- Well, it's been a wild ride these past few years.
When I started this channel
I had no expectation of what it might become.
Sure I had hopes,
but I certainly didn't have any expectations.
It's easy to look back in hindsight
and say that it was the right decision
but it was truly a step into the unknown.
It was about facing my greatest fears,
overcoming my inner critic,
and giving myself permission to fail wildly.
This is something new.
I'm not sure where to look.
I'm not sure what to do with my hands.
If you've ever tried to pursue an unconventional path,
you've been there before.
You have to push through creative blocks,
people doubting you,
and all the other hurdles that come your way.
If you're lucky,
you've got a small support circle around you,
but even then, you're largely on your own.
You make the decisions,
you live with the consequences,
you find a way through the darkness.
I've gotten incredibly lucky these past few years.
I've had videos go viral.
I've connected with people who inspired me
when I first got started.
I met with hundreds of subscribers around the world
who watch my videos.
And even this past year,
I got nominated for a freaking Emmy.
I didn't win, but still pretty cool.
But it's time to say goodbye for now.
So I started my first freelance business over 12 years ago,
many years before I started this channel.
And I don't think that I've honestly taken off
more than a week since I got started.
I mean, I've had little breaks and I've had weekend getaways
and vacations to some really cool places,
but when you work for yourself
there's always more work to do.
And when you have other people working for you,
that's even more true.
So taking extended time off,
even if it's totally possible,
has never felt realistic for me.
I always told myself that I do it next year
or maybe once I reached a certain milestone
or when I'm feeling a little bit more settled
but the timing just never worked out.
But that's about to change.
It's long overdue,
but I'm taking one of the longest breaks of my adult life.
I've been known for some of my 30 day challenges
over the years
and I'm about to embark
on one of my most ambitious ones yet:
I'm gonna do nothing for 30 days,
except it's not gonna be for a video.
I'm not gonna vlog it,
document it, or capture it for the purposes of my work.
For the first time in over a decade,
I'm going to stop working completely for an entire month.
That means no to-do list,
no calendar invites,
no editing, no writing, no tasks,
unless you count eating every croissant in France as a task.
Nat and I are packing our bags
and we're heading to Europe
where we're gonna finally, finally get married.
I mean, we're obviously already married.
We've got a classy Las Vegas wedding certificate
to prove it,
but after years of postponing it because of the pandemic,
we're finally celebrating our wedding
in front of our family and friends.
It's the first time
that we're bringing both of our lives together
from Australia and the United States to celebrate,
and we couldn't be more excited.
This is really what's gonna kick off the trip for us.
And then we're just gonna travel around Europe,
visiting places we've never been before,
eating delicious food,
relaxing on beaches,
and not thinking for a second about work.
This is my first step
towards hopefully even longer breaks in the future
that are meant to give us the time to rest
and recoup both mentally and physically.
I love this idea of a sabbatical.
It was originally used by those doing backbreaking labor
in the early days of agriculture.
They traditionally take off one year
out of every seven years of work.
While the practice is rising in popularity today,
it's still pretty uncommon.
Only 5% of companies
offer some kind of paid sabbatical program,
and it's really not surprising why.
Brené Brown has said that,
"It takes courage to say yes to rest and play
in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol."
Many of us are addicted to our work.
We have an always on policy when it comes to email,
forgo our personal days
and rarely give ourselves a chance to take a break.
- I never take vacations, I never get sick,
and I don't celebrate any major holidays.
- It might sound cliche
but the question we all need to ask ourselves is,
are we living to work or are we working to live?
Personally, I'd like to eventually take a proper sabbatical
in a couple years and take a complete year off to rest,
find new interests, maybe even learn how to cook.
Okay. That one might be a stretch.
But for now it's baby steps.
My relationship with work
has always been pretty complicated.
I mean, I absolutely love what I do
and I feel so lucky to be able to do it.
It's honestly really weird to call myself
a professional YouTuber,
and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not amazed
that this all worked out as well as it did,
but of course it comes at a cost.
I mean, I've worked some really crazy hours.
I've pushed myself further than I should have,
and I rarely gave myself enough time to recover.
I burnt myself out a number of times
over the past few years.
It's easy to say
that the pressure came from external forces:
from subscribers or the algorithm
or any number of things that compete for my attention.
But truthfully, it always came from within.
I put the pressure on myself.
And what I found out is that when you burn yourself out
there's a kind of residual burnout that never goes away.
And when you work maybe a 12 hour shift
or you skip a couple weekends in a row
without taking a break,
the anxiety and burnout pick right up where you left it off.
And so, I'm giving myself permission to step back
and take a mini retirement of sorts.
I know it's only a month,
I know it doesn't seem like a whole lot,
but for me it definitely is.
And while doing something like this,
obviously, makes me a little nervous.
I couldn't be more excited about the future.
So often we create unnecessary rules
and restrictions in our lives.
We follow patterns and rules
and guidelines made up for arbitrary reasons.
But I think it always helps to question these assumptions
because it's never too late to switch up your approach,
reinvent your life, or to start over.
Hey guys, So in the same way
that I've built an intentional life
for myself over the past decade,
I've made it my purpose to help others do the same.
One way I do that is through videos like this.
Another way, just through my courses.
And if you're ready to invest further
in your self development
and build an intentional life, consider "Simple Habits."
It's my course.
"Simple Habits" is the science-backed step by step plan
to choosing, forming, and sticking to your habits
for 30 days and beyond.
An enrollment is only open for two more days.
I'm teaching you everything I've learned
from a lifetime of trial and error,
as well as the latest research on behavior change
to help you finally figure out why you failed in the past,
to break free from the cycle of self sabotage,
learn the techniques and strategies for long lasting change,
and most importantly, take action.
This isn't just about theory.
Every lesson is layered with exercises,
accountability and action steps
so you can stop excuses in their tracks.
If you wanna learn more
go to slowgrowth.com/simplehabits
or click the link in the description below this video.
The course is gonna be open for another 48 hours
after I upload this video,
and then we'll close it until next year.
I'd love to see you in there,
but of course no sweat if this doesn't feel right to you
or if you don't have the money right now.
I'll keep uploading videos here on YouTube after my break,
of course.
So this is goodbye for now.
It's certainly not goodbye for good.
Maybe it is. I don't know.
Now I'm just kidding, it's definitely not.
The plan is to come back more fired up than ever before.
There are still more ideas that I want to pursue,
people I want to interview, and videos I want to make.
For me, the past few years
have been about taking steps forward,
pushing myself outside of my comfort zone,
challenging myself to do things
I never thought were possible.
And now I'm doing more of the same,
except this time, I'm taking a small step back.
I'll see you guys soon.
(door clicking)