Editor’s note: Cady North’s book, “The Art of the Sabbatical,” offers insights into planning and implementing sabbaticals. It’s available on Amazon and other major book retailers.
Cady North, a seasoned financial advisor and CEO of North Financial Advisors in San Diego, has identified a powerful ally in sabbaticals to enhance both personal life and professional services. Drawing from her own experience and extensive research, Cady has been exploring innovative ways to leverage work breaks to improve life satisfaction and client experiences. With the workforce landscape rapidly evolving, sabbaticals are emerging as a game-changer, offering unprecedented opportunities for personal growth and career development.
Quick Overview
Guest: Cady North
San Diego, California
Years in business: 15+
Firm: North Financial Advisors
What’s working now: Designing work breaks, such as sabbaticals, that can help advisors rejuvenate themselves—and their practices.
The growing potential of sabbaticals in financial planning
Cady’s journey with sabbaticals began in 2015 when she took her own leap into the unknown. The experience was eye-opening, revealing the immense potential of well-planned work breaks in both personal and professional spheres.
Cady: “I think it’s the money and the mindset. We have to have both, and there’s just a lot of layers to think through, but ultimately work breaks are so transformational and so wonderful.”
This initial experience sparked Cady’s interest in exploring sabbaticals further. Rather than seeing them as a career risk, she quickly recognized their potential as a powerful tool for personal growth and professional rejuvenation.
Cady: “At the beginning of the year, there was a study that came out by Gusto, which is a payroll company that runs payroll. And at that time, I think in January, they said, based on payroll numbers, that 10% of the workforce in January was on sabbatical.”
Recognizing the growing importance of sabbaticals in the modern workforce, Cady has positioned herself at the forefront of integrating these practices into financial planning and career development strategies.
Cady’s approach to implementing sabbaticals
Cady’s approach to implementing sabbaticals is multifaceted, combining financial planning with a focus on personal growth and professional development. She emphasizes the importance of thoughtful preparation to address the unique challenges of taking extended time off work.
Cady: “If you are struggling with burnout, if you have been working for a number of years sort of nonstop, it can take at least six weeks if not two months to just decompress from what you’ve been going through.”
This approach allows individuals to fully benefit from their sabbatical while ensuring their financial stability. Cady stresses the importance of comprehensive planning to align the sabbatical with both personal goals and financial realities.
Key areas of focus for sabbatical implementation
Cady has identified several key areas where sabbaticals can significantly improve both personal life and financial advisory services: personal rejuvenation, career development, and enhanced client understanding.
Cady: “I always like to build in an additional three months. And the reason for that is because most people when they take a sabbatical, I would say 90% of people end up taking three months more than they originally planned.”
By focusing on these critical areas, Cady aims to create a more holistic approach to financial advising, ensuring her clients receive guidance that accounts for both their financial goals and personal well-being.
Innovative applications of sabbaticals in financial advising
Cady has introduced several innovative applications of sabbatical concepts to address the evolving needs of her clients, including alternative “sabbatical-like” experiences for those unable to take extended breaks.
Cady: “I basically wrote a whole chapter on this—how to have a sabbatical without actually taking a work break. And the reason why is because this isn’t accessible to 100% of the population.”
These applications aim to provide more comprehensive and personalized services, addressing both the financial and personal aspects of her clients’ lives.
She says she advocates for people to do some self-reflection about some of the things in their control that can provide needed breaks.
Cady: “Can I turn off the phone at 5 p.m. when I leave the office? Can I experiment with having a recharge day in my week? And recharge could look—some people call this self-care—but recharge can look like anything. It can look like sitting under a tree and reading. It can look like taking a walk. It can look like breathing some fresh air in the sunshine. There’s so many ways that we can think about this, but for you individually, it’s important to do this reflection and see what does recharge me and how can I get my batteries back?”
Building a practice around sabbatical-enhanced services
Recognizing sabbaticals as a transformative tool has allowed Cady to develop new strategies and service offerings. She’s found that this focus not only improves client satisfaction but also presents a significant opportunity to enhance her own professional growth.
Cady: “Our jobs are not to design the perfect plan and ensure that it gets followed to a T. Actually, our job is to support and facilitate our clients living their ideal life. And what they think of as our ideal life today may not be what it is in six months or three years from now.”
Cady emphasizes the importance of balancing sabbatical planning with maintaining professional standards, noting that while work breaks can greatly enhance personal life, careful planning remains crucial in financial advising.
Challenges and considerations
While integrating sabbaticals into financial planning presents significant opportunities, Cady acknowledges that it comes with its own set of challenges, including financial considerations, career impact, and personal identity shifts.
Cady emphasizes the importance of thorough planning and self-reflection while leveraging sabbaticals to provide comprehensive support to clients.
The future of sabbaticals in financial advising
Looking ahead, Cady sees tremendous potential for growth in sabbatical-enhanced financial advisory services.
She believes that as work-life balance becomes increasingly important, more advisors will need to educate themselves and prepare to integrate these concepts effectively into their practice.
Cady predicts that advisors who position themselves to leverage sabbaticals effectively will have a significant competitive advantage in the coming years. For Cady, the value proposition for advisors in embracing sabbaticals is clear: It not only presents a growing business opportunity but also allows advisors to provide more comprehensive and personally fulfilling services to their clients.