#396: Burned Out & Soul-Tired? 3 Ways to Take a Sabbatical—Even with Kids, a Job, and Zero Free Time

Kevin Lowe: If you adapt it to what you need, to who you are, to your own situation, it's a sabbatical. It's an opportunity for you to get back to being you.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, if you could use a reset, a recharge, then my friend, it all starts with today's episode.

Kevin Lowe: Welcome to episode 396.

Kevin Lowe: I got grit, grace.

Kevin Lowe: And inspiration on my mind. No matter the storms that rise, I won't be left behind.

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Kevin Lowe: I'm stepping out in faith, cause I'm perfectly designed. I got grit, grace, and inspiration on my mind.

Kevin Lowe: Hey, it's your host, Kevin Lowe, and my friend, welcome back to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: Today's inspiration came by Ray Martin, our guest inside of episode 395, a guy who did what I'm talking about.

Kevin Lowe: He took a sabbatical. He took a break because when everything was falling apart in his life, he broke free.

Kevin Lowe: Now, of course, his story is pretty radical. It's pretty crazy because a six-month sabbatical turned into a 14-year journey traveling around the world.

Kevin Lowe: Whether or not that's what happens to you, well, I guess that chapter is yet to be written, so we will have to see.

Kevin Lowe: But most of all, today is just speaking to you, to the person who feels tired.

Kevin Lowe: And I'm not just talking about sleepy. I'm talking about soul tired.

Kevin Lowe: I'm talking about the part of you who's showing up.

Kevin Lowe: You're going through the motions. You're running constantly.

Kevin Lowe: The alarm clock. It's the errands, the never-ending to-do list.

Kevin Lowe: Showing up for everyone, putting it all out there. And yet inside, you're running on empty. You feel like you're breaking.

Kevin Lowe: And you feel like there's got to be something that has to change in my life.

Kevin Lowe: Or something's going to happen.

Kevin Lowe: Because I can't keep going at this same pace. I can't keep it up.

Kevin Lowe: And yet, even in this situation, when I mentioned the idea of taking a break, of pausing from life, of taking a sabbatical, you think, Kevin, that is absurd.

Kevin Lowe: I don't have time. I don't have the money.

Kevin Lowe: And besides, I'm not that person. I'm not a person who can just take a sabbatical.

Kevin Lowe: But what if I told you to reframe the idea that taking a sabbatical, it's not an escape from life. But rather, it's a way for you to come home to life.

Kevin Lowe: It's a way for you to find who you are again, what you love, what you enjoy, who you truly are.

Kevin Lowe: We live in a world full of titles.

Kevin Lowe: We all have some type of title in front of our name.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's mom, dad, executive, CEO, whatever it is, it's a title.

Kevin Lowe: And in that, a lot of times, we lose our own identity of who we really and truly are without that title in front of our name.

Kevin Lowe: A sabbatical, this idea of a purposeful rest, it's going to help you to come back to understanding who you are.

Kevin Lowe: So if we're going to talk about a sabbatical, yeah, let's face it.

Kevin Lowe: Setting off on a whirlwind adventure, that sounds awesome. And maybe you're in a point in your life where, you know what, you can do that.

Kevin Lowe: So, you know what, if sipping on coconut water while on a beach in Bali sounds like your destination for a sabbatical, well, my friend, more power to you.

Kevin Lowe: But maybe we have to ground things a little bit.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe we have to keep it a little bit more, quote, realistic for you and your situation.

Kevin Lowe: In essence, what I'm talking about is as simple as you choosing to pause so that you can rest.

Kevin Lowe: You can rest your soul, can re-nurture your soul, and come back to what really matters in life.

Kevin Lowe: Basically, my friend, it's you choosing to take a pause so that you can start living again.

Kevin Lowe: Life is long, and I get it.

Kevin Lowe: Time, older we get, faster goes by. I get it. so you may think that you don't have time to pour into yourself.

Kevin Lowe: But my friend, if you just take a pause, at the end of the day, if you take a week, A month, six months to focus on you.

Kevin Lowe: Imagine what that would do in the long term, in the big picture.

Kevin Lowe: We're thinking big. We're looking at it from a big picture view.

Kevin Lowe: So when speaking of this idea of a sabbatical, what could it look like for you?

Kevin Lowe: It may look like you taking a month off to travel with purpose, to do the things that you've been wanting to do, that are going to reset, recharge, revitalize your love for life again.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's you taking three months off to finally write the book that you've been talking about.

Kevin Lowe: You've kept it shoved in a drawer, only thinking about it, dreaming about it, only if I had the time.

Kevin Lowe: Well, maybe this is your opportunity to take the break, to take this intentional pause to write the book, or maybe it's you simply taking a weekend every week for the next couple of months to get focused back on you and what you really want out of life.

Kevin Lowe: Because maybe you're in a chapter of life right now where you don't even know what you want.

Kevin Lowe: Even if somebody said you could have it all, you just make the wish and it is yours.

Kevin Lowe: You don't even know what that wish would be.

Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, perfect opportunity for you to get clear on who you are, what you want out of life, what your purpose is in this life.

Kevin Lowe: Now, at this point, I want to reinforce the idea that this idea of feeling like you need a pause, like you need to take a break.

Kevin Lowe: It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you. It doesn't mean that you're less than.

Kevin Lowe: It doesn't mean that you're not living up, that you're not the amazing person that you are.

Kevin Lowe: It means that you're human. It means that you actually care about yourself enough to take a break, to take a pause, to do a reset.

Kevin Lowe: This idea of taking a pause, my friend, if you're ready for it, realize it goes deeper than you think.

Kevin Lowe: This is biology. This is spiritual. This is human nature.

Kevin Lowe: It's your need to discover more, to be more. And it all starts by taking a break.

Kevin Lowe: Now, I hear you. You've got responsibilities.

Kevin Lowe: You've probably got children at home that are counting on you.

Kevin Lowe: You've got a job to tend to.

Kevin Lowe: You don't have the ability to just take off for three months and forget about everything. I get it. I understand.

Kevin Lowe: So let's figure out how this could work for you.

Kevin Lowe: If you had the opportunity to design your own sabbatical to match your lifestyle, what would it look like? Could it literally be a mini-sabbatical?

Kevin Lowe: You simply unplugging every Friday just to focus on you.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe you cut out of work early on Fridays.

Kevin Lowe: Well, maybe now, instead of just going home, laying on the couch, binging Netflix, you actually do the intentional stuff to work on you.

Kevin Lowe: If you're lucky enough to live somewhere on the coast, maybe it's you grabbing the beach chair and just going and sitting down at the beach just to sit, to enjoy life, to reflect.

Kevin Lowe: To get back to being you. Maybe you're the person who has been wanting to write the book.

Kevin Lowe: You've been wanting to maybe start a side gig.

Kevin Lowe: You've been wanting to tap into that creative side, but you just never find the time.

Kevin Lowe: So maybe what this looks like for you is you marking down on the calendar.

Kevin Lowe: For the next 30 days, I'm going to focus on this.

Kevin Lowe: I'm going to focus on learning how to paint, on drawing.

Kevin Lowe: I'm going to take a class. I'm going to devote my time, my effort, my energy into something that I truly want, that lights me up, that gets me excited.

Kevin Lowe: Because if it's not something that gets you excited, well, then my friend, what the heck is it even for?

Kevin Lowe: I want you to bring excitement back into your life. And this is the opportunity.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe for you, this is spiritual, a spiritual sabbatical.

Kevin Lowe: It's you wanting to get back in touch with nature, with yourself.

Kevin Lowe: Well, put yourself in that situation. Take off every weekend, somewhere new, outside of the city limit sign.

Kevin Lowe: Don't go where everybody else goes. No.

Kevin Lowe: Get out where you don't hear traffic. You don't hear all the noise of modern world.

Kevin Lowe: Instead, you're just out in nature. All you hear are the birds chirping.

Kevin Lowe: You feel the wind. You hear the wind rustling through the trees, through the leaves.

Kevin Lowe: You're back in nature, in the world that God designed.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, there is no quicker way to get in touch with yourself, to be grounded, than to get out of the city, to get away from all the people, from all the hustle and bustle, and to get where you don't hear any of it, where you're just out in the middle of nowhere.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, that is where the magic happens. And remember, it doesn't have to be long. It just has to be intentional.

Kevin Lowe: When you're willing to step away from what you do, you're able to discover who you are.

Kevin Lowe: That's what the point of this is. It's the point of the sabbatical.

Kevin Lowe: It's to take a break for you.

Kevin Lowe: To step away from all the responsibilities, for all the worries and anxieties, the stresses of life, and to reconnect with you and you alone.

Kevin Lowe: Because, my friend, you may think that this sounds really selfish.

Kevin Lowe: Selfish that there's no way that you could do this to focus on you.

Kevin Lowe: Well, I guess I would love to ask you this.

Kevin Lowe: Are you showing up for your family as your best or is your best being used up while you're at work?

Kevin Lowe: And by the time you get home at five o'clock in the evening, your best is all used up. You're tired.

Kevin Lowe: And so now the people who mean the most to you, your family, you're not giving them your best.

Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, that's no way to live.

Kevin Lowe: It's not good for you. It's not good for your family.

Kevin Lowe: We all need to focus on showing up for the people who mean the most as our best selves.

Kevin Lowe: And I believe the only way we can do that is if we're willing to pour into ourselves first.

Kevin Lowe: Kind of like when you take a flight and they always give you the safety warning before you take off.

Kevin Lowe: You put on your oxygen mask first, then you help the person next to you.

Kevin Lowe: That's the same situation here.

Kevin Lowe: You have to be willing to pour into yourself for you to have anything left to pour into others.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, today, I hope that something I said inspired you.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it has you thinking about things a little bit differently.

Kevin Lowe: That's the focus, that's the hope with every episode I record.

Kevin Lowe: It's just to give you that little bit of spark, that little bit of insight, that little bit of inspiration, that you know what?

Kevin Lowe: Huh, maybe a sabbatical is for me.

Kevin Lowe: And if you want to learn from somebody who figured it out, who realized it the best, well, as I said, go check out my interview with Ray Martin inside of episode 395.

Kevin Lowe: An amazing story of a guy who took a six-month sabbatical, turned it into 14 years, and completely transformed his life and the world in the process.

Kevin Lowe: A link to that episode is inside of the show notes, but easy enough, just wherever you're listening to today's podcast, just go back to the previous episode and click play.

Kevin Lowe: And with that, my friend, be sure that you are following the podcast, whether you are listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or one of the many other podcasting apps there are.

Kevin Lowe: Please be sure that you hit that follow button so that you are notified each week when a new episode is released.

Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. It is my pleasure to bring you today's episode, as always.

Kevin Lowe: So, my friend, get out there and enjoy this beautiful day. This, of course, is grit, grace, and inspiration.

K-Lowe Music: I will not fear the storm. My hope's well defined. Because I've got Grit, Grace, & Inspiration on my mind!