, engaged in deep reflection, did the altMBA, and wrote extensively. More importantly, I was present—for myself and my daughter. Sabbaticals might resemble holidays, but their essence is profoundly personal. This sabbatical was my reset, a precious break to spend time with my wife and daughter and to realign with my purpose. It reaffirmed my ambition to be an agent of positive change at a larger scale, challenging and reshaping leadership paradigms. The path forward is not yet clear, but the sabbatical marked the beginning of this new journey. If you're contemplating a sabbatical, it's a sign you need it—for reflection, reassessment, and to chart the course ahead. Don't let external influence or outdated beliefs affect unknown paths for yourself. Be curious. After all, you own your time, and you can choose best what to do with it. #sabbatical #break #reflection

Time to wrap up the 6 month Sabbatical. It was great, but honestly I would not do it again, nor would I take this route if I could rewind time. 1. I really struggled to feel valuable and it was a bit hard mentally. I derive a lot of satisfaction from work and enjoy being around others. Having that removed had a much bigger impact than I expected. 2. While I had clear goals from this time off, they were not things like start a new business or launch a startup. While I feel I really worked towards my defined goals daily and made massive progress against them, it did not feel valuable enough for what this was. 3. There are a lot of people that reached out to have me "get involved" with things they are working on. It seemed like an interesting way to productively fill up some of my time, but in reality they just wanted free work. Unless it is something you are massively passionate about, I would suggest leading with your hourly rate card. This time away is precious and it has a cost - respect that. 4. Don't do this is you are just tired of your job or want to "skill up". That is not enough. If you are indeed tired of your job or want to skill up, then make the time within your existing work to change that. If you can't do it during your 9-5, you won't do it during time away. 5. Ensure your partner (if applicable) is 100% behind this. Not just like a "ok... sure?" You need to really be on the same page about this commitment. Having that made a world of difference daily.

Some people asked about my sabbatical experience, so I created a quick slide. Feel free to share/forward. Also please share your own experience, learnings, and tips if you recently took some time off!

Some personal news: I've decided to take a sabbatical, and take a break from corporate product. Product is the only career I've known my entire life. It has given me so much: sense of identity, meaning, leadership skills, financial capital, friends, personal growth, and mentors. Yet the last few years have been tough. The joy and meaning that once existed no longer feels palpable. It got to a point where everyday felt like negotiating myself to just get through another day, week, or month. My energy levels during weekdays were remarkably lower than weekends, my body exhausted from doing the work that no longer felt fulfilling to my soul, even though I was always working a reasonable number of hours. The simplest diagnosis is burnout, but to me, that doesn't capture the nuances of what's going on. After years of therapy, mindfulness work, and self reflection, I've fundamentally become a different person than who I was when I entered this industry, and need a new relationship with my work and ambition than I had at 18 when I declared computer science as my major. Burnout isn't the problem, it's the symptom of the beginnings of a personal transformation. My sabbatical doesn't have a succinct, pithy mission statement ("write a book!" "start a company!" "travel the world!") Instead, it comes with three intentions- define a more sustainable relationship with achievement, find a work rhythm optimized around my energy, and find my purpose/calling/path that feels aligned to this new purpose and sparks joy, curiosity, and growth. It's a tall order for the next 1-2 years, but I'm excited to give it a crack. More on my journey below. I'll also be sharing out quarterly updates on my progress, so if you're interested, please subscribe to the Substack! https://lnkd.in/ey9JfSR7

8.5 months into my sabbatical, I’m seemingly bragging about another adventure… Deep underground, the world above forgotten, the only sounds are my breath and the scrape of metal against rock. You might see this photo of me about to descend into an abandoned mine with my friends and think, 'Here he goes on yet another adventure, simply showcasing his privilege.’ But look closer: my sabbatical isn’t just about thrill seeking or escaping the grind. It's a deliberate exploration to: - find my true place in the world - discover ways to contribute more to others - engage in activities that bring me into a state of flow Along this journey, I’ve taken on many new challenges… And I’ve rediscovered joy in familiar pursuits like: - coaching sellers and leaders in their careers - offering my expertise in SaaS and GTM - pursuing sustainable business ideas Recognizing my privilege, I understand that not everyone can take a long sabbatical. However, even small steps can lead to significant change: - weekend getaways without distractions - days off for personal growth - scheduling daily ‘me’ time Each of us can find ways to step out of our comfort zones, contribute to others' well-being, and find new joys in the mastery of our crafts. This is about redefining wealth, not as a measure of money or leisure but as a richness of experience and impact. Reflect for a moment: Are you digging deep enough into what truly matters in your life? Let’s open new doors together and explore what makes us tick. Here’s to our collective journey to the core!

3 lessons from taking a 4-month LI sabbatical. Read this if you're questioning whether LI is worth it. =========== I've noticed a trend on LI. Creators taking breaks. For some time period -> 0 posts, 0 comments. I get it. ⮕ It can be a grind. ⮕ Results aren't what you expect. ⮕ Is this a good use of your precious time? I recently completed my own break from LI... ...and now I'm back. Here's what I learned: 1) Find your "why"? - If you don't know your why, you WON'T stay consistent MY WHY: Use my experience to help Product Managers and Companies up-level their skills and organizations. 2) How you show up matters...and it's ok to change. - I realized posting everyday was burning me out. It was too much. - Re-evaluate your strategy at cadenced checkpoints MY NEW STRATEGY: 1 once per week long-form articles, supplemented by ad-hoc short-form posting related to observations and experience. 3) Find an accountability group - Find people at a similar place and that can encourage and support you. - Thanks to Alex Brodsky, Asim Khaliq, JP Demas, James Jordan, Brian Peterson, Craig Simoneau, Christopher M. Jackson for the support to date. MY PLAN: This is still a work in progress. =) ❗ Hit me up if anyone is interested in pursuing an accountability group. And to answer the question: Is LinkedIn worth it? For me, unequivocally YES. I'm allowing myself more flexibility as I re-start. The relationships, crystallization of ideas, and strategies for how to execute are GAME-CHANGING for my current and future career. So remember, if you: need to take a break...take it. need to re-focus on your why...do it. need to change your strategy...change it. Let's do this. ✌🏻

POST SABBATICAL THOUGHTS My three-month sabbatical coincided with my son's 18th birthday. Coincidence? Not at all. If profound personal reasons require a professional time-out, consider long in advance whether, when, and how to make a sabbatical. I'm no exception. My slogan for my time-out: Me time. After many years in a challenging and constantly changing work environment, now that my son has started his studies and is going his way and my partner encouraged me to realize my dreams and goals, it was the right time to press the pause button and focus on me, my needs, interests and desires. I longed for some rest, time for self-reflection and a bit of loneliness. I wanted to immerse myself in the life of a student, expand my horizons and meet interesting people. This does not happen abruptly and at the push of a button, requires planning and is not always fun. In fact, it has the potential to conjure up new problems, to become bogged down in them, or the results of self-reflection are so surprising and unpleasant that one faces even greater challenges, which also affect the environment. Three months is also not nearly enough for a complete restart, but provide a lot of new impressions, ideally new perspectives and offer the necessary distance from everyday life. It would be presumptuous to say that I am a new person now. This is definitely not the case. Am I recuperated? Not even that. My time-out was packed with activities and impressions. Did I enjoy the time? A very loud YES! Would I do it again? A convincing YES, but slightly less compact. What is the feedback from my community? Mixed. Every change in one's own being and action presents the environment with a challenge. Ideally, you shouldn't change very much, because that's what they get along with, because it's familiar to them. So, they try, and certainly quite often unconsciously or with good intention, to lead the person in the familiar direction of action. This analysis is not from me; it's from a psychologist I met many years ago. With her analysis, she hits the nail on the head. There's still a lot of work for me. I call it post sabbatical, and what comes out of it? Who knows where this will lead, but one thing is certain: there will be a concrete direction and new objectives!

If you go on a 6 month-long sabbatical, then you have all the time of the universe and you can compensate the deficits of the past decades - I thought, and couldn't mistake bigger. Previously, I have posted about how I have started my sabbatical, about the '3 Don'ts' I have set for myself, and what could have blocked me from starting it. Now, here is my second post about goals and schedules. ☕ As part of the first version of my daily schedule, I got to Starbucks every morning by 9:00 AM to get my coffee and work out my post-sabbatical plans. I imagined that I am one of the GenZ digital nomads surrounded me. 📆 After following my detailed schedule for a couple of weeks, I realized, that I had subconsciously put myself back to work mode without even having a job. Later on, like an act of revenge, I simply threw away the entire timetable and did nothing for 2 weeks. Smart. Then I moved on and started to apply my second Don't, somehow like this: 👍No strict timetable, but goals, are selected for example with Warren Buffet's 25/5 model. 👍No schedule, but daily routines. Deadlines but with flexibility, like running an agile project. 👍 No new bad habits like watching Netflix late at night, but implementation of new useful habits. 👨🍳 In addition, I regularly reminded myself, that I am on sabbatical so I better enjoy it, as one of my set goals was to do something just for fun, like hosting Sunday brunches for friends. As a result, the remaining 4 months happened in a planned but also in a laissez-faire style with a smile on my face. One element remained, the morning coffee at Saint Gellért Square and the digital nomads around me. 😊 How did you structure your sabbatical or your time-off? #Sabbatical #PersonalGrowth #Mindfulness My previous post in this topic: https://lnkd.in/dihveTcW

Sabbatical - Week 4 4th week came and went smoothly, split by a public holiday: the very communist Workers’ Day, extra heretic because it is also Beltane 🌼 Over this 1st month, I’ve been asked 3 questions repeatedly: 1. Don’t you miss work? 2. Will you be traveling? 3. Do you know what you’re going to do next? 🙃 My gut reaction has been bewilderment. “Sabbath” is a ‘day of rest and worship’. Hence, sabbatical, in my mind, has the same connotation but for a longer period of time. It’s an intentional choice of words on my part. Embedded in those questions I sense an undercurrent of productivity ethics and capitalist identity. Here’s what I’ve reflected on: 🌚 No, I don’t miss work. Mostly, because I don’t have a playful relationship with “work”. As much as I’ve been lucky to work with great people on interesting topics, I’d be lying if I said I miss doing any of it. ♻️ Part of why I don’t miss previous work experiences is because at each turn, I wanted to close those chapters. I saw a TikTok that gets to the crux of the issue: our culture sees “forever” as the only definition of success (for more details search Brightwanderer on Reddit). But “forever” is fallacious, unnatural and unrealistic. All things are born, evolve and die. Ending something is a sign of growth and completion. 🛋️ No, I don’t feel like embarking on a long journey. I usually move around, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out. Traveling sounds like a lot of logistics and cognitive energy that I don’t want to spend atm. If you haven’t already read between the lines, I’m pretty burnt out. 🦋 No, I don’t know and I don’t need to know what will happen next. I’m fine with the liminal quality of my current circumstance. I’ve learned to be someone beyond my labels and occupations. 📺 I finally got to watch White Lotus S1. Brilliant. 📚 Finished 2 books, abandoned 2 more. Life is too short to read books you don’t like. #sabbatical #sabbaticallife

Sabbatical - For me... A period of personal growth and reflection! Taking a year-long sabbatical was a significant experience. Initially fuelled by the separation from my wife of almost 30 years, this time became much more than just a short rejuvenation period. Here are a few of the key reflections I was fortunate enough to have gathered during this time. Clarity of Priorities Through the space and time afforded by the sabbatical, I gained a clearer understanding of what truly matters to me in life, both personally and professionally. Renewed Sense of Purpose Stepping away from the routine allowed me to reconnect with my passions and rediscover my sense of purpose, helping me realign my goals with what brings me fulfillment. Self-Discovery The sabbatical provided ample opportunity for self-reflection and exploration, leading to a deeper understanding of myself, my strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth. Embracing Change Embracing change became easier as I learned to adapt to new environments, routines, and challenges, fostering resilience and flexibility. Appreciation for Life’s Simple Joys Slowing down enabled me to appreciate the beauty of everyday moments and find joy in simplicity, leading to a greater sense of gratitude. Rejuvenation and Well-being Taking time for self-care and relaxation rejuvenated my mind, body, and spirit, enhancing my overall well-being and reducing stress. Cultivating Connections Strengthening relationships with loved ones and building new connections enriched my life and provided valuable support and companionship. ⁠Exploring Passions Exploring hobbies and interests outside of work reignited my creativity and brought a sense of fulfillment beyond professional achievements. Perspective Shifts Stepping back from the daily grind offered a valuable perspective on what truly matters in life, leading to a more balanced and fulfilling outlook. Planning for the Future Reflecting on past experiences and newfound insights helped me envision and plan for a more purposeful and fulfilling future, both personally and professionally. I am excited to return to the workforce with a rejuvenated mindset!  I am confident, this adventure will bring a fresh perspective and renewed energy to my career!  I am going to tackle new challenges with enthusiasm and determination! I am ready!