Circumstances

What is the American Dream?
Monday, January 31st, 2011

Mehdy Ghannad of The Hostel Life shares with us the journey his father took from Iran in order to pursue the American Dream and how he is now pursuing his own American Dream.

What is the American Dream? The first person that comes to mind in pursuit of my answer is my father.

Ghannad Wedding My father immigrated to the United States in 1965 at age of 21 from Tehran, Iran with only two hundred dollars to his name. To my own surprise I only recently asked him this question, “Dad why did you take such a leap of faith with hardly any money in your bank account?” Before he could answer the question, my father had to put everything in context for me. In doing so, he had to begin by explaining the environment that he lived in at the time in Iran.

He began by saying, “Iran was a very different place than it is now. “ The government of Iran in the 1960’s was a constitutional monarchy and it had strong relationships with the western world. Iran was even seen as a top travel destination spot for many Europeans and Americans, because of its rich Persian history and for the skiing! Yes, Iran has pretty darn good skiing. However the education system was quite different than it was in the western world, more specifically different than in the United States (US).

Iran, much like the US has a college entrance exam, which helps determine which schools you can be accepted to. However, in Iran depending on what you scored, also determines what you could study. In addition to this, only 10% of applicants were admitted to Universities. This was a result of the lack of higher education offered after high school. For example, let’s say that you did score high marks on your exam; chances are that your career path will now be set for you. You were going to medical school to become a doctor IF space was available.

My father then got back to the answer of my original question. He said, “Son, the main reason I took that leap of faith, and came to America, was so I could figure out what I wanted to do and most importantly what I wanted to be”.

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Tags: adapting, inspiration, personal experience, top-feature
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating, Featured Posts | 6 Comments »

Give Yourself a Break This Year
Monday, January 3rd, 2011

As we start off 2011, many people will have already failed on their resolutions. But here’s one resolution on CNN Money that caught our eye: “New Year’s Resolution: I quit!”

“Employers watch out: Your workers can’t wait to quit.

According to a recent survey by job-placement firm Manpower, 84% of employees plan to look for a new position in 2011. That’s up from just 60% last year.

Most employees have sat tight through the recession, not even considering other jobs because so few firms were hiring.

But after years of increased work and frozen compensation, ‘a lot of people will be looking because they’re disappointed with their current jobs,’ said Paul Bernard, a veteran executive coach and career management advisor who runs his own firm.”

Our advice? Take a break before jumping into a new job. After years of burnout and frustration, it will help to get rejuvenated and relax your mind for a bit. And you’ll be a much happier new employee.

Give Yourself a Break

In Notes from a Briefcase, Steve Bamberger, a self-described ‘Briefcase’ and workaholic, shared some insight on the power of taking a break – even if it’s for a week.

“It’s ok to unplug. No one knows better than I do how easy it is to skip vacations. But the office will function without you. I may be a business junkie and mild workaholic, but I still spent a week in a cave house on Santorini last year and a week traveling national parks last month.”

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Tags: inspiration
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating | 4 Comments »

Keith Savage – Breaking One Career to Build Another
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Keith Savage of Traveling Savage is one person who has not allowed societal pressures to stop him from pursuing his career break dreams. He’s not afraid of the unconventional. In fact, his career break plans are quite unconventional! Over the next two years Keith plans to visit 8 countries for a month each (4 months total a year) while beginning a travel writing career. All with the support of his wife, who will remain at home working and taking care of their three cats.

He shares with us what led him to this point in life.

Could you tell me more about what made you decide to take a career break?
The American system of moving from childhood to adulthood usually involves going to college and identifying your future professional pursuit. Going to college also involves far too many parties and tons of interesting “flavors” of coursework. I graduated from school with degrees in creative writing and psychology, but I failed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Actually, I think I secretly knew what I’m consciously aware of now: I simply don’t want to do the kind of work that has come to typically define the word.

With no aspirations of seeking higher education after graduation, my liberal arts degrees effectively became little more than proof that I successfully completed undergraduate studies. I was on my own for job hunting, but, by the grace of some long-forgotten god, I managed to land a job as a technical writer at an amazing software company after only a few months. By any estimation this was the best “first job” I could have gotten.

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Tags: itinerary, travelogue
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating, Featured Posts | 7 Comments »

Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Have you ever asked ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ when contemplating your own career break travels? Janice Waugh of Solo Traveler shares with us how she and her family decided to go on their travels – and where she has arrived today.

How does one balance the importance of living in the present with the need to prepare for the future? Some people don’t contemplate this issue. They simply do what comes naturally – sometimes suffering the consequences of favoring one over the other.

But, if you are one who does consider how to balance the two, where does the answer lie. And, what is the question? If you love travel, the question is: should I stay or should I go?

We chose to go.
Late in 2000 my husband and I decided to go.

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Tags: Europe, family, inspiration, personal experience
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating, Featured Posts | 7 Comments »

Starting a Career Break Movement
Monday, April 26th, 2010

I know that Beyonce is on a career break. I know this because I have a google alert set up for the term “Career Break” and get an email every day showing me recent activity on the internet which includes the phrase “Career Break”.

Other hotbeds of career break talk on the internet seem to be about mothers (expectant ones and especially those going back to the workforce), people who had a ‘big break’ in their career, and our global neighbors the Brits taking a gap year. It seems that in the UK the idea of a career break is a regular part of their vocabulary. What I’ve learned from my Google alert for ‘career break’ is actors, singers, mothers, and Brits can take them; it’s socially acceptable.

When I started researching the keyword “career break’ for our SEO plan for Briefcase to Backpack I knew we had a hard climb ahead of us. I learned Americans don’t really search for the word…ever. I tried the word ‘sabbatical’ and had a few more hits, but in general Americans don’t consider this extended time off concept really part of their vocabulary.

This made me sad and happy. Sad because as Americans we just don’t get it. There are people all over the world taking a break from their career and employers who support that idea. They find a break rewarding, invigorating, educational, and they actually enjoy going back to their job more productive; but not in America. Sad. However I’m happy because it does show the need for Briefcase to Backpack to exist. It shows there’s an opportunity to bring this concept to overworked and burnt out Americans.

One problem – there’s a need, but the people who need it don’t know about it. How do you get people to search for a phrase that they don’t really think exists? Actually, they know it exists because they follow Beyonce’s career break; but they don’t really think that it exists for them.

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Tags: inspiration, social media
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating | 19 Comments »

Circumstances: What’s Stopping You?
Monday, March 29th, 2010

If you’ve only thought about taking a career break or sabbatical – what has stopped you from actually doing it? No matter the excuses that you come up with (or believe in) the only thing that is truly stopping you is yourself.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Seth Godin talk at the Small Business Summit in New York City. (Godin is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, agent of change and overall inspiring speaker.) And although he was addressing an audience of small business owners and entrepreneurs, the messages he imparted can most certainly apply to you as well.

Following are a few of his “sound bites” that made a great impression on me and led to a few observations of my own. (Please note that they are paraphrased from my fastidious notetaking.)

Become a Misfit
“The reason they want you to fit in is that once you do, they can ignore you.” – Seth Godin
Growing up it always seemed so important to “fit in”. And as a grown-up, we’ve been led to believe that we must do what is “expected” of us. If we follow this expected path of least resistance, we are promised a metaphorical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – retirement. But the trick is on us once we get there to find out we won’t always have the health or wealth to enjoy it. In the meantime, we are serving other people’s goals and not our own.

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Tags: anxieties, inspiration
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating | 6 Comments »

Sabbaticals and the Pursuit of Happiness
Monday, January 4th, 2010

Career breaks and sabbaticals are a great opportunity to quiet your mind and help you connect with what it is that will make you truly happy. Clive Prout uses the insights he gained from his own sabbatical to help others find their path to happiness. He shares with us what led him on the path to becoming The Sabbatical Coach and how you could benefit from using one.

One of the things that drew me to immigrate to the USA is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence.

I grew up in England, which holds its citizens as “subjects” of the monarch, with no written constitution to guarantee their rights. The idea that the purpose of government was to secure for its citizens “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” was revolutionary. It seemed a wonderful basis on which to create a country and a new life for myself.

I moved to Menlo Park in the heart of Silicon Valley in the mid 1990s. The computer industry was in full bloom and the Internet was starting to explode. Netscape’s offices opened a couple of blocks from where I worked in Mountain View. Central to my choice to be here was the unquestioned assumption that the pursuit of happiness lay through the pursuit of wealth. I would become rich and happy – or so I thought.

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Tags: career resources, coaching, sabbaticals
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating, Featured Posts | 6 Comments »

Circumstances: Recognizing the Signs You Need a Career Change
Monday, November 2nd, 2009

How do you know that you may be ready for a career break? Pamela Skillings, a successful entrepreneur, certified career coach, and the author of Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams, describes the signs that it may be your time.

1. What gets people down about working in Corporate America?
Most of us have similar gripes about bad corporate jobs—including long hours, unfair treatment, political B.S., bureaucracy, and lack of flexibility. If you feel burned out because of heavy workloads and unrelenting demands, if you’re sick of feeling like a cog in a machine and yearn to do work that is more meaningful, you’re not alone.

In today’s economic environment, corporate employees are more stressed out than ever before. Many have been overburdened with the work of their laid-off colleagues and are living in fear of the next round of cutbacks.

In other cases, people are simply in the wrong jobs—their careers kind of just happened to them like mine did for so long. And then there are those who basically like their corporate jobs, but feel like something is missing. They have some dream that they have been denying because they’re afraid it’s not realistic or they don’t know where to start.

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Tags: anxieties, inspiration
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating | 2 Comments »

Circumstances: Negotiating a Sabbatical
Monday, September 7th, 2009

If you are in a position where you like your job and the company that you work for, but feeling burnt out, a sabbatical may be for you!

We recently profiled a couple, Ben & Alonna, who started on their year of travel in August of 2009. Both worked for HP and while Ben decided to leave his job, Alonna was able to negotiate a year leave of absence.

If you are thinking this may be the way for you, follow some of Alonna’s tips on how she successfully negotiate for the time off.

Before approaching my employer about the break, I spent a lot of time researching, getting advice, and preparing a proposal.
My research included online searches for other people doing similar things, and looking up the policies at my company for unpaid leaves. Finding the policy at my company was straight-forward; they allow up to a one-year unpaid leave for personal reasons to be approved by management and HR.

Searching online turned up a few good articles and websites, but I think Briefcase to Backpack is a great addition and fills in a lot of gaps. Just hearing about people in similar situations helps a lot when you’re starting out.

Next I sought advice from multiple people in my company who I trusted. I asked what they thought of the idea and how I should present it. They had great advice and gave me confidence in my plans.

Finally, I prepared a proposal document which described:

What I want (1-year unpaid leave of absence)

Why I deserve it (included a list of accomplishments at the company thus far)

What I would gain (new skills, renewed motivation, personal growth)

How my work would be covered (a list of items and people who could help out)

When I presented this to my manager he was supportive right away and worked with me to get it officially approved. I think the fact that I was a high-performer and presented a well thought-out plan helped a lot.

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Tags: inspiration, sabbaticals
Posted in Circumstances, Contemplating | 3 Comments »

Dominique Doron – Finding a Way to Make it Happen
Monday, June 8th, 2009

Dominique Doron took a 2-month career break in the beginning of 2009. She shares with us how she came to make this life-changing decision, the anxieties she faced in doing so, and how she ended up spending it volunteering in Ghana.

MAKING THE DECISION
From Alternative Spring Breaks in college, to working for a non-profit in NYC, I have always tried to find time to volunteer. Traveling has also been a hobby of mine, although while working full-time, travel usually means a week of vacation here or there – not the culturally fulfilling experience I long for.

While working at Marie Claire as an events coordinator, I met some filmmakers who gave up their jobs and devoted their lives to making a difference in the lives of young Cambodian women. I was so moved by their bravery and dedication, yet felt a sadness come over me because I didn’t foresee an opportunity in my life to make a similar impact in the world.

I was married, needed to work full-time, and didn’t have any money to travel, but I quickly decided that if travel and volunteerism was important to me, that I would find a way to make it happen. Within a week, I decided I would quit my job to spend a few months volunteering in Africa. I wasn’t sure what I would do, where I would go, or how I would afford it, but I had a plan and started doing some research.

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