As founder of HerNature Career Coaching, I’m grateful to have the flexibility to plan when it feels right.
While a lot of my colleagues were doing annual goal-setting sessions near the end of the year, I held out until mid-January. My style is to push through work until the holidays before looking back on the past year to assess the wins, accept the losses and figure out what’s next.
Something Different for 2020
This year, I decided to change things up a bit, thanks to the inspiration (and permission) of my speaking coach Michelle Barry Franco and an episode of her podcast called Plan Your Working Retreat.
I did my own retreat over 2 nights and 3 days, and I can’t say enough about the power of reflection in a quiet space, away from home, that’s reserved for a limited time and specific work-related task.
Solo retreats may be a common thing among professional writers. But for someone like me, a business owner with a growing practice, a retreat is a treat.
I’ve been feeling called to further expand my reach to women who are in search of more meaningful work.
I chose a place through Airbnb, a cozy cottage one block from Mobile Bay in Alabama. It was just far enough from home to feel fully invested in the outcome.
Around the second day I had three walls covered in poster-size Post-it notes. It felt so good. I had had lots of ideas swirling in my head about the new year. I knew I needed to decide which ones to prioritize and which ones to postpone.
Most important, I needed to get those ideas out of my head so that I could hear my heart.
Shored Up, In Plain Sight
With HerNature’s brand shored up, my purpose in plain sight and another wonderful year behind me, I’ve been feeling called to further expand my reach to women who are in search of more meaningful work. There’s so much more I can do through HerNature to help them make that happen.
And yet, some days, like the photos you see here, I can barely envision 100 feet in front of me and how I will manage to do that.
I have lots of faith in this process, though. I know with patience, planning, prayer (and future working retreats), eventually the fog lifts and the next leg of this journey becomes crystal clear when it’s time to make my next move.
From there, the sky is the limit.
What About Your Goals?
Are you dreaming about how to take your career or business to the next level? A working retreat could be right for you, too, no matter what time of year it is.
For the podcast episode that helped me plan mine, here’s the link: Plan Your Own Working Retreat. Michelle goes into beautiful detail about how to make it both productive and enjoyable.
Enjoy the journey,
-Carole
P.S. One priority that came out of my retreat is to meet with 2 women on the Mississippi Gulf Coast each week—100 total for the year—for a discovery session over lunch or coffee. Please email carole@itshernature.com if you’re on the coast and would like to brainstorm about your career path and what’s next for you.
Photos: Late morning fog settles on Mobile Bay, AL, by © Carole Dupre LLC. All rights reserved.
As founder of HerNature®, Carole Dupre’ guides high-achieving women in unearthing their natural strengths, clarifying their niche, landing their dream jobs and launching businesses that honor their true nature. She is a certified personal brand strategist, resume writer, 360Reach survey coach and digital marketer.
