Sabbatical or a sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing") is a rest from work, or a break, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible (Leviticus 25, for example, where there is a commandment to desist from working the fields in the seventh year). In the strict sense, therefore, a sabbatical lasts a year
I'm having a sabbatical this year. After 5+ solid years of
building a business and all the stresses, sleepless nights and sacrafices that come with it. Not that I haven't enjoyed the ride or been thoroughly fulfilled in many areas. It is just nice to have some time out to work where I want to go next, along with doing some personal development and of course travelling and meeting new inspiring people. Someone sent me this TED talk which talks a little bit about the positives of time off.
I left NZ two months ago it is time to reflect, and work out what I really want to achieve this year. The
first month was spent a mixture of work, travel and holiday. I had a week in Austin and
a week in Miami at different music conferences, networking and learning what the current state of my industry was doing and where it is going. Then a couple of weeks holiday in Carribean chilling out and winding down from a busy summer in NZ, preparing for a new life in California and beyond.
For the last month I have been settled here
in Huntington Beach, Los Angeles and trying a few things to see what I want to achieve. It has been
great spending time with my girlfriend Kim
and room mate Katie, meeting new people and getting to know the city. The simple new experiences like shrimp tacos, daily Starbucks routines and opening weekend of blockbuster movies like 'Iron Man 3' are sometimes the most memorable.
I have definitely been trying my fair share
of new things, along with chipping away at my tried and tested hobbies and routines. I have been keeping my running up every few days down along Huntington Beach, playing
guitar with Katie and reading whatever newspaper, magazine or streetrag
I can get my hands on.
But yes definitely trying my hand at some some new things which include acting classes,
yoga, vegan food, Bible studies and posting videos of myself on youtube playing Ed Sheeran
songs. Nothing ventured, nothing won right? Who knows we might even get spotted by Scooter Braun looking for his next internet sensation.
However I think its time to try and put some goals down on paper that I can work on, so I can look back at the end of the year and feel like I have achieved
something during this time off. Here are 8 goals!
- Complete 30 original songs. (Currently
at around 20). Katie has a good routine of
listing all her songs and has a visual list to be consistently working on. I have the lyrics typed out or in
books but might be worth being a bit more organized with trying to categorize each one. Then when I am in a position to record them they are ready to go. Lyrics, lead break, formats, chorus, and key changes.
- Learn Spanish – I have bought
the complete set of 1-5 Rosetta Stone. Will try and get some basics down before
I hit Europe. Southern California is actually a great place to start with its Mexican hombres and food references popping up in day to day life. Just need to get the ball rolling so I can chip away when I actually arrive in Spain. My main aim is when I hit South America, when ever that may be, I am competent speaker to get the most out of the experience. And ideally a good base in another language is the key to adding more to the repertoire (ooh a little bit of french there, you like that?)
- Be fit and healthy, shredded
for R&V and capable of running half marathons. This looks like three goals but it is really just to achieve and maintain fitness. Last year I completed one
road half marathon, 3 trail half marathons, and a monster 36k trail run. This was all on the back of some pretty
ordinary and inconsistant training (with a holiday in Ibiza thrown in the middle of it). I'm currently on a 21 day boot camp so with my
running and good eating will start to hit my straps. Maintaining this while travelling will be the
challenge. I have recently purchased the Nike Plus watch I have been very
inspired seeing all the miles add up. The real test will be once I am on the road. Im
convincing myself it will be a great chance to check out cities I am in, but might be if I have been out the night before experiencing them through food and drink!
- Writing a book – I have been
wanting to put my thoughts and relections down on paper for a while now. Have
started some chapters on key topics already, along with excerts from this blog and notes from a number of speechs. I understand the key to writing a book is just keeping your output regular and
building content in any form which can later be edited and hacked up. I feel my content, creativity and
has improved over these past few months, so if I can keep it up I'll be halfway there.
- Blogging, diary and photos up to
date. I have done a good job so far of keeping up to date with my travels. Have
been filling out a written journal with more creative throughts and reflections, plus a
blow by blow encounter of people I’m meeting and adventures that ensue. It has been an epic 2 months already and I'm sure this will be a memorable time in my life, I want to be able to look back on and reflect in years to come.
- Reading – I have recently finished Bear Grylls autobiography along with Michael
Caine’s book on acting. Half way through the Walt Disney autobiography I bought
at Disneyland, plus have the Clive Davis
autobiography (who I saw speak at SXSW) to read. I prefer the hard copy books to a Kindel as I have quite a collection now. But to be fair I've never used a kindle. Just want to be able to sit back in years to come and look at a full bookshelf of inspiration and wisdom I have consumed. Also a number of magazines
– Time, Inc, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Conde Naste Traveller. As you can see my main interests include entrepreneurship, music, entertainment industry and travel.
- Keep on top of my Rhythm and Vines
work. I have taken a big step back this year but am still involved in some key areas of the business.
This is proving to be busy at the moment while we align our program for the coming summer season. I want to support our new management team without being to overbearing. But at the end of the day I want to ensure continued success and feel I can add good value in some key areas I am still passionate about. A bit of trial and error to find the right balance but either way I still need to put some time towards being across my core business.
New ideas/concepts - Being away from my core business is a great chance to explore some new ideas and think outside the square. I am definitely meeting lots of people who are doing different things - from scriptwriting to documentary making to music production and merchandising. This coupled with my reading means I want to set aside some time to think through new start up ideas and also way to improve my current business.
Right that should be enough to get the ball rolling. As a result I’m going to try and keep a record
of hours put in, maybe try for up to 4 hours a day out of my 8 goals. That should leave some time for relaxing and enjoying time living in the present. I will report back in a few weeks and see how I
am getting on!
Hamish
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