Your Sabbatical: A workbook for defining your career sabbatical and creating transformative change.

You've taken the two-week vacation. It didn't work. You came back, and the same weight was sitting there waiting. What you need is months. Enough time to recover, recalibrate, or change direction, without blowing up your finances, blindsiding your family, or torching your reputation on the way out.Your Sabbatical is that plan. 17 chapters. Every phase covered.Christopher Grossmeier took a sabbatical after years of burnout. The tools to plan it simply did not exist, so he did his homework. He planned it, funded it, negotiated it, survived the first weeks off, did the identity work that only opens up once the calendar clears, and figured out how to come back. This workbook came out of that experience and is built for rest, reset, or pivot sabbaticals lasting 3 to 18 months.Rest: You're depleted. Brain fog, broken sleep, dreading Monday. You need to stop before you can think clearly about anything else.Reset: You're functional, but something is off. The career looks fine on paper. Your life doesn't feel like it fits anymore.Pivot: You want a different direction. New role, new field, or a completely different relationship with work.Part One: Before Your Sabbatical (Ch. 1-5)Build a real budget, calculate your runway, pitch your employer, align your household, and count down your last 30 days. From vague idea to a plan you can act on in 4 to 8 weeks.Ch. 1: Why You're Here, defining your typeCh. 2: The Money Conversation, spending rate, three budgets, healthcare, taxes, runwayCh. 3: The Conversation with Your Employer, three departure paths, pitch languageCh. 4: The Conversation with Your Family and FriendsCh. 5: Timeline, Logistics, and the Last 30 DaysPart Two: On Sabbatical (Ch. 6-12)The companion for while you're away. Decompression, rhythm, identity work, learning, relationships, wellness, and the mid-sabbatical slump. It probably will happen.Ch. 6: The First Two Weeks, decompression, phantom work, guiltCh. 7: Finding Your Rhythm, anchor habits, energy, sleep debtCh. 8: Who Am I Without the Title? Identity workCh. 9: Learning, Creating, and Going DeepCh. 10: Relationships During SabbaticalCh. 11: Wellness, Rest, and the BodyCh. 12: The Check-In, weekly and monthly reflection, the mid-sabbatical slumpPart Three: Returning to Work (Ch. 13-17)Where most sabbatical resources fall completely flat. Take stock, make the career decision, build your narrative, run the job search if needed, and protect what you gained through year one.Ch. 13: Taking Stock, what did this actually do?Ch. 14: The Career Decision, return, pivot, or something elseCh. 15: Telling Your Story, handling the gap without apologyCh. 16: The Job Search, an 8 to 12-week process for the modern marketCh. 17: Sustaining the Change, long-term integration, protecting what you gained What readers say"This book provides the structure and purpose I wish I'd had from day one. Do the exercises, follow the recommendations, and invest in yourself."— Robert Graves, Principal, Galaxie House, LLC"It's the book my bumps and bruises would have appreciated before I got started."— Dave Payne, Owner, State Change, LLC, Former Google"His section on 'what to avoid' is all of the activities I did that increased the burnout feelings at the time. I wish I'd had this chapter when I took my first sabbatical."— Kathy Webb, MBA, Owner, Kathy Webb ConsultingOpen to wherever you are. Do the exercise. The guide you needed now exists. Read more