GO ON,
RETREAT YOURSELF!
by Tim Holmes
A retreat? When you think about it, it kind of implies going backwards, doesn’t it? But in January of this year I went on The Unconventional Retreat and it was far from a retrograde step for me.
It’s funny how these things come about. It was mid-November, and I’d been struggling to stay motivated at work for quite a while. I was really stuck to be honest, wondering what the hell I should do to address my seemingly inexorable loss of mojo.
Then one morning my wife forwarded me an email she’d received entitled simply What are you up to in January? It was from a business / life coach called Mark Leruste, but it wasn’t written like anything from that world that I’d ever come across before: it was highly conversational, laugh out loud funny, and managed to bang my particular nail right on the head. “If you happen to dread the work you do, you know you’re in for a loooooooong year” it said. “This January,” it said, “I’m bringing together a small group of creative, buzzing, change the world kinda people, to co-create the most epic of retreats. And I’d LOVE you to be there.” So far, so interesting.
“We’re heading over to Morocco for some winter sun, fun and a 5 day retreat mixing surfing, yoga and coaching… It’s going to be around 20–23°c.”
That was the moment when I knew that I was in — it was the sunshine promise, to feel the warmth of it on my face again after a loooooong year then ending, and the mention of yoga and surfing into the bargain were like the second and third tumblers on the fruit machine falling into place.
Jackpot. Something inside me just clicked. I immediately started checking my calendar, and emailing my brother to see if he fancied coming too.
I’d be the first to admit that the coaching side of it was somewhat secondary to me at that point, and indeed re-reading those paragraphs above it does sound suspiciously like I simply needed a holiday! However, the fact was I had put my hat in the ring for an experience that included coaching as a central part of it, so I was happy to go along with that aspect, and my focus shifted to it increasingly as the retreat date approached.
What of the retreat itself? Well, it delivered everything it promised, including a fantastic group of people to share those days with. The conversation flowed, the vinyasas too, the waves broke at just the right intensity, and the coaching sessions on the roof terrace stimulated and challenged me constantly in different ways. I found myself bouncing out of bed in the mornings, freed from smartphone screen fatigue, and becoming more and more clear about what I wanted to achieve in the year ahead.
Each of us defined a ‘quest’ for 2015, that one thing which we were determined to realise. Some of us defined more than one, and in my case I took myself by surprise by realising that my most important work for the year was something I had to address in my personal life. I had genuinely expected to come back with a clear idea about what I was going to career change into — having taken the plunge and handed in my notice in December — but as it happened that topic remained latent in the face of more keenly-felt priorities.
I’ve no doubt that little seeds have been planted through the cross-fertilisation of those many agile and open minds in Morocco, and I shan’t be surprised to see the fruits of their influence spring up in the future. In fact, perhaps they already have in my work choice, for I’ve elected to get involved with a brand new startup business rather than take some of the easier employment options I had. So far, so unconventional.
I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions, never have been in the past at least; but I just might have to make a regular habit out of a short but sweet retreat each January, to take stock, recalibrate my aims for the year to come, and of course get some sun into my veins.
Tim Holmes is COO of moving concierge site Move Mogul, which will be launching in summer 2015. He lives in Kingston upon Thames with his wife and two children. He harbours unfulfilled sporting ambitions that include going sub-20 in the Park Run, and staying up on a surf board for more than 5 seconds. However, he does already have a black belt in procrastination.
