I’m about 4 months deep into a sabbatical. Well that’s what I’m calling it because it sounds fancier and people seem to be more accepting of that than “career break” or “time off” for whatever reason.

When I left my job earlier this year, I wasn’t sure what it would do to me as a person but now that I’m in the thick of it, I know for sure.

Most importantly, my intuition is coming back. I know what I like and don’t like, I have preferences. It wasn’t always like this - I was on the banking, then buyside, then blah blah blah grind. As young adults, it’s easy to forget who we are and what we care about as we survive the pressure cooker of society and its expectations.

I spoke to a headhunter recently who was suspicious of me taking time off. “What was the real reason you decided to take time off?” Why is it so weird that I chose deep reflection time over business school? If I want to go business school, I easily could but I don’t want to.

One of the key tenants of investing is to think independently, and to be contrarian. If we think about stocks in that way, why wouldn’t we think about it like that for our own lives?