"The Entrepreneurial Sabbatical: A Journey Back to Myself "by Aisha Sharif
In November 2019, I made a decision that would change everything—I took an entrepreneurial sabbatical to manifest goals and dreams. I had to take these two years off to truly understand that I cannot and will not do everything anymore. I would no longer be a super mom, a social service public servant, a religious-loving, food-loving, exotic-loving, multitasking-loving person who constantly gives to everyone except herself.
Overcoming burnout, I decided to take my money and time back and reinvest it in myself. I experimented with my wardrobe just a little and found joy in manifesting the places I would travel visit—on my vision board and journal entries.
That also meant facing something long ignored: a box of dreams deferred hidden under my bed.
I can’t quite recall Langston Hughes’ poem word for word, but I remember that line—a dream deferred.
Systematically, women have been conditioned to multitask, to do everything, to serve everyone but themselves. When I looked in that box, I felt ashamed— rationalizing why I had let my dreams sit idle.
But then, I did something different. I updated a vision board I started in 2017 and wrote those dreams on it, putting them right near my bed where I could see them daily. I wrote notes about them each in my journal. I mapped them out for an entire year. I allowed myself to sit with the reality of what I had set aside.
The first dream I confronted was my business—the baby project I birthed after having my last child. It was born out of love, but I had to press pause. I needed to focus on my deferred dreams first. I committed to using these two years to journal, to write my way through the process, to use writing as therapy. Letting go was hard (and still a work in progress). The ego is a hell of a drug. But it was either do or die.
I wrestled with my alter ego constantly. When it won, it was because I hadn’t dared myself enough. And I realized—I am the kind of wild spirit that responds to a dare. So, I dared myself to pause.
As the months passed, I noticed a ritual forming. Near the end of the year, around the last two weeks of the calendar year, I found myself reviewing my journals, reflecting on my lists. My dreams deferred weren’t just abstract ideas; they were real, tangible goals left unfinished. So, I decided to start crossing things off that list.
First, I dared myself to go back to school and finish my degree. All my life, people told me I was smart, and I believed it. But something about having that degree to back it up settled a deep part of my ego.
Second, I always wanted to write. What the hell was I going to do with all these journals, all these thought processes? They needed to live on. So, I dared myself again—to write, to share, to document my journey, which is why am posting more here on my blog.
Along the way, I thought about the superpower grannies I had met—wise, resilient women who had left an indelible mark on me. Through so many of my projects, their spirits were woven into my work. I only hope they knew how much they shaped the woman I have become.
And then, I told myself something simple yet profound: It’s okay.
My commitment to serving people is something deeply ingrained in me. I had to keep reminding myself of that, just like when you keep telling yourself there's enough sugar in your coffee, but you keep adding more. Duh?
These two years off were not about quitting—they were about reclaiming. About honoring my own dreams. About understanding that rest, reflection, and reinvention are just as powerful as action.
And now, here I am, daring myself again.
With Love,
Aisha