#027 Purposeful Pauses | Fatima Collins

Fatima Collins, guest · [01:33]so I took breaks for various reasons, and I remember the first break I took was sort of '98, '99, just at the very, very beginning of my career. I just started off as a microbiologist. I was working in a laboratory in, in Johannesburg, and, and then I decided I wanted to travel, and South Africa, and UK had that two-year working visa option. So I worked and traveled, but I took a conscious break from building my career. It was at a stage where you sort of in your early twenties, all your friends are getting their dream jobs or doing their articles or getting into their careers, studying further. I, I felt it was a very brave thing to do, you know, to say, I'm going to take these two years and I'm going to do whatever work I get. and, and travel, the intent is not to further my career. So it was a break from actually growing my career. And it was nerve wracking because, universities were offering me positions for my masters and my honors degrees and companies were approaching me for long-term work. And, and people said, you know, you can take holidays, you can work and take holidays, but you don't need to take time off and go traveling. it, your, your career will suffer. I think it was the best decision, Pietro. As, as much as, we're always pushing for time and, and rushing. Twenty-five years later, I can say it all works out, the way it does. And it's also your intent. Did I want to be a tourist in those countries, or did I want to be a traveler? And for me, it was about introspection, understanding this big world I'm entering into now, post-university, post working for a year or two. I'm going to be part of this world. Do I understand it? Do I just become another cog in the wheel? So that, that was my first sabbatical, ninety-eight to two thousand. And, I did work because I, I needed to fund these travels. So from time to time, I did work, in, in, in my professional capacity. However, I took a break from the rat race. I took a break from building a career. But, and even then, I, I needed to remind myself that it's my own race, you know, and I think you may know what that feels like because you look at your colleagues and they, you think, oh my God, they, they're doing so much better. I'm two years behind them, or my friends are, you know, they've got so much money now because they've saved up all this money and I've just traveled.

Fatima Collins, guest · [09:56]I, I grew up in, south of Johannesburg, a place called Donatia, in the heart of apartheid. So as you know how, how apartheid South Africa was designed, all we knew was the communities in which we lived. So everybody in the Indian community became a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, an accountant, or an engineer, and, or an entrepreneur. Except, except for that, we weren't really exposed to different careers. So when I finished school, I did a BSc degree, and I, I was, I was enjoying the sciences. It enabled me to work in South Africa, work abroad in laboratories, enabled my travel. Came back to South Africa and was still in, in that, filtration microbiology, biochemistry field, but it wasn't fulfilling. And, I, I, I didn't know what it is that I wanted to do. I, I, I went back to university, studied part-time, moved to Bombay, worked in corporate banking for a while there. Still wasn't what I thought it would give me. Then I took the sabbatical and I studied full-time for one year. I did my MBA at UCT and things shifted for me. I think that sabbatical was one of the greatest gifts I gave myself because post that, I went into the development sector and I've done various things in development, so, socioeconomic development, local economic development, and I found work incredibly meaningful. It was like I came back to myself and I had a, a good twenty years ahead of me in terms of work, of my work life, twenty, thirty years ahead of me. So that one year gave me job satisfaction for the rest of my working career.

Fatima Collins, guest · [12:17]So I'm also, together with a, with my career, I'm also a yoga practitioner. I, I studied, Hatha yoga, and I teach from time to time. But I started the meditation, introspective journey about twenty odd years ago, and I find that for me, Working with somebody really closely on this journey has been very helpful. I worked with someone for the last twenty years, understanding myself, understanding my patterns, understanding my triggers, where am I now, where would I like to get to, what does contentment look like for me, what does, manifestation look like for me, how do I With the universe, co-create the life I'm looking to lead, instead of just stumbling upon it day after day. For me, I find it important working with someone on this journey, because, you know, often when we have these discussions, she'll come back and say, but remember how far you've come, because, because introspection and, and, and this journey to self-actualization is not linear. You know, it sort of goes up and down, and, and sometimes you feel like you're getting nowhere, but working with somebody helps you stay your course and helps you realign for those days that you, you falter. So for me, introspection looks like finding a path to a more peaceful life and, and creating, creating a life I want as, as, as opposed to living a life that I don't like.

Fatima Collins, guest · [18:22]So I think, post MBA, it was easier because, I now understood what I'd like to do in terms of work, finding meaningful work. So the, the issue about doing what I love was exciting. Coming back to the workforce after taking a sabbatical from, from, for studying is always easy because you're almost able to explain yourself better. That was much easy. It was a career shift. It was a, it was an explanation. Post that, I had a short break, and, That was a bit harder. You know, it's almost like we're still stuck in that world where people just work, work, work, work, work, and nobody understands a break. But I, I, I think that when, you know, when you spend enough time introspecting and co-creating the life you want, you attract the circumstances that sort of, of fit into what you expect of life. So although it was a little harder, it was still easy enough to join. And because I'd had a break, I came back with a clear mind. I, I had the energy to take this on. So it was very, very exciting. What I found with my last sabbatical, I joined the workforce and I, I feel like I, I was so nervous. I wasn't sure, was I done with my grieving? I, I didn't understand that grieving might be a lifetime experience, you know. I was looking for some end date to it. But joining the workforce helped me find that balance between Keeping busy and appreciating what's just happened, through COVID. That was probably a little harder, you know, just, because there was a lot of talking about it. Oh, what were you doing? Why were you on a break? what happened? And so it was talking about it, but in that there was healing as well.

Petro du Pisani, host · [20:07]I read somewhere about somebody who took a sabbatical and they tried to, when they got back into work, tried to keep that sabbatical mindset still with them. Because for me, being in the sabbatical, I find, I'm finding that I'm getting curious about things again. My creativity is starting to come alive again, you know, I'm not a, I'm not this corporate person, or animal anymore. I'm a, a different type of person now, which is exactly what I wanted to get out of this sabbatical. And I was wondering, how do you keep that sabbatical mindset, the lessons that you've learned from the sabbatical still with you and keep going back to them? Is there a way that you try and keep that mindset?

Fatima Collins, guest · [20:47]So, I try and design my day on, through, through all these various sabbaticals, I identified four or five things that are meaningful for my existence. So in a day, I try and ensure that I have some touch points with those things. Of course, there's days where, as you know, you just, corporate just runs away with you. If I have two or more of those kind of days, I then have to sit and reevaluate my life. So I, I try and make sure that in each day I touch bases with, so for example, my, my morning starts with my morning prayer and a morning meditation. And then I'm Muslim, we pray five times a day. So I, those are my touch points. I need to have some interaction with certain people, and so I make sure I have those, and then there's exercise. So, it's a blend of social, community, family, prayer, and exercise. I, I, I know I'm derailing when I have days where there's only work and, and none of that or very little of that, and then I pull it back. You know, I excuse myself from meetings if it's prayer time. I say I'll be a bit late on a deadline because I have another engagement. So I just pull it back and nobody, nobody's, ever suffered as a result of that, you know.