Shelley Paxton - Soulbbatical: A Corporate Rebels Guide to Finding Your Best Life

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Copyright 2020 by Shelley Paxton

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

This publication is a memoir. It reflects the authors present recollections of her experiences over a period of years. Some names of individuals have been changed. Some dialogue has been re-created from memory.

First Tiller Press hardcover edition January 2020

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Interior design by Laura Levatino

Jacket design by Liza Aelion

Grunge texture by Shutterstock

Author photo by Hallie Duesenberg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Paxton, Shelley, author.

Title: Soulbbatical : a corporate rebels guide to finding your best life / by Shelley Paxton.

Description: New York : Tiller Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019046207 (print) | LCCN 2019046208 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982131333 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982131357 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Paxton, Shelley. | Women executivesUnited StatesBiography. | Self-actualization (Psychology) | Quality of work life. | Success in business. | Success.

Classification: LCC HC102.5.P3826 A3 2020 (print) | LCC HC102.5.P3826 (ebook) | DDC 338.7/6292275092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046207

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046208

ISBN 978-1-9821-3133-3

ISBN 978-1-9821-3135-7 (ebook)

For my parents.

Thank you for raising me to be independent, courageous, and curious.

I know Ive made you regret it on more than one occasion.

Ah, a rebel after my own heart. You just couldnt resist, could you?

Well, good, because this is where the story really begins.

Soulbbatical may be a made-up word, but I promise you its a very real experience. It has the power to transform your life, just as it did mine.

But you cant write a book with a made-up title without explaining why you made it up, right? So here goes. Initially, I mashed together the words soul and sabbatical to describe my desire to stray from a traditional career path, and blaze new trails toward understanding myself and my bigger purpose in the world. I wanted a handle that signified the depth and importance of my decision. Something that screamed, This is different! This is not a conventional sabbatical. Its an internal exploration of self and potential. Its about creating new possibilities, so it seemed fitting to create a new word.

Its not about leaving your job; its about finding yourself. Its about what happens when youre ready to liberate your soul from the clutches of your ego.

I realized along the way that the essence of Soulbbatical is not a departure from the real world; its a way of being in the real world. Its a way of creating the life you really want versus settling for what you think you should have. Its about living and leading from a place of authenticity and courage. Its about stepping into your power and leaning into your purpose in order to unleash your wildest potential. Its about becoming Chief Soul Officer of your own life and accepting responsibility for nurturing both yourself and your soul. Its about accumulating self-worth, not suffering for the sake of net worth, and profoundly understanding that these dont have to be mutually exclusive after all.

When we slow down long enough to know ourselves, align with our souls, and set intentions for what we really want, magic happens.

And massive impact. My dirty little secret (well, one of the many that youll learn about as this story unfolds) is that I want to become an Impact Billionaire (to borrow a phrase from my dear friend and brilliant coach David Taylor-Klaus). Impact is the new currency for those of us who want to make a real difference in the world. So Im declaring here that the mission of Soulbbatical is to liberate a billion souls. To start a movement inside and outside the corporate world that has each and every one of us living and leading more authentically and courageously. That has us rebelling for what we believe in, not who we think we should be or how we think we should look or act. Imagine being part of a soul-centered movement where more of us are creating lives and businesses we love, rooted in meaning and fulfillment.

And where we push companies to invest in developing their own souls, to reflect these same values in their cultures and leadership principles. Imagine what could happen if more companies began to cultivate cultures that recognize and celebrate employees as Human Beings not Human Doings; that flip the time off script from a payoff for hard work to a prerequisite for smart work; that celebrate heart over hustle. Time away is not only crucial to our mental and physical health, but to fostering creativity and innovation as well. It gives us the chance to reflect, discover, play, reinvigorate, be inspired, and find perspectiveall of which can reveal ideas, connections, and meaning in a way that our day-to-day cannot. As my coach Rich Litvin loves to say, we have to slow down to speed up. How different would our lives feel if we lived and worked by this mantra?

I dream of the day when supporting radical self-care for employees is on the C-suite agenda, and company-sponsored Soulbbaticals are the norm.

Now thats fucking impact.

And I know were not starting from scratch, you and I. Were standing on the shoulders of giants who have been modeling and magnifying flavors of this so beautifully for years: Oprah Winfrey, Arianna Huffington, Bren Brown, Marie Forleo, Simon Sinek, and Vishen Lakhiani, to name just a few.

The principles of Soulbbatical have helped me to discover and live my best life, and to become my most authentic badass self. I feel vibrant and healthy and powerful, and so fucking alive. Everything is accessiblechoice, freedom, joy, love, abundance, prosperity, and success. Owning your purpose and speaking your truth and courageously creating the life you want are like rocket fuel for a kind of holistic success I never even knew was possible. Maybe you didnt either. Maybe thats why this book brought us together.

So lets back up for a minute. Ive got some splainin to do.

Youre probably still wondering who walks away from one of the coolest jobs on the planet? Who works her ass off for a quarter of a century to become the global head of marketing for one of the most iconic brands in the world, only to voluntarily flip it the bird? Who leaves a lucrative executive position to become Chief Soul Officer of her own life? Me, apparently. Me and my rebel soul.