Episode Transcript
Welcome back to sort of sophisticated, the podcast that, I mean, who are we kidding? Basically does all the grinding for you because we're grinders. Grinders. We are grinders. Uh, so you guys could just all sit back, relax, and justify your little burnout with some historical stuff and some psychology stuff, maybe some pop culture stuff. Whatever we talk about on the show. I don't even know. I'm Pete, the guy who needs more listeners so he could retire and with me. As always is Amanda. Hi friends, and don't worry, Pete's not retiring anytime soon. I'm retiring. She has four kids and he loves what we do. They're, they'll let him lie to you. They're all old. They're all adults. They are. They're all gonna be, I'm retiring college or post grad. Postgraduate that sounds cool. Now retiring. Yeah. Okay, fine. But if you did retire, we should definitely travel more. We should And do what we talk about on the podcast. We should. I'm just saying Like crap that you just did. Yeah, I did. Like where did you just go? National Park, like galore? We did, we did. We went to Wyoming, Montana. North Dakota, South Dakota, and a little bit of Nebraska. All at one time. All at one time. 1900 miles. Oh my Lord. Yeah. That's a lot of miles. It is three national parks, three national monuments, one national memorial. Are you really gonna do the thing where you try to go to every national park? Is that really a thing you wanna do? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Are they that interesting to you? They're very interesting. Wow. 'cause it's just so different. Okay. And I don't think what people realize is that we go and we travel the world to see all of these different places. But it's like here in the us No, it's true. That's what everybody says. Like, 'cause other places don't have national parks. I mean, they have some, but nothing remotely close to what the United States has. Yeah, it's crazy. I give you a lot of credit. That's awesome. Which one was your favorite? Ooh. Favorite? Well, I mean, my goal, well, like favorite on this trip. Not like favorite, all fair favorite on this trip? So my girls would definitely say that bad lands was their favorite Okay. Where is this? Because, um, it is in South Dakota. Okay. It was their favorite because we went on the fossil trail and they found a fossil. Really five fragments of, I dunno what. Oh my gosh, we sent it in. Wait, South Dakota. It was probably one of the dead presidents. Was it like under Mount Rushmore? It was not under Mount Rushmore. Was it a fem? That's national. Was it like a femur bone from Teddy. It looked like a pelvic bone though. Really? From what? Like a dinosaur. What the hell You talked about like, like a little, like a bird or something. Like a smaller creature. That's wonder. But it was on, the fossil shelf. I like that. So it's definitely something that's not probably recent Badlands. Um, yeah. What's your favorite? Um. Mine was actually Jewel Cave, which isn't a national park, it's a national monument. Okay. That still counts. And we were 279 feet underground. Oh right. Nevermind out. That's crazy. But you don't feel like, I know You think it's claustrophobic. Yes, totally. But there's so much space and just you're walking through, there's just geodes and it's so cool. Did you Fox work and did you find the Ark and stone? No, did not. Oh, diamonds, no. But they did go into that mine. Yeah. It was during the Gold Rush. It was, you know, some prospector who came in and some prospector and discovered it. Did you get to talk to any prospect? We didn't. We did go to a gold mine though, in Deadwood. Whoa. Deadwood. Deadwood. Yep. This is serious. Yeah. You went on a cool trip. We did. It was a lot of fun. But good for you. Just a fun fact for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. What. When you were in the gold mine? Back in the day, during the gold rush. Okay. Yeah. Um, so they would have somebody who would hold, kind of like the chisel is what we probably, I mean, there's a technical term, but like a chisel and then somebody who would swing the hammer at the chisel. Yeah. Mind you, they were, they had, this is so, this is so Lord of the ring vibe right now. Oh my God. They had a leather band dwarves on their forehead, okay. With a candlestick. And they got one candlestick for every two people. And so one person would be holding the nail uhhuh and one would have the hammer to like, you know, make holes Yeah. In the rock in order to, yeah. Put a stick of dynamite, right. To in order to mine. Yes. They were miners. And they would lick their thumbnail and glistens and they would put their thumb mm-hmm. On the edge of the nail. Mm-hmm. And they would swing the hammer. They counted three. And the person who put their thumb had to move their thumb, and the person who had the hammer had to hit. The nail right where it was. Wow. If you missed, it'd be the person's head, but wow. Okay. Crazy but they would vote like kind of on who was the least favorite person in the crew, and that would be the person who would have to go stick the dynamite in the hole, light it, and book it out of the cave as fast as they could, however. When they started running, their candle would go out and they'd running and they're fumbling in the dark. Yeah, no running into walls. Insane. I all I discovered, 'cause we also stopped at Fort Laramie, I would not have survived the Oregon Trail. I would've not have survived being a minor like none of this. That's, that's hard work. It is. That's serious stuff. It's insane. Yeah. So it's just gonna be appreciate today. That's all right. I think, I think right back to my whole like, I'm not gonna retire thing I'm doing okay. Right. You are, you are. Let's go. Um, can we start now? Can, let's go. Let's work with the bandaid. That awesome. I appreciate the, uh, the update though. That was good. I like the vacation update. I live vicariously through you. Okay. Says the one going to Greece. What are we doing? Whatever. All right. What's today? Today. Okay. This episode, this one's gonna be good. All right. Not gonna lie. We're talking a little bit about work stuff. Probably my all time favorite concept. Who are we kidding? The career break, Amanda? The career break. What does I mean? The break? Yes. Something I've dreamed about my whole life. Like when you're breaking, never done. Um, yes. You're just like taking a break. Not like the whole quitting your job moment thing though, or anything. Like, maybe a little bit, but this is really more about like where we kind of kind of decide if we're gonna like pause, pivot, or piece out, like of our whole current trajectory. Right. The career break. Well, I think I'm gonna love this episode 'cause I've never actually given it. The same structure of thought that you're leading us into. So I'm very intrigued. Let's go, Let's do this. So hopefully if we do this right, uh, we're gonna help you figure out which of these three concepts applies to you. Well, if any. 'cause maybe like in your case, like you love your job, so I do, right? You would never want to pause, pivot, or piece out, but, and I wonder, is this more geared towards people who are in a corporate atmosphere? Versus self-employed? Uh, yeah. Or is it like even self-employed people who are like, is maybe I need a break. This is definitely more for sort of corporate world. Okay. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. This isn't like, we're not talking to owners here. Okay. We're talking to your basic like folks who are like, you know, got their college education, got their degree in the workforce. Trying to decide what they wanna do with their life. Gotcha. Totally. I'm on board. Yeah. Okay. Let's go. Yeah, we're not like gonna go like super deep into like the whole finding your purpose shit either. Like isn't like no, we're only sort of sophisticated. This is not like super cultured And this is not like a psychology episode. Okay. But can we throw in some like career therapy? Maybe we can't. If you psychological frameworks and maybe, maybe like an unnecessary reference or two to eat, pray. love 'cause I feel like, I don't know, maybe it's right up the alley. We'll try. All right. Let's, uh, turn up the volume and, let's get this thing going, right? Because, we're gonna make you question every choice that you've basically made since college. Okay. All's how this is gonna work, let's go roll. Uh, but first we gotta do word of the Day. The old W-O-D-O-D We're doing the wad. The wa Oh, the wad. That's what we're calling it. Funny. I'm Ming right now. Okay. Okay. Are you ready? Ready. Today's word is magnificent, like maleficent. Um, no. A derivative of No. Like, magnificent. Magnificent, magnificent. Yes. It means extremely generous or giving Ah. Like going above and beyond with something. Alright. Like not just sort of generous or giving, like the key word here is extremely, extremely magnificent. Okay. All right. Ready? I'm ready. Can we, can we do this? Can we start? We're gonna start it. All right. So there's history. There's always history, or we just kind of start with psychology stuff. No, we're doing history. We're doing history. There's history too. There's a little bit of history to everything We're gonna do a little history, career breaks even came from Yes, there are. We'll go fast. Okay. 'cause it's not, there's not a lot here. Right. Okay. The brief history, a brief history of the United States. This is also called a sabbatical. Huh? Can it also be called a sabbatical? Dude. What are you reading my mind here? This is where we're going. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Hell yeah. Okay. Okay. That's it. Well, I mean, technically a sabbatical is like something that's like offered to you in like your current position. Like we're talking career break, like if you're gonna leave your actual job too, like, so there's a little bit of both, but yes, sabbatical is included. You with me? Alright. So,, history, the career break is kind of pretty new actually. Like Okay, pre 1950s, work wasn't like really this super linear, upward climb that we've all sort of come to expect in our career trajectory. Like today, you didn't really like pivot either. You just sort of put your head down and worked till you, either died or collapsed or, you know, in a mine, well pretty much you blew up in a mind. Right, exactly. Um, it was almost always at the same job, like, or on a farm or in a coal mine or a diamond mine or whatever. A steel mill. You get the idea like somewhere where like people would vote for Trump. Right. Okay. Okay. Right. I guess I do get the idea, but it was very different back then and I don't really think anyone was trying to figure out how their jobs aligned with their values or anything. I think people were just trying to survive. They were. That's right. Exactly right. Think Oregon Trail, yes. Just, just don't die. Right? Just don't die. Nobody cared about their values. You wanna know what the values were. The values were Don't starve, don't die. Yep. Yeah. Don't get crushed. Don't, uh, just keep going. Don't blow up in a mind. That was it. Okay. And then maybe live long enough to retire and sit in a rocking chair. Okay. I dunno if they even thought about retirement. Yeah. People died to 'em when they were 50. No, but like I'm talking about like pre 1950. Like so you're going way back. I'm saying like in the 1940s. Right. I mean they were like, okay, hey, maybe I can get a little pension money. Maybe I can get a little social security. 'cause we already had Social security. Sure. I think it started like, I dunno, Roosevelt. Yeah. Whatever. Okay. You get the idea. Um, he just did a lot of stuff. He did. Okay. So that was like the 1940s. When did this all change? But like, not like super fast or anything. It just sort of like kept creeping up on us. I guess all the way back to the industrial revolution, but I don't want to go that far back. So sort of like, it started gaining momentum like post World War ii, 'cause everything happens after a war, right? So the middle of the 1950s is when quote unquote white collar jobs started outpacing blue collar jobs and everybody got like all fancy, right? That was the bee. Yeah. That was the whole beginning of the rise of what you'd call the corporate culture and like the idea of the American dream. Right. We've heard. Right. So I kind of feel like, yeah, unless you were in like finance during that time. Everything else was mostly blue collar, like it was the rise of the industrial revolution. There was a lot of manual labor. Yeah. And then it, I mean it's also why your education system changed. It starts to shift. Right? Starts to shift and that starts putting pressure on everybody to start like advancing in their careers and like getting promotions and then starting looking for new companies and then climbing the corporate ladder started. Yeah. So that whole thing. Okay, got it. So then fast forward to like the mid seventies and some dude named Herbert Fruit Burger. Fruit and burger. How do you like that? Right? German Jew. Oh, fruit and burger. Okay. Right. I looked him up. Mm-hmm. He had to escape Germany 'cause he was a Jew dude in the 1920s. You know what Frieden Berg even means? I don't. Fun fact. Joy Mountain. Oh, joy Mountain. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. So anyway, so Dr. Joy Mountain. Dr. Joy Mountain. Right. Good old. Good old. Dr. Herb. Herb. So he coins the term burnout 'cause everybody was so like uber focused on career advancement. Another fun fact, uh, he got the term from all the druggies that were running around in the 1960s, dropping LSD and frying all their brains to shit. They would say they were burned out. Oh, okay. Right after they like had a bad, I guess drop, bad LSD, I don't know. So when Dr. Herbs started seeing all his fellow clinic workers spacing out and emotionally collapsing, he just stole the term and boom. Burnout was born in the 1970s. Lives on today. It does. We're still going. But I love how there's, so have you ever seen on TikTok how they have these words? Or like phrases that we say all the time. And then what's TikTok? I'm not familiar. I don't know what your generation does. You actually have TikTok? I do not have TikTok. Okay. Sorry. My bad. Yeah, I just say Instagram. Yeah. Um, that the reels where they, you say it like your phrase that we all knew. Yeah. Don't ask me. I'm bet at all of 'em. But then it like takes you back in time on the came from. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The phrase came from, and I think that's fascinating. We did it. We did it up on that. I think it was like old people phrases or, I dunno what we called it. Yeah. But we had, we had some fun with it. Yeah, I remember. Yeah. So even just the term burnout, everyone says it all the time, but. There's a derivative. This is where it comes from. That's crazy. Absolutely. Look, look at the more, you know, look at all the stuff we're teaching people, the more you know we're outta control. We're sitting here talking about career breaks and we're teaching people about, you know, burnout. The etymology of burnout. Okay. Alright. Lemme fast forward to like the 1990s and early two thousands and thanks to the tech boom, the idea of the career break finally started to develop and people started taking time off and little pockets here and there, but they didn't really know why they were doing it. They just knew they had to, but they weren't putting anything behind it. Which finally brings us up to today, and now of course post COVID, where everyone is spending a shit load more time, taking time off, assessing their life choices and trying to decide the real right balance and everything about values and all the shit we were just talking about earlier, right? Like that now it's all of a sudden like super in everybody's face. I mean, that kinda makes sense. Which is a generation who makes a big deal out of everything. So here we are, we are, um, well, your generation does anyway. That's fair. I put my head down and do work. Fair. It's very interesting if you look of like. Gen X Versus millennials? No, we've talked about this. We've talked about this. We all think that younger generations don't do more work and it's not true. No, no, no. I wasn't saying that. They don't do more work. I was saying more on how we approach work, like work styles. Correct. Yes. That that is absolutely true. True. You say your generation was a very like nine to five true generation. When I'm done, I'm off. I'm off. Yes. Um, the millennials were, you know, the birth of the internet and so we're all like. More entrepreneurial. Yes. In that sense. Absolutely. And then whatever gen, is it Gen Alpha, they, I don't, gen Z and then Gen Alpha, gen Z. We got two more Gen. Well, gen Z's in the workplace now, correct? Gen Alpha is not yet. Yeah. And then that's like what, I don't know exactly what their work style is, but I think it's fascinating, just the generation, the difference in our work styles. Oh, totally. And I also wonder if that, does that affect at all? Oh, prob. I didn't get nearly that sophisticated. Okay. Too sophisticated. I'm gonna say yes, it does. But I'm pulling that absolutely outta my ass. That's the sort of part, okay. That's not the sophisticated part. Okay. Okay. Fair. Okay. You got it. So then. How do I know when I need a career break? Oh, you have to have one. 'cause you're mean to me all the time. You, you have, I thought this podcast was my career break. Yes. You've needed a career break for the last five years. Well, how would one then need to know if they need to pause or pivot or piece out? Okay. You, you have a earlier, this is legit. You have that. That's a good segue. Thank you very much. 'Cause honestly, like most people really like have no idea if they actually need a break. Living proof right here, Amanda, come on. If you're anything like me, you just keep going until you're standing in your kitchen one day talking out loud, mind you to your dead wife. Like she's gonna weigh in on whether or not you should quit your job or just like pop more melatonin, which wow, we just got dark real quick. I've done a lot of, I know we have. Okay. You know me. I keep it real. Um, you think that, that you do, that you do, I mean, nobody's gonna listen if we don't. I think, well, I mean, you're very genuine and you're open and I, or the opposite is true, and more people would listen if I would just shut my mouth. Okay. Are we ready? We ready. Uh, chat. GPT My new Love I chat. GP td A list of ways to tell if shit's getting serious and you need to reassess. Because one, I needed a credible list and I'm not credible. So thank you chat, GPT and two, I didn't want anybody to have the same problem that I did. You ready? Okay. So here's how you know if you have a problem at work. At work, yeah. Okay. Number one, you're stuck in a cycle of like, meh. Right? This is chat. GPT talking. This isn't me. All right. Not really burnout, but not really fired up. Just like meh, like me. Okay. I have to go to work. And you got it. And for the record chat. GPT people. It says Meh. I'm like reading it right now. It says meh. Okay. Um, number two, you fantasize more about quitting than about anything else, like. More than 50% of your time, you're starting to think about quitting. Okay. Have the idea. I feel like there's a red flag immediately. This is it, but, okay. But you asked me how do I need to know if I got a pause view. This is it. Okay. Number three. Okay. Uh, Sunday Scaries. You've heard of Sunday scaries, right? Mm. Is that like when you don't wanna go to work on this Monday? Yes. You start worrying about money. Yes. Got it. Absolutely. The Sunday scaries start earlier and earlier each weekend. So like, they were like at like on Friday, right? Ab Absolutely. Yes. Alright, you're onto something. Okay. Uh, number four, you just feel stuck, like, not in like a challenge kind of way. Like, I'm stuck and wanna fix this project, but like. Quicksand, like no growth, no excitement, like a bunch of meetings, sad emojis. It all sucks. Okay. And then the last one is you keep asking yourself, is it me or is this whole job just kind of lame now? If you started asking that question, we'll say once a week. I mean, chat, TPT doesn't say that, but I'm throwing that in there. Sure. Um, then it might not be you, it might be time to skedaddle. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I get it. Okay. Um, but like, how can you tell whether you need a full on break or maybe like a change, maybe a new position? How do you, how do you know which one? Or even like a move to make? Okay. So we'll do, here's what'll do, right, because you said pause. Yeah. Pivot it or piece out. So, okay. So we'll do it. We'll do in order. You wanna do it in order? Okay. Okay. Let's do in order we'll go, I like order, right? Okay. Good point. Let me do definitions first so everybody knows. Like I'll lay the groundwork. We'll do the three Ps. Pause is when you're mostly happy in your job. But you're just like cooked, like brain fried, instead of jumping ship, you probably just need to recharge. So think like you said, sabbatical or extended like p tl, like paid time off. So like, you like your job, you job what you do. Yeah. You're, you're literally tired. But when you think about your job, you're not thinking about bad shit. Got it. You're just tired. Right. Okay. Pivot is when the job's not working, but the industry is like still relevant or interesting to you or your skillset is still relevant or interesting to you. For my industry, maybe like employee a at my company, we'll, we'll call her employee a. Okay. Still loves the beauty industry, but hates the role in project management. I. Either that or the opposite, right? You love being a project manager, but you're done with the beauty industry, so that's when you like move sideways, you start figuring stuff out, right? New company, new role, maybe even a new title, but like you're not blowing the whole thing up because one of the two is still working for you. Does that make sense? Yes. Okay. That's Pivot. Okay. Then peace Out is like, let's be honest, pretty self-explanatory. You're gone like forever and then like outta the industry, outta the job. Yeah, just. You start a podcast, whole brand new called sort sophisticated. Right? That's what you do, right? Just kidding. So does piece out also maybe like midlife crisis time. Okay. Yeah. I know. I don't know, piece out could be midlife crisis time. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say that's true. Yeah. Okay. So then are there clues to know which one, which? Yes. Okay. So back to kind of like in the definition, that's kind of, yeah. So we did the definition, but now we'll give you clues. Okay. So here's, here we go. We wanna do, we'll do pause. Okay. Pause. You think about it this way, you still care about your job deep down. Just not right now. You're just super tired and when you think about it for a minute, you know, why you took your job. You remember like, no, no, no, no. This still gets me excited. Right. Um, another one would be when you daydream, if you're daydreaming more about like going to national parks, Amanda, or like all the time going to Bali or like where you want to go, that's probably pause because you're not thinking about the job. You're just thinking about where you want to be. Right. Now's usually a good sign. Doesn't not say like, I just like travel. No, but that, that's all right. But pause could be for just, it's time for vacation. Oh, okay. Gotcha. That doesn't mean anything bigger than that. It's not like you hate your job, it's just not at all. Okay. Okay. Pause could simply mean again, think back to generations, right? Like if it's my generation, you know, I got used to taking one vacation a year. Like maybe your generation don't to take three vacations a year. You just gotta keep an eye on your battery level. Okay. That's all. That's all. Pause is, yeah. I understood ownership. So it's more battery level than it is. About the job. Yes. Uh, another one could be like, significant life change, right? Like divorce or death. Right. Or maybe not even that bad, like birth of a child, maybe just maybe just sick. Yeah. Yeah. Somebody sick in the family. Like those things could be manifesting as like, oh my God, something's wrong with my job. When really nothing's wrong with your job. You're, you're stress outside sources are stressing you out. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um, and then finally the most important one, you know, that it's pause is when you can actually pinpoint what's hard about it. Like, oh my God, your boss is driving you crazy. 'Cause like you have to finish this project. Or like you, you've just, you're coming off a crazy travel schedule or something specific that you're like, I know when this is done, it will be better. Right, right. Tho just integrate. Those are like, those are all pause clues. Is is making more sense to you now? Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay. Got it. Got it, okay, so now we're on to pivot. We'll do pivot. Okay. But pivot and piece out are kind of, they have like similar diagnosis. Diagnose, diagnose, similar red flags. Yes. Okay. Diagnose I or diagnosis CI dunno. We're gonna go with diagnosises. I have no idea if that's the right way to say it. Diagnosis, yes. What was our word of the day? Maleficent Nom cent. We have to remember. Cent Magnificent. Alright, cent. All right, we got, I almost forgot clearly. Alright, well it doesn't fit there, but anyway. Okay. Um, I just change the U in Maleficent or the a magnificent. Okay. Okay. Magnificent. So for pivot and peace out, number one, right? Uh, you start to feel numb, like you're starting to feel resentful. Like things are getting serious. Like a lot, not like a little. Okay. Um. You've lost interest. You cannot find joy in your work anymore. Like low key, starting to hate like the thing you used to like or used to tolerate. Like think of your coworkers, think of your role, think of your workload. Before it was like, oh, I kinda like these people. And now you're like, oh my God, I don't even want to go see these people anymore. Yeah, okay. That's a big problem. Okay, number two. Um, ask yourself this question. Would you recommend your career to a younger version of yourself? Hmm. So like. I dunno what, Luke's 23 years old. Okay. So if I was 23-year-old me and I said, should I take this job? And if you can't answer yes, kind of right away you got a problem. If you're like, well, okay, we might, but what if your interests have changed? No, absolutely. I know that's the difference between pivot and piece out. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'd said they're kind of similar, like the flags are similar, then we're gonna go a little deeper. Okay. Okay. Number three. You can't picture a future anymore at your job. Like just you can't anymore. Even if you think about being promoted or getting a raise, like. It's just uninteresting. Like, yeah, no, I, an extra hundred dollars a week. Yeah, no, not enough for you. Yeah. You got it right. It's kind of depressing. Yeah. Well, that people are sitting in this, this is what's happening. Okay. This is what's, this is why we need to bring this awareness. Okay? Right. Let's go. When there's an epidemic of quitting, I'm blaming you. Yeah. But we're here to change people's lives. Okay. We're here to do something, aren't we? Wait, we're here to be more giving, extremely giving. We're, you know what we're here to do. We're here to be magnificent. Thank you very much. We just did that. Well played way to like, load me up there. Okay. Number four, you're not feeling like you're growing in general. Just like you're repeating the same thing year over year. Like nothing's challenging anymore. You're not getting somewhere. Then finally, like, let's be honest, dude, you turn into me, you start realizing like you're way too snarky and cynical now. And you just kind of don't give a shit sometimes. You know, think less sort of sophisticated, more asshole. Got it. Okay. Yeah, you're just, you're just mean. Yeah. All right. Too much anger. Yeah, a lot of anger. Pent up anger. All that also might have do with Gabby, but you know, there's that whole lifes I know. What was that, that number? That was, that was the pause one though. That was like That's true. True. Yeah. Okay. Whatever. So then if none of that helps, just ask yourself this question, Amanda. Ready? You want that question? I do. The question of all questions, question. Okay. If I quit tomorrow, would I feel guilty or would I feel free? Ooh, but that's not fair. Just answer it right away. Boom. Yes or no. But why would you like, I think people would feel guilty for different reasons, rather than feeling, oh my God, you're going way too deep into this. We're doing the sort of part, someone's more like emotional, guilty or free. I, I dunno if it's freedom. Time to pivot a peace out if's. Okay. Okay. Done and done. I mean, maybe the best way to get through this then is to do some scenarios so that people actually know what we're talking about here. Oh my God. So maybe like a little role play. Of course, you in the scenario, like I gonna throw out a situation and then you have to tell me if it's like a pause, pivot, or piece out because yes, that's fine. We can do this. I feel like if it's not applicable, then it's all theory. If pause, pivot, or piece out is not applicable, please No, no, no. There was so many Ps in that, please, Peter is pause, pivot, or piece out Applicable. Can we order a pepperoni pizza? Okay. Listen, listen, listen, go. So, um, I did chacha bt this whole next section, so again. Grace. I also think it's really weird that we rely so much on AI and that earlier you said, you know, I'm not credible, but you know, chat GT is right, which is totally not great. It's so like, yes. I just, there's just so many things I, I'm having a moment with this. Okay. However, first can I wait, can I interrupt? I know I'm an interrupter, but two things. One, I'm super proud of you for using chat GPT, like, 'cause you are not the best at chat GPT. Um, no, I know, but two, I will say that PSA, people, we have gotten organized here with chat GPT, we know how to ask it questions. So we get credible answers now, right? I mean, there is, yes. It took a year to figure out, but here we are. Okay. Here we are. Well, 'cause if you just prompt chat GPT with stupid prompts, you get some shit, it's not that good. It's true. Yeah. I mean, you have to finess it. You, you have to know what you're doing. It work for you. Yes. And I mean, but all that to say, so I asked it to create scenario so that way we can kind of go through, um, and make it applicable to people, the real world. I love, I love this I challenge accepted. Okay, ready? Let's go. Here we go. Yeah. Scenario one. Go. You love your team. The job's mostly fine, but lately you've kind of been zoning out in meetings and can't remember the last time you felt excited about anything that's work related. So you're kind of starting to feel uninterested. Are we pause, pivoting, or piecing out? Uh, easy peasy. We're pausing. Yeah, I know that one. That's kind easy. Okay, fine. You just need the reset, dude. Take PTL. Like I said, you know what? Eat, pray, love. There you go. Do your thing. Okay. Go on vacation. Yeah, whatever you want. Let's go. Binge. Binge. Watch the crown. I that. Okay. That one is easy. That was easy. It's easy, right? Okay. Scenario number two. Well, lemme say this, hold on. I do wanna say this. If you realize after your pause, you don't like want to come back. Oh, that's true. Like you got a bigger problem. Asterisk. Yeah. Bingo. Okay. But otherwise that's totally easy. That's a pause. Like if you don't feel regenerated. Yeah. Because you said the job's mostly fine, right? Right. Like you're just zoning out, you're daydreaming. Yes. Yeah, that's all. Okay. Okay. Go. Scenario two. Scenario two. Perche, GBT. Let's go. Uh, imagine you've been in the same role for years and you've totally mastered it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I have no idea what you're talking about. I never, you're, I don't have that feeling ever. You're crazy, but, uh, everyone thinks you're great at it. Mm-hmm. Nevermind. And shut up. Yes, I do. Uh, everyone thinks you're great at it, but secretly you're dying in boredom. You're not challenged, which it No, no, no. Okay. Hold on. You threw me off at the end. Do that one again. Oh, say it again. Imagine you've been in the same role for years and you've totally mastered it. Everyone thinks you're great at it, but secretly you're dying of boredom, which is it. I am going with Pivot on this one. Okay. At least from what I can gather from the basically two sentences that you gave me. The chat. Gt, listen, this is chat. GBTI don't wanna tell you, right? But I would like say, pivot maybe. You need to find something that's more interesting to you? Right. Or maybe you do need to maybe take a pause and step away and. I'm assuming it's pivot. Reevaluate. Here's how I know it's pivot. How do you wanna know how it's pivot? Yes, I do. Because the way you chat gtd, you went in order because you have OCD. Yeah. So it probably gave you a pause, a pivot, and a piece out. So I'm going with pivot, just simply because of that. Okay. Okay. Well, what do you want me to do? Yeah, come on now. So the word board was the key word. It's boredom. Mm-hmm. I think that was what you used at the right. Yeah. Okay. So that's how you know, right? You're sort of like. The jobs wrote, like, like ROT wrote, not like W-R-O-T-E wrote. Right, right, right. Okay. So it's time to be bold, man. It's like, do something, well, this was just horrible. Now that what you just pointed out that we're going in order so Well here we are downtown Tom, and here you three. This I, I try to get into your brain a little bit so I know how to pass all the tests that you throw at me. See, so AI still is not smarter than us. It's not. Yeah. 'cause it just takes, well, not yet. Oh. It, I don't wanna talk about that. Okay. So that one was totally pivot. Yeah. Um, and you basically need to see a therapist or figure out what you need to do, or like how did you get more interested in work? Yes, exactly. Make it spicy again. Yeah. Yes. Make it spicy. Okay. Gimme the last one though. Okay. Last one was, we already know what it's gonna be, but here it is. But we gotta really hear it, Amanda, so bring it home. Okay. Bring it home for listeners. Go, uh, you're getting decent performance reviews. I've never had a performance review in my life. Of course not. Okay? Uh, you're respected in your job. People even go as far as asking for your advice, but every Sunday night you get the Sunday scaries. There they are. I mean, that's kind of like the Sunday scaries. That's like a flag word, right? A buzz word. It's a buzz word. Chad. GPT said Sunday scaries. I did. That's the coolest thing ever. But you also got anyways. Okay, go, go. Sorry, sorry. Um, you're not quite miserable or anything, but you're not excited either. And you keep telling yourself you should be grateful. The job is good on paper, but deep down it just feels like you're living someone else's life. No. Yeah, that's totally, yeah. Obviously, like they did a good job there though. That one's a little sneaky. But that's totally a, that's totally a piece out, right? Like, cut the crap, god is yelling at you or I, whoever you believe in. I mean, I believe in God, okay. This one is not about being bored, like the last one. This one's like a problem, like a problem. Problem. Like. You're, something is triggering you and you don't wanna go to work. Absolutely. Because you are living a lie now. It's not your job anymore. Right. It's like someone else's job because you don't want to have this job. Absolutely. Okay, wait a second. That reminds me. Do you remember the joke about the guy on the roof? What roof with the, like the flood. He's like, oh, the, the guy in the boat comes by to pick him up. And he's like, no, no. Here, get jump in the boat. He's like, no, uh, God will save me. And then like, the helicopter comes by. Yeah. And the helicopter, eh, Joe, grab the ladder. No, no, no. God's gonna save me. And then he dies in the flood, and then he goes up to, to heaven. He's like, God, why, why didn't you save me? Why did save me? And he goes, I, I whatcha talking boat. I said, said a helicopter. I said, we said no. I said, right. Well, and there's sometimes I think we do get stuck in jobs where. We're comfortable. Yes. And that comfortability, is that the right word? Comfort. I love that word. Yes. Uh, turns into TM resentment. Yes, it does. Thank you very much. So, listen. That could have been me. I had to be careful. Right, that's true. 'Cause I mean 30 years, da da da. I mean, I worked my way up the corporate ladder, but then it was okay, how do I pivot? Like I had to really dig in. Figure out. Right. Figure out. Yes, absolutely. Right. So I did a little bit of a pivoting and here we are, we're doing a little bit of this fun podcast and having a little thing and I'm energized at work and all sorts of stuff, but it's hard stuff. 'cause that could easily be a piece out. Like you have to do some serious soul searching to figure this out. Right? You absolutely do. Yes. But what if you do that soul searching? Yeah. And you discover, yes, I'm in the peace out mode. Yes. But there's like this whole full body rejection. Because you actually can't quit right now. Like your bank account says, Nope, try again later. Oh shit. Or you know, you. There's just so many other things that are Yeah, no, no. That, because that's se that's, so, that's actually serious shit, right? If you can't leave your job, which is totally legit, you have to make a plan, you have to make a real plan to leave. Yeah. This can't be like, like you can't just be like, no. Objection button. I mean, this is what you pull the rip cord. This is what you fucking, this is what you teach people all the time. Your We do, we do. And that's, that's a why it kind of brought it up is just because even though we're talking about this and people may connect with it and be like, Nope, gonna watch into my boss's office tomorrow and quit like. You need to make sure that you're, or the opposite, right? Or the opposite. People are like, oh my God, I, I know what they're saying, but they don't understand. I don't have any money and I can't, I live paycheck to paycheck. Here's the deal. I tell my kids this. The time, like literally, this is all I'm drilling into my kids. Have your six months worth of emergency fund. Yep, absolutely. Start with anything. I mean, start with three months. I really don't give a crap, but I mean, don't do anything else. Yep. Until you have an emergency. Right. You have to because life is gonna throw crap at you. Mm-hmm. And if, like, right now, Luke, he, yeah, he likes his job. He, he's engineer. He is, uh, you know, working, and having fun. But he's already starting to think like, Hey, do I wanna teach? Do I wanna do something different? Da da. Right. Like so soon. I mean, if he's already having Right. Right. So, so my And because we're asking these kids when you, I mean, we do it when we were 20 years old, oh, what's your life choice? Holy crap. You don't know that yet. So, I mean, the kid has saved all his money. Like he's amazing. He is great. But so literally, if he wanted to walk away tomorrow, he could, he's fine. He doesn't need, he doesn't even need to mooch off me for five seconds. Yeah. If he really didn't want to. Right. He just be responsible. Right, right. I think that's the biggest thing is like. Make the decision that is best for you, for your mental state, you know, for your creativity, for your spiritus, whatever it is like. Do it Responsib, it's like eating vegetables, right? Here's the deal, it's the same exact thing. Nobody wants to eat their vegetables. You just wanna eat the fun stuff. It's the same with money. If you save the money first, you can make all your choices. But too often people are like, oh, it's okay. My job's good enough. I'm just gonna spend all my money, do whatever you got. And it's like, it's BS because you didn't save the emergency fund to begin with. It's true. Because now it's not just about like surviving. No, right now it's, it's not. Absolutely. I can't stress enough. Right. Love him or hate him. Dude, Dave Ramsey Ugh. But he conflict, dude. I know, but like he still gives some good, there are some solid tips, right? He does. And this is one of his really solid tips. There's other stuff, maybe not. Okay, got it. Um, Where were we? Well, now that we just kind of like brought that all down and you hate your job, but sucks to suck, you gotta stay. Um, are there any fun facts to lighten the mood? No. I don't even have any fun facts. That's terrible. Here's a fun fact. We're all gonna die. It's terrible. I mean, it's true, right? Well, not, I think the biggest thing I have fun. Of course I have fun facts. I know you do. Okay, go. But, but in your point of like, we're all just gonna die. Your career should bring you some joy has to, and excitement has to, but, and this is where people will probably not agree with, but I do believe we were all made with a passion, something that we're good at. That's why we live in community. Do you know how hard it is to find, have different traits? Do you know how hard that is to find what Like the passion and like what we're good at. That takes a long time. Well, it does, and I don't, I mean, I think as a society, again, our education system is. Based off of the Industrial Revolution. So we were part of it. As we're going through education, we are made to become like little soldiers who listen and follow the bells and all the things. Yes. Right, right, right. Um, but if we could figure out, or even help youth figure out what their passions are earlier, there's not as much I feel, I, I know people give. The current college generation a bad rap because like, oh, you finished college and then you're a boomerang and you went back home and now you just sit on your parents' couch and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right? But there isn't, I guess, a new and improved way of helping kids find their passions besides that stupid career test, right. That we all take. And if we could find our passions, which again, I think we're all born with for the community that we're living in, I think we would all be a little more happier we would at our jobs. It's kind of like that. What's that Japanese term for? Like when, when you're, you're good at something, the world needs it and you're passionate about it, like it all comes together. Do you know the word? What's the word? Look up the word. I don't remember the word. The word. I think the word. It's like it starts with an I, icky. Icky guy. I think it's icky guy. Icky guy. Icky guy. Okay. All right. Make sure I'm right. But it's, I think, I think I said it right. Yep. You're right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, that's what people need to do earlier. Yeah. It's like figure that whole thing out. Yeah. Right. Instead of just sort of marching down a road. And that's what I'm hoping, my kids are learning from me anyway. And I mean a little off track of like pause, pivot, or piece out. No, no, no. But I think it'll, you're having less, that's the moment of clarity you're looking for. Right? Right. I think you're lessening the chances of your need to pause, pivot, or peace out. Absolutely. That is well said. And if we had more people doing that, we'd be way, dude, you know what? It all comes full circle. We'd be, you know, we'd be like the Lakotas. Yeah, yeah. Oh, the Lakotas here in the, the Black Hills. We would, because they had their shit together. Lets go with the Lakotas from the Black Hills. I don't even know. Yeah, they were everywhere. Oh my God. Tuck Hills. Yeah. All. Okay. Fun facts. Are we ready for fun facts? I am. Because I think that's all started by you asking me for fun facts. I did. Yep. Alright. Uh, besides, we're all gonna die. Here we go. Uh, number one, the term sabbatical. When you were asking at the beginning, here it is. It's a fun fact. It comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means to rest. It originally referred to letting the land rest every seventh year. Now it just means letting your brain rest so it has a chance to recharge and get back. Love it. Shabbat Yes, sabbatical. I love it. There you go. Um, speaking of sabbaticals, the average length of a voluntary sabbatical is about six months. Six months. Six months. I would not have picked six months. Yes. Long enough to rediscover your sanity, but short enough that your resume doesn't look like a warning sign. Hmm. Right. I love that. Well, wait, wait. Have a question. Like what type of jobs give these sabbaticals, thank you very much. If I had a job with a sabbatical, I don't, I think we'd be, yeah. I only one that big companies off of the top of my head really? Because the only one on the top of my head was like education, tech companies. Education? Yeah. Oh, okay. Tech education does it every seven years. Uh, I think every seven years. Don't quote me on it. I think like I, I know a buddy. I think he's, he's at B of A right now. Oh, so banks are starting to do it. Yeah, Not six months. I think he's getting like six or eight weeks. Yeah. Yeah. But, but nonetheless, I think it's an awesome idea. Uh, helps him recharge. It does. Keeps your employees, It's just smart. Yes. And when you're in small companies, right? 'cause I mean, I get it, American, it's hard, but, but it's very hard. Yes. Like yes, exactly. Uh, alright. Number three, over 62% of professionals say they've considered a career break, pause, pivot, or peace out. But only 14% actually have taken one. So, Amanda, that means that there's almost 50% of people that are fantasizing about at least pausing. But too scared to do it, like I guess 48% of people. That's crazy when you think about it. That's half the workforce that's walking around numb, just pretending like they're fine and I mean, I just think, holy shit. It goes back to are they in the right position to begin with? I know it's hard stuff. Save your money people. Yep. Let's get organized. Do it early, do it now. Do it before There's a lot of responsibility or come to terms with it. Like I do think that's another thing, right? Yes. If, if you can identify, no, I'm in this cycle and yes. You know, 48% of the workforce evidently is that. I'm in this cycle. I obviously don't love it very much. Maybe it's a change in attitude, a change in mentality Yes. Of going through the steps and finding your purpose maybe outside of it. Yes. I don't know. Yeah. Like sort sophisticated, just Yeah. Sorta sophisticated. Okay. Number four, in Finland, uh, career breaks are normalized and even subsidized. Well of course, up until July of 2024, of course. Oh. Course they just changed it. I was looking it up. I was doing my research. Finland offers leave programs for employees that have worked 20 years in the workforce and at least 13 months in their current job, like with their current employer. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. And they let you step away and still keep up to 70% of your benefits for up to six months. Wow. Yes. Go Right. But now they don't. Well, that's like, yeah. The government will subsidize small businesses to allow these breaks. Big up. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. .,Okay. We're moving to Finland. Okay. I know we have to do an episode on Finland. I know a dude. Oh, you do? Yes. You go. We gotta get you. Yes. We gotta get him on here. Oh my God. Excellent dude. Yeah, yeah. Know through. But he lives here, so I'd be fascinated. We got, we got to like, we'll bring him on. Okay. We'll bring him on. We'll do a whole thing on Finland. Oh, that's I totally wrong one. Good. Finally, last one. Have you ever heard of the term employment? Totally. Oh, okay. Whatever. I never had, um, apparently this is a real thing and it was coined in the early two thousands during the tech bubble downturn. And it was the idea when you got laid off or made like an impulsive decision to quit, you used the chance. To catch this sleep in travel or take up some weird hobbies. Yeah, to have fun. Yeah. So isn't that just like a fancy term for like just being unemployed and spending all your money? It absolutely is. And I didn't say that it was a good term, but so they've re termed it fun employment, like you're doing something well because it sounds so much better than unemployment. You know what I think it is? I think it's dumb. Well, it probably is. Yeah. I think it's the opposite of magnificent. Hmm. It's the opposite of that word. Alright, so, okay, so we got through all the fun facts. And basically, I think we did a pretty good job of all of the definitions and the information that we gave, but maybe we'll just do like a quick recap so that way if anyone's just, you know, skips to our call to action action. Yeah. They should. They will just get, that's what most people do, right? They're just like, yeah, do we really like this podcast? No, not really. Call to actions click. I mean, they'd have to like it a little bit to even wanna go call, go action. All right, fine. We'll put it all in a neat little package. Hopefully this was mildly helpful with the ball. Okay, let's recap. Um, so don't be putting in two weeks notice yet people, and have the whole office like shut down because you decided to quit on 'em. Um, first, if today's episode gave you something to think about, which we hope it did,. Do yourself a favor and start to talk to someone about it this week. Like this week. Do not wait. You can talk to a friend, you could talk to a mentor, you could talk to a therapist. Anybody, just take one small step. 'cause I think 50% of the workforce, like we said, is just paralyzed. They're just stuck. So you don't have to make some big play. Just make, but it's okay. One step, I think everyone should know. Just it's okay. Yes. To talk to people about it. Absolutely. That's where I think we should start. That. If we wanna dig a little deeper, I have a few resources to try out. So the first one is a book called Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. And it's basically like career therapy in book form. And it has like a bunch of exercises to help you reframe things. It's worth the 12 bucks on Amazon. I bought it years ago, and if you don't like to read, get on Audible. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Uh, then there's one called The Defining Decade by Meg J. And this one's for like, especially if you're in your twenties or thirties, right? Well, early thirties, I would say. And think you're already behind. Hmm. Spoil alert, you're not behind, trust me. Okay. Also, 12 bucks on Amazon. I apparently 12 bucks is like a popular price of books on Amazon. Uh, and then finally, if you want like a real podcast that actually is sophisticated, try the next big idea. It's like our show, but without the sort of part, like it's professional and stuff less wearing, more neuroscience. You get the idea and they talk a lot about career advice, career trajectory, stuff like that. So, not for me, but totally for, uh, folks looking, to go down this rabbit hole. Okay. And then finally, remember these relevant details to seem sort of sophisticated. First pause is when you're exhausted, but still aligned with what you're doing. Pivot. When the role is wrong, but the past still works. And peace out when everything inside of you screams, absolutely not. Get me the hook outta here. Second, remember, burnout isn't a badge of honor. And if you're dragging yourself through your workday, it might be time to do something radically productive, like time to rest. And finally, for the record, changing direction doesn't mean you failed. I think that's, I think people are so worried about that. Yeah. Yeah. You said it earlier. It means you're just paying attention. Whatever path you're on, you're in tune to yourself. Yes. That's all. Yes. Yes, absolutely. Give yourself the freedom to step off for a second. Even five minutes of clarity can change everything, and if you're wondering whether you're allowed to take a break or not, we are here to tell you you are. We hereby grunt you permission. Yes. You're welcome. Thank you, Amanda. Alright, there you have a dear listener. As a career break isn't a cop out or a midlife meltdown, to use an analogy from our last episode,. It's a strategic pit stop on the F1 race course. Ooh, all lucky. So whether you're pausing for a sanity reboot, pivoting into a fresher lane, or piecing out to chase a totally new horizon, the goal is still the same. Reclaim your energy, your curiosity, and your sense of why. So we did our job today, you're walking away with a clearer roadmap, a couple of laughs and permission to press whatever button, pause, pivot, or peace out so your life feels more like your own. So sketch the plan, stash the cash, book the PTO, or draft the resignation. Email. We won't judge you, we swear. If you liked what you heard, hit subscribe. Drop us a review or share this episode with your coworker who's about to bust outta here without a doubt. Until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and remember, sometimes the most productive thing you can do is step away.
