Every year I coach our coaches, authors, and CEOs to take a personal retreat. A personal retreat isn’t a vacation. A friend in crisis recently texted me that she was going to go on a trip To take time alone, journal, and hear from God. She said that her husband was driving and they were going to go find a hotel in the mountains.
I explained to her that while of vacation never heard anyone, that’s not a personal retreat. A personal retreat is very different. We define it as taking a date alone by yourself.
Without your phone. Yes. Without your phone. A personal retreat is a 24 hour (or 48 hour if you can do it) retreat In a hotel or cabin in the woods, alone without your phone.
Just bring a journal to hear anything that comes to mind. A personal retreat is not about A glorious joyful time with others, it’s not about a vacation and two hours alone during the day. A personal retreat is about solitude.
When was the last time that you had 48 hours alone not in your own home, and without a phone? When was the last time you took a personal retreat without any project to work on? Most people say never. A personal retreat is life-changing. Thomas Edison did not create in a room with other people and lots of distractions and the cell phone ringing.
A personal retreat Is the only way to let the intellectual property that is in your head come out. Instead of setting goals or working on a book or a project a personal retreat is a time of discovery.
I coach people to take a personal retreat with a blank journal and write down whatever comes to mind.
This, is how innovation occurs.
The Conversation with yourself is the only way to tap into the brilliance in your mind. But first, focus on hearing.
In the personal retreat you’ll have two steps:
1. Eliminate distraction
2. Write down everything you hear.
When will you schedule in a personal retreat without any project to work on? Please share your comments and thoughts below.
