In 2022 I made a bold move and took a 60-day unpaid leave of absence. This break from work truly changed my life.
Why take a leave of absence? Based on my experience, a leave of absence provided life changing opportunities. Let’s dig into those opportunities!
Already know you need to take a LOA and need help putting together your request? Check out How to Request a Leave of Absence.
What is a Leave of Absence?
First we need to define “leave of absence.” For the purpose of this post, a leave of absence (LOA) is extended time off work for non-medical reasons.
Note: It is possible to take a medical LOA. Depending on your organization’s size, location, and benefits offered, if a medical provider indicates you need time off work due to a medical reason, you could be eligible for a medical LOA, Short-Term disability, possibly Family & Medical Leave Act, and other state-based leave entitlements.
You may also hear the terms sabbatical, extended leave, etc. to refer to a LOA.
Extended time off can be confusing to understand because organizations use different labels and have varying policies. Some organizations, especially smaller ones, may not even have policies to address extended time off work. This is normal. Other companies must offer extended time off work based on state and/or federal laws. It is complicated.
Life Changing Opportunities
My use of the term LOA is extended time off work for non-medical reasons. Let’s dig into how my LOA provided life changing opportunities.
1. Opportunity to re-learn to trust myself
Do you trust yourself? I bet you said, “yes.”
Prior to my LOA I thought I trusted myself too. But then I realized my thoughts didn’t align with my actions. My intuition told me for well over a year I needed a break from work. Instead of listening to my intuition, I ignored and pushed it away as much as I could. I actually didn’t trust myself.
Once my LOA started though I felt a sense of relief and intense contentment. I could not recall feeling this way, ever. The relief and contentment I felt stemmed from acting (taking the break my intuition demanded) in alignment with my thoughts (I trust myself).
During my LOA I tried hard to allow my intuition to guide my days. It was actually harder than I expected. Why?
Turns out I had an even stronger voice telling me what I should do, which mostly centered around being productive. While I felt inclined to cuddle up with a book on the couch to rest, I was conflicted by the the voice telling me, “You should go outside and walk the dog,” or, “you should clean out your office,” etc.
I was a productivity addict. While my intuition told me to rest, the allure of checking things off my to-do list was hard to resist with the extra time I had.
Think of all the things you can get done!
But that wasn’t the point of my LOA. As the days passed I quickly recognized when productivity mode was trying to take over. Instead, I checked in with myself and let that be the guide for what I did, or didn’t do.
My LOA gave me the opportunity to re-learn to trust myself. I knew I as on the right track based on my feelings of peace and contentment.
Re-learning to trust myself changed my life, and allowed me to finally quit my successful career several months later.
2. Opportunity to make space
Before my LOA, I often told my husband, “I just need some space from work.” What did I mean by this?
Think about juggling balls. Do you know how to juggle? I don’t either… Stay with me…
Think of juggled balls as life responsibilities or areas of focus in your life. You may be really good at juggling 2-3 balls (family, work, community) and even a few more in the short term. However, as additional balls are thrown in, you cannot effectively juggle all the balls. And, importantly, at some point you can’t add in any new balls to juggle without dropping all the balls.
But, what if one of the new balls would positively change your life, like your dream job, or an opportunity to move to a desirable location, or, maybe even a promotion to increase your salary?
I believe we have to make space to discover and invite new opportunities into our lives. When I started my LOA I put down the work ball.
What transpired because I made space from work? Well, we were able to experiment with things we thought we might enjoy, like taking a month-long trip in our RV to explore South Dakota and Colorado. A trip like this was on our radar, but far in the future. Making space from work cleared the way to take a much longer trip sooner than we could have imagined!
A similar thing happened regarding this blog! I had ideas to start a blog, but I was so in the trenches with work I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to make it happen. I finally went out and bought the domain on a whim in early June, near the end of my LOA.
A leave of absence provided me the opportunity to make space to invite new things into my life.
3. Opportunity for adventure
When I say “adventure” I acknowledge everyone’s idea of an adventure is different. For us, we like our adventures to include travel. Maybe that’s not your cup of tea. No worries.
By definition, an adventure is an unusual and exciting experience or activity.
The key here is a leave of absence can offer the opportunity to have an adventure. You get to decide what’s best for you. Maybe you try something you’re interested in, like a cooking glass. Or, develop a new hobby, like playing the guitar or learning yoga. Maybe you’ve been wanting to join a local meetup group on a topic you’re passionate about. Or, maybe you plan a once in a lifetime trip.
You get to pick your adventure, but first you have to create the opportunity for the adventure to happen!
4. Opportunity to reflect on my life
In the chaos of our day-to-day lives, do you make time to reflect on your life and how you could make it even better? Or wonder, what’s it all for?
I didn’t.
My LOA gave me time to reflect on changes I needed to make because I wasn’t happy where I was.
I realized we don’t just accidentally end up where we want to be in life. Instead, we have to stay focused and make intentional, purposeful decisions to get us there. It’s important to periodically reflect on where you are and where you want to go to make the necessary adjustments.
I followed my HR career path for fifteen years. However, during my LOA I realized I wanted to take a different path, despite it being unclear and unconventional. My LOA provided an opportunity to ask myself what I wanted.
Because I regained trust in myself, I could be honest about what I wanted… More free time to travel, grow my blog, and see what I could do outside the confines of a “normal” job. I wanted to forge my own path, so to speak.
And so, at the end of my LOA I made the necessary changes to get me closer to the path I wanted to be on.
I hope you walk away from this post understanding the life changing opportunities I experienced during my LOA to help you answer the question,
Why take a leave of absence?
Curious to learn even more about my leave of absence? Check out the recent interview I did with Middleton & Company.
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