I challenge you to take a month off this year. — Better Humans — Medium
I challenge you to take a month off this year. - Be Yourself
So you’re in the “real world” now, and don’t have parents supporting you. How can you take a gap year? Well, if you have saved up enough money, can quit all your commitments and travel for a year, then DO IT.Otherwise, I challenge you to take a month off this year.Gap years shouldn’t only be for kids who need to grow up. It should also be for adults who desire change. And I don’t think you need to take a year off for it to change your life. It can simply be 30 days this year.Today’s workplace is different from that of twenty years ago. Motivation has become essential to productivity, and there is no better killer of motivation than monotony. And no matter how much you love your startup or job, sometimes we all need a break.There seems to be a stigma around vacations equating to partying and slacking time. You should definitely have a great time, but instead of just approaching the entire month off with a “drink till I die” attitude, produce some kind of work or learn a skill while you’re there: be it a blog, a volunteer assignment, a small project, a website, crafts, photography, a journal, etc. The goal here is not only vacation time, but also time to pursue personal projects that increase creativity, passion and self-awareness. You get time to step back from work and upon returning, you can re-evaluate your life from a bigger perspective.Taking a month off may not be the easiest to ask for. If you work for a company, you need to do this ahead of time, arrange a schedule to complete what is needed from you beforehand and explain why this would be essential for your personal growth. But if your company still denies this, maybe ask yourself if that is a company you’d like to spend your life working for.My 40-day backpacking experience.I started a company in college and had never really taken the time to travel so in May of this year, I took 5 weeks off to backpack through Southeast Asia. It was enlightening. I met a local artisan who makes metal jewelry from scraps and sells them to tourists. I rode elephants, pet exotic tigers and visited indigenous villages. I witnessed poverty. I experienced new forms of art. I attempted a giant fire jumprope and partially burned myself, mostly embarrassed myself. I tried many things I couldn’t have experienced here. Even after all this adventuring, I remember thinking on my last few days that I was ready to move forward with my life and start working on something I love.What has been the result from this trip? Well, that’s for a future post. All I can say is the trip has definitely inspired me to re-think entrepreneurship, work and my personal life.So I’m challenging you to do the same this year or next. Take a month off from work (at least). Just do it, no excuses. Go travel, document it, work on a project, whatever. And see what happens!