What’s your holiday reading? There’s good evidence that reading fiction is really beneficial for our health (listen to our much-missed Micheal Mosely to find out more Just One Thing – with Michael Mosley – Read – BBC Sounds). My personal favourite read (and often re-read) involves the golden age of detective fiction (art deco architecture and a total lack of tension or cliff hangers!), and coincidentally my reading this week got me thinking about holidays, and whether they can trigger a career rethink.
Josephine Tey is one of the queens of the so-called golden age. The storyline of “Miss Pym Disposes” focuses on a woman who has had success in her career, but uncertain of her next step takes up an unexpected offer to stay as a guest at a boarding school. On re-visiting I flinched at perspectives and language I certainly do not condone. And the book demonstrates an approach to career planning for young people in the early 20th century that we won’t be replicating! What the book does capture beautifully is the ebb and flow of the holiday experience.
I totally empathise with the initial discomfort of a new location followed by delight in settling into a new environment and the forming of new habits. I imagine that life in this new place could be good, and I find myself looking in estate agents’ windows to see if I could move. This is often followed by reflections on what I might miss about my “real” life, and what I might change when I get home.
I’ve not found a body of research claiming that taking a holiday leads to people considering career change. What I have found is strong evidence for the benefits of vacationing (from lunchtime walks through to three weeks in the Bahamas and everything in between). There’s also some interesting research relating to the “broadening the mind” work of Barbara Fredrickson, suggesting that holiday-takers are often happier people generally, more able to think creatively and to view challenges positively.
Spoiler alert: “Miss Pym Disposes” does not have a happy ending and I don’t sanction such extreme measures when it comes to job hunting! But a change of scene can trigger creativity and positivity. I often support my customers with thinking about how they can create, or imagine, a new environment and we will often consider possibilities from a range of different angles, reviewing current circumstances and future possibilities.
I hope you all have opportunities over coming weeks for a break with your typical routine, a new vista to look out upon, conversations with strangers and a chance to reflect on normal life and what change might look like (and whether you would welcome it).
If you return from your break with a sense that career change needs to be considered you can let me know by emailing me at kath@careerswithintent.com
References:
Kroesen, M. and Handy, S. (2013) The influence of holiday-taking on affect and contentment. www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260014673_The_influence_of_holiday-taking_on_affect_and_contentment (Accessed: 1 August 2024).
Tey, J. (1957) Miss Pym Disposes (2nd edition) Pan Books Ltd