081 | Taking 2 months off work: my version of a think week | Season 4

Taking longer periods of time off from work has been a long standing dream of mine. I never thought it would be possible for me and I was always happy to get the rare 2 weeks off per year. Usually, I barely felt refreshed after 2 weeks off and the cycle would start again.

When I started my coaching business, I realized that I had the opportunity to make this dream a reality. I decided that if I really wanted to take a couple of months off per year, that I would start practicing.

I’ve taken 2 months off work during the summer holidays for the third year now, reducing my workload to 1-2 hours a day and spending the rest of the time with my family and traveling.

You could say that, at the moment, this is my version of Bill Gates’ famous think week: a week with no distractions that Bill Gates spends in a cabin in the woods to think about his professional and personal decisions.

In today’s chapter, I’m sharing with you why a “think week” is an invaluable way to check your compass and to step away from the busy-ness of every day life so that you can do re-focus on the things that are meaningful to you.

My “think week” didn’t exactly go to plan and initially I was frustrated. But, even when things don’t go according to plan, they can still be valuable. I’ll tell you about how I was able to change my mindset around my failed plan and the valuable lessons I learned from this years think week.

00:00 Here we are again! (Off to a nervous start)

00:21 When you prefer to be behind the scenes but you host a video podcast

01:11 taking 2 months off work every year had been a dream of mine

02:25 My version of Bill Gates' famous think week

03:17 Reducing my workload to 1-2 hours a day

04:18 When you get caught up in the busy-ness of everyday work

06:02 Things that don't go according to plan can still be valuable

08:51 From frustrated to focused

10:41 When excitement meets fear

11:58 Life is more than just your work

Go here:

➡️ To read my blog about my experiments with taking 2 months off work each year: https://www.thefrankermessage.com/blog/2-months-off

⭐ To follow the podcast: ⁠⁠Follow the podcast⁠⁠

⭐ To contact me: ⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠

⭐ To visit my website: ⁠⁠thefrankermessage.com⁠