Hello to the coffee room! I’ve noticed that people here sometimes share various meaningful experiences, situations, and plans from their lives, so I’m sharing one personally big thing here.
Five years ago, I decided that when I turn 40, I would take a longer break from work… and soon it will be time. So, I will be taking a break from work during November-December. I’ve been working intensely for 16 years straight without really stopping once, so it could be good for both myself and the organization. Not because I’m burning out – I have plenty of energy – but purely for the sake of living my own life.
Many (including our board) have been of the opinion that two months is too short, but my own patience doesn’t stretch any longer… I’m sure I’ll reach a sufficient level of boredom even in that time.
In my role, there’s never a perfect time for something like this. In business and in the industry, there’s always one critical and interesting thing or another going on, but I have to trust that things here will progress and be taken care of in the hands of smart people. It might even be that many new connections and insights will emerge within the organization when I’m temporarily removed from the equation. In the spring, we did quite intensive strategy work and sharpened structures, so I know the foundation is in good shape. And two months is ultimately a really short time, even if it feels enormous in this everyday performance context. Although I don’t really recognize micromanagement or getting stuck in the past in myself, 16 years accumulates various ‘legacies’ in one’s head that are good to filter out so that thoughts can focus again on what’s essential and on the future.
As a semi-public figure, one always starts to wonder what reactions or speculations this will generate, because in working life, the culture doesn’t always encourage such “doing nothing without any goals.” There have been two newspaper articles about me being a CEO who doesn’t work at all during summer vacation. My way of working and living life hasn’t always fit the prevailing externally defined CEO mold. But then, when I’ve discussed this with many of my very successful entrepreneur colleagues/mentors, everyone has considered it a brilliant idea based on their own experiences.
What am I going to do? My life has had quite a lot of roadmaps, strategies, KPI metrics, annual clocks, and goals. The intention is to do something opposite, relatively aimless wandering.
The inspiration for this comes especially from Jules (Samuel L Jackson) in the movie Pulp Fiction:
“basically, I’m just gonna walk the Earth”
“you know like Caine in Kung Fu: walk from place to place, meet people, get into adventures”
So, walking! I have at least a one-way ticket to Porto. I’m going to start by walking a pilgrimage route alone for at least a week. Nothing spiritual, just walking and time for my own thoughts. Then I’ll spend time with my family. In my official capacity, I’ll only be on emergency standby, meaning I’ll also close the forum (my colleagues will respond in the Inderes thread). And I’ll close the stock market. The biggest thrill here is whether it will stay afloat without daily refreshing. Now, just over a month of intensive work left. I’ll try to do my part to get the IPO taps open and the stock markets flourishing 
