2021 Sabbatical 🏝

Published: August 11, 2021

My Sabbatical Plan

Carrot is a great place to work. One of my favorite perks that we offer is a 5 year paid month-long sabbatical.

We created this perk back in 2018 as a way to reward and retain amazing team members.

If you have worked for a start-up or small business you know that it can be busy. Growing a business takes a lot of hard work and persistence. Having a season of rest to look forward to certainly makes the growth more enjoyable.

To date, there have been 4 paid sabbaticals at Carrot. Each team member has taken advantage of the time off in different ways which are really cool to see.

I have been thinking and planning my sabbatical for a couple of months now and want to share a few of the things I intend to accomplish with my time off.

I could never just sit around and “relax” with all of this time off. Here is a checklist of everything I want to get done and a nerdy notion calendar to help me manage when I could/should be doing it.

What would make this sabbatical a 10/10? Why?

  • Read the Bible – every morning and spending time with God.
  • Work out every morning – a legit sweat that isn’t rushed. Always finished with Griffey cardio
  • Golf – at least twice, doesn’t matter if I go out solo or with Cory
  • Read a book – [commit to the book and put it here]
  • Publish 2 blog posts – really amazing posts I am proud of
  • Publish a side project SaaS idea – find something and get 10 people to sign up for the mailing or wait list
  • Annual family BBQ – I missed last year, I need to be there this time
  • Take the girls somewhere they’ve never been – it’s not all about me
Notion calendar of my time off.

Sabbatical Recap

If I had to rate my sabbatical on a scale of 10, I would rate it an 11/10. I accomplished nearly everything I wanted and had some really deep thoughts and conversations. I feel inspired to finish the year strong and really excited to go into 2022.

I have decided to update this blog post with some insights and pictures so I can reflect back on this time and remember how positive it was for me.

Biggest insights

I quit drinking alcohol during my sabbatical. The reason for this was two-fold. I was going on a backpacking hunt and wanted to feel good and be as healthy as I could. When I returned I kept my alarm set for 4:30 am and continued to get up early. Not drinking allowed this to happen and the feeling of waking up early with a clear head is amazing.

I golfed 3x while on sabbatical. Golfing during the day and not feeling rushed is incredible. In the past, I would have to set up tee times while Morgan was home with the girls. But doing it during the day when the babysitter is over really takes the pressure off everyone. It’s a great place to clear your head and get a little exercise.

I found a couple of really good podcasts and was inspired. Some of my favorite episodes are below

  1. Why I got sober
  2. Buying a Business vs. Investing in Real Estate
  3. Turn Your Newsletter Into a Seven-Figure Business
  4. The Key to Becoming a Future Billionaire
  5. 10 Ways to Lower Your Taxes as a Real Estate Investor

Working out ended up not being a top priority but I got in the way more workouts and it’s so nice having the extra time to do them.

Stress. I felt no stress during my time off. I believe that helped me curb the desire to drink. It made me realize how stressed I was and how finding a better balance is critical to enjoying my work and life going forward.

Hunting was tough but the country was beautiful and I am glad I was able to experience the opportunity. I also took the opportunity to make sure my hunting gear was dialed in. I have my bow shooting broadheads pretty accurately out to 30-40 yards. My hunting rifle is zeroed and ready to go. I also shot my pistols a few times to keep me confident and competent.

I’ve been thinking about leadership and what type of leader I want to be.

Finally, I was able to tinker with some side projects. Here is what I accomplished.

  1. Launched REI Newsletter – a monthly newsletter that goes deep on topics I am interested in.
  2. Launched REI Playbooks – a interesting way to host my notion notes in a website about how to find and buy your first rental property.
  3. Update the design of REI Motivation and added a couple blog posts.
  4. Optimized my Google Ads account for my Carrot website and published the results on REI Motivation
  5. Bought 2 starter kits for SaaS apps and got them started and configured.
  6. Reached out to several developers to get a quote on an app I am really excited to launch
  7. Started the process of a cash out refi so we are funded to buy our first rental property.

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Published By Alex

I am a seasoned SaaS marketer and leader who has helped Carrot grow to an 8-figure SaaS business. In my free time I enjoy reading business and personal growth books, hacking on side projects and hunting.