You are not alone!

I've created a playbook for people who have already taken the leap.

I will accompany you from the moment you step out of your working environment to the moment you start shaping what you want the next phase of your life to look like. I won't tell you what that phase should look like, but I will point you in useful directions, point out typical challenges you might run into, and help you shape an environment from which true transformation can emerge.

Here are some of the topics you'll dive into

Intentions, phases and transitions

Resting: easier said that done

Reconnecting with your true 'wants'

Starting from a blank page

Building an abundance mindset

Redefining your relationship to money and work

Nomading as an accelerator for transformation

Becoming the author of your life

Here's what it looks like on the platform

In each section, you will find short videos, useful resources, short exercises and longer quests to help you reflect on your journey, and take action in a playful and constructive way.

An intro to me and my experience on sabbatical

After 12 years working intensely for big businesses in strategy and transformation roles, including 7 years in leadership and senior leadership positions, I decided to take an intentional break and go on a 12-month sabbatical starting in February 2022.

My first intention was to rest. My second intention was to figure out what kind of work I would end up doing, and life I would end up living, if I stepped out of the constraints of traditional work, stopped 'doing' things constantly, and followed my curiosity for a while.

Of course I was worried about the dent this would make in my career and about living off of the savings I had been building up for a house deposit. I was also terrified that 'following my curiosity' would result in me realising that I was not a curious person after all.

Now that my sabbatical has come to a close, I can say it: taking the leap was absolutely worth it!

I ended up taking on all sorts of small projects that were sparking my curiosity. I started writing regularly in February and started being active online in April. I designed my first-ever blog in March and my own website in August. I created a newsletter in September and was a guest on my first podcast that same month. I made my first YouTube video in December. I attended courses, workshops and retreats that helped me develop my writing, design and leadership skills in ways that aren't taught in the corporate world. The list goes on. All this while living in 6 different countries across the world, including 6 months in Indonesia.

This has been an incredible opportunity to reconnect with what matters most to me, define my own identity, and redefine what ambition looked like for me in both work and life. Something I had been finding impossible to do while working demanding jobs.

Your sabbatical unique, just like you

I’ve spoken to a bit more than 60 people about sabbaticals. Half of them were thinking about taking time off work, a third had already taken the leap and the rest were actively preparing for their time away, trying to figure out how to “make the most of it”.

That’s many hours of conversations in which I was given a window into people’s lives, their unique and complex love-hate relationship with work, their excitement at stepping off their familiar life path, and their fears at the idea of diving into the unknown.

65% of the people I talked with were calling in from the US, 15% from India, 10% from the UK. Half men, half women.

They were coming from everywhere in the business world, from big corporations and top consultancies to start-ups and not-for-profits. Some were software engineers and product managers in tech, others worked in finance, strategy or marketing roles. Some had only been working for a few years while others had been thriving in the business world for twenty years until something started feeling so off inside them that they could no longer ignore it.

Every single one of their journeys was unique.

Every single one of them has unique gifts to share. Taking proper time off work would allow them to grow and unleash those gifts.

Here's what people have said about 'On Sabbatical'

Meryl, 36 years old, from the UK.
On sabbatical after 13 years in a law career in Singapore and London.

Vikaash, 40 years old, from Bangalore, India.
On sabbatical after 23 years in corporate life. Last role as CEO of a large publicly listed company.

Cecile has done an amazing job putting together 'On Sabbatical'. As someone who is on that journey right now, I can relate to a lot of what has been included in this course. The structure, content and concise yet insightful topics really resonate and helps one understand and better prepare to explore more during their sabbatical.

Clearly, Cecile has combined a lot of personal insights along her journey with other learnings and resources. I love the summaries after each section and the resources section which are really a treasure for those who want to get more from their sabbatical.

Lin, 34 years old, originally from China and residing in the UK.
On sabbatical after over a decade in banking, consulting and EdTech across Beijing and London.

Raymond, 35 years old, from the US.
On sabbatical from a 12-year career in software engineering.

I’ve started the course and can confirm that Cécile has put together some excellent course materials! If a sabbatical is on your mind, the extraordinary value within this course is absolutely worth every penny and more!

More people are saying lovely things about my work

Nice words from Bill following our sabbatical conversation:

A shout-out from Heather, currently on sabbatical, in her newsletter:

A lovely thread of reflections from Imani, following our sabbatical conversation:

A shout-out from Paul in his weekly newsletter with 10,000+ readers:

You can also hear Michelle and I talk about our sabbatical experiences on Paul Millerd's Pathless Path over here: