106 | How to Negotiate a One Month Mini-Retirement

What Would You Do with a One-Month Mini-Retirement?

If you had a full month off—no work, no responsibilities—what would you do? The possibilities are endless, right? 

Inspired by a recent episode of Retire Often with Jillian Johnsrud, I dive into her brilliant approach for negotiating a one-month mini-retirement. Whether it’s traveling, pursuing a passion project, or simply recharging, this idea isn’t just a pipe dream—it’s achievable with the right strategies.

With 2025 just around the corner, now is the time to start planting those seeds to create more living in your life. In this episode, we’ll break down actionable steps to help you negotiate that much-needed time off, so you can live with intention and joy.

Are you ready to make 2025 the year you really take a break? Let’s dive in!

Listen to Jillian's full episode on Retire Early
Check out Jillian's interview on Ep. 57 of You Betcha She Did

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Transcript

1:02

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of You Betcha She Did, the podcast where we teach you to dream big, think outside of the box, and earn your worth as a woman. Hi, I'm your host, Raina Rekiki, and today is one of those episodes where I am sharing An interesting tidbit I came across. I do these from time to time. These are little moments of inspiration, things that I think are going to get you to think outside the box, to think bigger. So this little tidbit comes from Jillian Johnsrud, who actually I had on the podcast in episode 57. Jillian is a specialist dealing With living, I would say a non traditional life in the fact that she often takes retirements, six weeks retirements, one year retirements, and so on. She became financially independent at a young age. I think it was like 25, has done all sorts of interesting things and she spends her time. not only teaching people about how to be financially independent, that whole fire movement, but also how to really maximize and enjoy your time on earth. And so recently I listened to an episode of her podcast, which is called Retire Often. And the episode focused on how to negotiate a one month mini retirement. And this idea just really spoke to me because I feel like there's so many of us that work our whole lives and maybe we take a week vacation here and maybe another one at another time But we never really take advantage of this idea of wow, what if I took one month off work? What kind of magical things could occur in my life if I took a whole month off? so she puts forth this idea in her episode and Talks to you about ways to negotiate this with your employer in order to make it happen. And today I'm just going to summarize some of the things she talked about just to get those wheels turning in your brain and to get you thinking. we're nearing the end of 2024 and 2025 is just around the corner. And this is a good time, I think, to sit back, do some deep reflection and think about, what do I want my life to be like in 2025? And maybe you do want to take advantage of this idea. of having one month to yourself doing a one month mini retirement. And again, there's a variety of reasons you could do this. you might be thinking, Whoa, there's no way I'll ever be able to negotiate one month off. My position is way too important. I've got too many things on my plate. There's no way they'll ever be able to survive without me there. I want to tell you, first of all, that's not true. there are ways for them to survive It definitely takes some planning. You can't just wing it, right? But there are ways to make this happen. You think about in daily life, people have babies, people go on medical leave, there's family emergencies, there's numerous ways where the employment system working is already set up for you to take time off if needed. So taking one month off from work is possible. What's really cool about taking a mini retirement for one month is that it's just the right amount of time to try something out, to really dig into one goal or one activity, to reboot, to spend time with a loved one. And it gives you a taste of things in the future. So for example, once you take one month off, you might be thinking, Hey, maybe down the road in a couple of years, I might want to do a longer one. It just opens that door. to thinking bigger about your life, thinking bigger about the way you want to experience living, what kind of legacy you want to have. And I think that's important because often I think we're boxed in. So first off the bat, I just want you to know that doing a mini retirement for a month is doable. But it is all about the prep beforehand. So for example, when you're thinking about taking a month off a mini retirement, it could be to do something really incredible, a really big goal. in, Jillian, John Rood's episode, she talked about, you could hike the Camino, this really cool trail in Spain that pilgrims go across. You could train for a marathon. Maybe you've always wanted to write a novel, you could work on your first draft, really dedicate time every day to write your first book. Maybe there's someone in your family who's going through cancer, or another kind of intense medical condition, and it's time for you to really spend time with them, engage with them, make those memories. Maybe you're feeling really burnt out. The whole work life balance is not working. You're burnt out and you need to take a month off to really heal, to really slow down. It could be rebooting your health. It could be diving into yoga. Maybe you've been through a personal trauma and you need a month to reset. These are all good reasons to take one month off, to take a mini retirement. And again, like I said, it's a test run if you've ever want to do something even bigger, like a longer kind of mini retirement in the future. So there, when we're thinking about mini retirement and talking to our boss about that, Jillian Johnsrud talks about four elements of negotiation that are going to make this More successful when you propose this to your boss. The first one is to anticipate and articulate the challenges. You don't want to just call for a meeting and drop this into your boss's lap. That will not fly. You want to give them a heads up that you're thinking about this. And then you also want them to know that you've thought this through. You've really thought about the challenges this is going to bring in the workplace. And you, not only do you know what those challenges are, but you've anticipated them and you've brainstormed some solutions to offer. This shows again, that it's not like this flippant, like spur of the moment idea, but you've really, Taking time to think about it. You care about the workplace and you're part of the problem solving process. You're not just Hey, I want to take a month off. Solve it for me. It's Hey, I want to do this. Here's why. I know this will cause this and this issue. These are the things going on, but I know those exist and I've thought about some solutions. Step one again, anticipate and articulate the challenges taking one month off will cause. Number two, propose potential solutions. Yes, you do need more than one solution, and you definitely need to be flexible in how this gets solved. It can't be your way or the highway. I know as someone myself who is a recovering perfectionist, raise your hand if you're in this boat. I know there's a lot of us out there. it needs to go exactly according to this plan. That's not going to fly. You need to have solutions, but you also need to be open. to the idea that this is a collaboration. Things might need to wiggle a little, they might need to change, and it'll still work out, but it doesn't have to go exactly to the plan that you put forth. Know that you have several solutions, and, you need to be ready to be creative and collaborate with your boss, or with your HR team. And that's point number three. Come to the meeting with the energy of creativity and collaboration. You've got your ideas, you're open to suggestions. This really takes the pressure off your boss. It really reduces a lot of that anxiety of Whoa, they just came to me with this big idea, and they have it planned out, but they only want it to go this way. If you, are ready to work with them, that's going to help things along. And then last but not least, when you're negotiating to take one month off, you want to know that it's going to probably, be a process of a couple of meetings. So you're not going to just go into your boss's office and have this decided in one meeting. Usually, it's going to take a couple different meetings, probably with a couple different people, where you're working through everything, making sure things are covered so that this can happen. So I just want to put those out there. It is really possible to do this. It's not An imaginary thing to take one month off, but it needs to be well planned out. It needs to be articulated well. You need to have thought through this and come with creativity and collaboration. According to Gillian Johnsrud, you should do this about three months ahead of the time. You don't want to do it a year out because That's almost too far off in the future. If you're trying to propose a one month mini retirement a year in the future, your boss's mind is not there yet. They're still focused on what's happening in this quarter. So I would say three months, maybe even six months ahead of time, then start to propose this. And one last thing. People are like, I don't think I could ever propose a mini retirement. I'm afraid of what people might think. They might think I'm lazy, not disciplined, maybe a little flaky. Maybe they're thinking I'm having a midlife crisis. Just because you want to take a month off to do something incredible, doesn't make you lazy. It makes you a big thinker, a big dreamer. It doesn't mean you're not disciplined. It doesn't mean you're not dedicated to your job. So when you're proposing this, you need to be. In charge of the narrative and everything you have to say should be the truth, right? There should be true reasons about why you're doing this. So when you're crafting your story about why you're doing this, you should share things about how this one month mini retirement is a positive experience for you. It's something very interesting. It's something specific and it's also a one time event. Even if it's not something normally you would think. is a positive experience, you can craft it into something that's positive and uplifting. And to give you an example, let's say, a family member, like your mother has Alzheimer's and needs to be moved into an assisted living facility or like a memory care facility. When you pitch this to your boss, you could say, I've been juggling with the work life balance, my mom's health is deteriorating, and I really want to take this month off to help her through this transition, to really focus on it with her and to make memories with her while she is as vibrant as she can be. I want to take this time for my family, make this happen right, so that when I come back, I can focus on work and I can fully come back to this professional life. So even though it's not necessarily a positive experience. You're turning it into one where you're going to create those memories. You're going to take that time that's really important with your mother. And then when you come back, you'll be ready to dive into work. Another example, when you're thinking about why you might want to do a one month mini retirement is think about how this is something that happens only, once in your life. So maybe you're turning 50 or 40 or 30 and you're like, On this epic birthday, I want to do this epic thing. I want to go to Costa Rica and go to this intensive yoga retreat for a month and dive into all those things. Or I, want to hike Mount Kilimanjaro. It's something I've always wanted to do and I need a month to do it. Or maybe you're getting married and you want to do this really epic, honeymoon somewhere. Or maybe your dad's turning 60 and he wants to hike and explore Ireland and you've always wanted to do this with him. So these are all good reasons that show this one time mini retirement isn't something that's going to happen every year. But it's something that's meaningful, that's specific, it's a positive thing, and it's a one time event. I'm just throwing this out there because I thought, wow, this idea of one month off to do something epic is a fabulous idea. And again, I just want to encourage you all, as rad women in the Midwest and around the world, I want to encourage you to dream big and to do big things. If you've never even considered taking a mini retirement, I just want this idea to settle in your brain. Maybe the most you've ever taken off is two weeks, but why not push it to one month? Think about what's something you really want to do. In 2025 or anytime between 2025 and 2030, what's something you want to do and start getting those wheels turning in your brain. So I'll have Jillian John Rhodes episode linked in the show notes. You should definitely check it out. She's got great ideas about how to plan many retirements, including lots of cool free resources to help you along. If you want to hear more of her backstory, check out episode 57 of You Betcha She Did. I've got a great interview with her. Until next time, keep dreaming big. Think about what kind of magical thing you want to do with your life. As always, if you like what you're hearing on You Betcha She Did, don't forget to write us a review. These are important. These really help us get new listeners. And that is key for growing the show and changing the world one rad woman at a time. As always, reach out to me whenever you want to. I love getting feedback from my audience. You guys are the best. Thank you for listening. And until next time, take care.