The Power of a Personal Retreat
Contributed by Kimberly Sundt
Have you ever taken a solo retreat? If you answered YES, bravo! If you answered no, keep reading. I might just share with you one of the most important tools you’ll ever harness in your journey as an entrepreneur.
Check out my top 5 reasons why you should add a personal retreat to your to-do list. (PLUS! Three tips to help you get started.)
1. Make Time Work for You (For Once!)
The retreats I recommend are not vacations - they have a specific intention that you have chosen. Because I work mostly with female business owners, they are usually related to business: write the book, create the partnership, write the speech or webinar or course, decide which business to start; unclutter your brain, etc. Typically, it is something that you have been trying to tackle for ages and just can’t get through it. If you just need to be quiet and spend some time alone, yes, a personal retreat can be that, but that's really a vacation.
2. Disrupt Your Status Quo
One of the greatest takeaways of a personal retreat is the ability to see the world through a new lens, a fresh perspective; this enables you to have the time and space to notice what that looks like.
You see everything a bit differently which helps spark new ideas or re-inspire old ones. The shift in perspective is HUGE. When you change your perspective, you literally open up new places in your brain for new thoughts.
3. Hear Yourself Speak
We need to create time to be quiet so that we can hear ourselves think.
We are all so good at listening to others - the “experts” - whether it be online, through a podcast, a webinar, a course, or even a book.
Well, I also bet that all of that stuff that you have gathered is floating around inside of you, just waiting to come out with all sorts of answers to the questions you are asking.
4. Revel in Clarity, Focus, & Direction
This sounds too good to be true, I know, but it really does happen. Well, not if you sit around watching Netflix all day or reading that novel you’ve had for six months and are only on Chapter 3. When you remove distractions, absorb the quiet, and your perspective shifts, then so much will come to the surface. With your intention, an agenda filled with grace, and the right space, you’ve got this!
5. Make The Most of What You Have
I know - I said you need to get stuff done, but the time away from all of our roles, responsibilities, and day-to-day living is so calming. And when we do this, it actually makes space in our brains so that we can think better.
And did you know that when you are in nature, these results are multiplied?
The idea of an agenda filled with grace means that if you are inspired to no longer take the bath, but to go for a walk, or even keep working because you are on a roll, then do it! This agenda is to give you structure, not strict boundaries.
I am often asked if I think personal retreats are more important, or better than, group retreats. No - not at all. I think both are wonderful, but they have different purposes and thus yield different results.
Being in the company of other women with a leader directing us really helps us see our own businesses and ourselves through a different lens. But, we also need to listen to the voices that we have inside. And that is very hard to do with the distractions, daily life, the lack of quiet, and the fear. Try it, and let me know how it goes!
Ready to schedule your personal retreat?
Women Entrepreneurs Inc. members get a discount on my Unleash Your Retreat Journal:
About Kimberly Sundt
After starting her customer experience and marketing strategy business in 2007, Kimberly found herself overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck - unable to move forward. One weekend, she borrowed a friend’s cabin, packed up her notebooks, pencils, more books, and some wine, and hopped on a train from NYC to a quiet cabin on the river. Her first personal retreat was born. Since then, personal retreats (or offsites) have become one of her most important and treasured business tools. She now shows other female business owners how to create and take their own retreats - and get stuff done! Through tips, tools, workbooks, and constant inspiration, she is on a mission to help every woman incorporate this strategy into their own business and personal lives.
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