There are years that ask questions. And there are years that provide answers.

“There are years that ask questions. And there are years that provide answers.”

I’ve been quiet recently, and there’s a reason for it.

End of 2022, I was about to face a year full of questions. After 13 years of working back-to-back jobs, it was inevitable.

Am I still on the right path? Am I climbing the wrong hill? Why am I doing what I’m doing? I felt tired and started losing the joy I once had in my day to day job.

Why was this happening?

Was it a mid-life crisis? (I sure hope I didn’t reach “halftime” yet) Was it a burnout? Or simply a reaction to the pandemic?

None of these quite fit.

But, like many of you, I too was pondering my future and thinking about a break.

You see more and more people quitting their jobs for time off, but rarely hear about the outcomes.

For the ones who can relate, I wanted to show you what my year actually looked like. Maybe it inspires you to embark (or not to embark) on a similar journey.

So, here’s my story.

End of 2022, I quit my job. For the first time ever, I didn’t have a plan. No main plan, no backup plan, nothing. It was scary, but it felt right.

In January 2023, I decided to take whatever time I needed to figure things out.

Initially I planned 1 month. Then 3 months. Now, 1 year later, I feel like I arrived.

It was probably the most exhausting year I had in a long time, but today I know, it was necessary.

In 2023, I looked into my physical and mental well-being, tried out a completely new career as a dog behaviourist, picked up old hobbies again, but also escaped the productivity hamster-wheel and learned to do nothing.

The first couple of months, I really struggled to let go. I didn’t have any “work work”, but every day I kept sitting 8+ hours in front of my computer, doing courses, workshops, being “busy”. Nothing really changed, the inertia was too strong.

That was the first thing that needed to stop. It was hard, but eventually it got better.

So I embraced doing nothing.

The next weeks were fun, but it got boring pretty quickly. Despite the lack of external stress and an empty to-do list, I was feeling worse.

I’m not good at being idle. Probably none of us are. There’s the good kind of idle, where you are meditative and relax, but if that’s the main purpose of your day, you’re soon going to have a bad time.

Then I picked myself up and started following my curiosity. That got me going, and slowly things started improving.

I’ve come full circle, but the saying is true: the journey matters more than the destination. I learned valuable lessons along the way. I feel curious, energised, and most importantly centered.

There’s so much more to say, but being a private person, writing a post like this already pushes my comfort limit. If it got you thinking or it raised questions, my inbox is always open.

I have exciting plans for 2024 and will share more going forward.

Thanks for reading and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Later Edit: some friends asked me about what I actually did.

Here’s what I ended up doing in 2023 (chronological order):

Took lots of time to reflect on what I want to do going forward.
Spent quality time with my family & friends.
Learned about the human metabolism and Continuous Glucose Monitors. I improved my diet and exercise, fixing my glucose levels.
Built Spearmint.health, an app that helps evaluate glucose levels. Learned React Native & Elixir Lang along the way.
Started travelling. Short trips between 4-7 days work best for me. Not everyone’s a great explorer or a digital nomad, and that’s okay.
Picked up old hobbies. I took many nice pictures. I started making music (or: randomly turning knobs & pressing buttons)
Tried out a new career: Dog behaviourist for aggressive dogs. Loved the outdoors and dogs, but my passion stays in tech.
Fell in love with reading again. Fiction is way more fun than I thought. It calms my mind.
Studied ADHD and underwent testing with crazy brain wave scans. It wasn’t the answer, but I learned much about psychology and my mind.
Worked out (almost) daily. Through ups & downs, being physically strong kept giving me the needed energy & confidence.
I got married to the love of my life after 14 years :)