There are many benefits to taking a grown-up gap year. Take a career break or sabbatical to pursue and support your personal needs. Maybe it’s time to open your business or adjust your goals for future growth. Gap year plans offer a break from work to pursue your current health and wellness needs and your dreams. Take an adult gap year to see the world or get down the business of you.
No matter how you got here, you got here.
No matter the reason. If you were forced or it was by choice. You are here. Good for you.
there are many benefits for entrepreneurs taking a grown-up gap year.
The list of benefits becomes completely personal to you. Your situation is unique, but you are not alone.
Why are you here?
Is it a mid-life crisis or is it a gap year?
Who said you graduated from high school or college and knew it all?
Well, maybe YOU said that. Maybe YOU thought you knew it all!
The path you embarked upon may have turned out to be all that. Or maybe it didn’t.
Life is long. Our circumstances change. Our dreams further develop.
We find ourselves in situations where we make choices based on what we knew then or what we were capable of at that time. And then there are life’s curveballs.
- serious changes to your health
- your job was eliminated
- you were fired
- you are tired of BS
- you get temporarily laid off and recalled and it’s impossible to budget and fill the gaps
You find yourself making new choices or life chooses for you.
Though humans are tough and adaptable, we are all talented, and we all dream.
You Opportunity Has Knocked in the form of a gap year possibility. Go through the planning steps and budget. Take that time to consider and ensure you will act with purpose. You need a goal. You want to accomplish that goal. This time sets you up for your future so take it seriously.
Don’t think of the changes in your life as negative. Think of them as opportunity. You are seasoned, smart, and maybe not ready, but ready to handle it!
Reinvent yourself.
Benefits of a grown-up gap year include:
1.) Reinventing your own business
Revisit your business plan.
Take every section apart.
- Redo.
- Refresh.
- Reinvent it.
Reinventing starts with pulling out your business plan and SMART goals.
Your plan to succeed is directly tied to a business plan. Your deeper understanding is tied to your business plan.
Your business isn’t just about hustle. It’s your ongoing opportunity for personal growth – a key aspect of your success.
2.) Owning your own business
- Is this a dream or reality?
- Is it time to start?
- Has it been a side gig and now it’s time to build?
If you have questions about planning, now is the time to ask and get answers.
Entrepreneurs continually learn and build, and learn and rebuild.
Owning your own business is not for the faint of heart – but heck, working for someone else and not having control over your future ain’t for the faint of heart either.
Go for it. Just be wise. Use your resources, and know your business plan is your plan to succeed.
(we offer free very very Very basic tools on our site)
3.) Developing a new career path
A gap year might be a full year dedicated to you and developing a new career path.
- It’s time to consider your skillset.
- Time to network.
- Time to get all of those ducks in a row.
4.) Developing a new skillset
Your decision to take a career break or sabbatical will allow you time to develop a new skillset.
It’s as important for an entrepreneur as it is when working for someone else.
Maintain and expand your value in the marketplace by remaining current and updating your business plan.
- Look at the health of your business.
- How has your target market changed?
- How will a new skillset help you expand your market?
5.) Supporting your physical health
The little adventurer that you are may need time to recoup from a physical issue that got in the way.
Is it part of your short-term or long-term planning?
Planning a career break to heal can still include personal growth and development!
6.) Supporting your mental health & avoiding burnout
Are you always taking one for the team?
Your grown-up gap year objective might be to refresh and recharge.
Career burnout is real. If you have decided to set time aside to support your mental health, do it, but do it with purpose. Maybe all you ever focused on was professional development and so your needs are for the exact opposite.
This time is about you.
EnvisionaryMe just tells you to own it and make sure your goal moves you forward.
7.) Turning a dream into reality
Entrepreneurs are dreamers and they are especially skilled at turning dreams into reality.
Explore this. Let your mind wander.
Your dream may different from your bucket list, but why can’t a break from your career be an opportunity to act upon both or combine them? (rhetorical)
Additional reasons to take an adult gap year:
8.) Checking off your bucket list
Aren’t sure how to use a bucket list? Just start capturing your dreams.
A gap year is an opportunity to dig in and check off a box – literally or figuratively.
Adulting doesn’t need to be about regrets, but we do come to terms with our choices.
Personal growth never ends. A year away from what’s been normal allows you time to explore new possibilities and freelance.
What box do you want to check off first? #1 might not be do-able right now, but maybe #9 and #10 are.
- Maybe you want to see Alaska but can’t afford it. Maybe you can go virtually until you get there physically.
- Maybe you never went into that lady’s store around the corner but always wanted to.
9.) Seizing your opportunity to see the world
Explore new places!
Could be near. Could be far.
What is your “why?”
Define what seeing the world means to you – and what is most meaningful To You.
It doesn’t have to be an expensive trip around the world.
Take a year and do it.
The benefits of a gap year are that it’s all up to you.
- Literally fly away. Make it first class, or make it budget friendly and walk more.
- Go just before the main season begins & avoid crowds and higher prices.
- Travel the world virtually. Make the smaller investment into virtual reality and avoid the lines to get in!
- Use social media to learn from groups and enjoy through the experiences of others.
- Look at volunteer options and funding possibilities.
10.) Volunteering
If you could help someone or some thing, what would it be?
Build from there.
11.) Giving back
Whether it’s in person with your hands on or whether you’re feeling this opportunity is for you to act on from a distance, there are options. Money doesn’t need to stand in your way.
A gap year provides an opportunity to give back in any creative manner.
- Be there in person.
- Be there just to set up – or clean up.
- Create a newsletter.
- Be a guest writer for their existing newsletter.
- Create videos or offer to be part of a podcast.
12.) Spending time with family
Take a break for your most important people. We only have a short time here on earth to be physically with them. Don’t just be there in spirit or plan it for some day. Someday doesn’t always come.
Take a gap year to maximize those connections. To share your wisdom and determine how to continue sharing it.
Budgeting and geography don’t need to impede your progress. Go online. Teach yourself. Teach them.
Tell them your goal is to know them and allow them to know you.
- Ask their advice.
- Ask them what questions they’d be asking if they were you.
- Tell them about your parents. Where your interests and skills came from. Your dreams.
- What’s of interest to them? How do they communicate? Learn it. Do it. Start a Snapchat streak.
Is it time to plan a sabbatical or plan a gap year as an adult?
Are on Plan B? Developing Plan C? Or D?
In my case, I’m on plan J. So it happens. If you need time, take it, but plan it.
Adult gap year time isn’t to set you back. It’s to propel you forward.
Outside forces help us and hinder us, and we need to view the hinderances as fate keeping us out of the way of a freight train – or something else that wasn’t mean for us.
You’ve been granted the opportunity to create and start fresh. No matter how many times it happens, be grateful. You were given this opportunity to awaken and see the sun rise high in the sky again, while others weren’t.
Truly. Be grateful.
It’s your responsibility to yourself. In essence, it is discovering your purpose. Or perhaps rediscovering your purpose and adapting it to your current situation. Your powerful mind can achieve anything.
No regrets. You got this.
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