How to Run Your Own Mini Vision Retreat - Classy Career Girl

How to Run Your Own Mini Vision Retreat We all love the feeling of January 1st, right? We love looking back over the last year and reflecting on what went well (or what didn’t…) and we love the idea of setting the pace for the year ahead of us. Are you doing this in your professional life, too? I contest that you should. And here’s why: Several years ago, I was in a particular season of life in which I was questioning all things career. Perhaps youve been there too, or maybe youre there now. Either way, Im sure you know how difficult of an inner debate this is. I had many conversations with trusted mentors during this time and one of the greatest bits of wisdom they ever gave me though I didnt know it at the time was to take a personal yet intentional day off of work to reflect and plan. A vacation day. A Personal Day. Paid time off not a weekend. To take this time on a weekend would be to steal precious rejuvenating time with family and friendsand this time of reflection was not to be relaxing or meditative. This was to look at scary truths, ask hard questions, and feel uncomfortable with the answers. I tucked this suggestion away for later, almost forgetting about it until December of 2016 as I was facing self-initiated self-employment. I began getting many words of business wisdom from MANY different sources. All trying to be helpful, but ultimately confusing me and stuffing my brain with more than it was able to fit! My mentor’s words from years before floated like a whisper in my mind: Take a day to reflect and plan. I felt like I could hold myself up in a conference room and just THINK. and REFLECT. And PACE. And MUTTER. So, I did it. I scheduled a day to use a local conference room and held what I called, The First Annual Rogue Business Vision Retreat.” I actually NAMED it. I did! It was magical and I will be doing it more than once a year, perhaps twice or maybe even FOUR times! I believe that whether you own a business, work in a business, or dont work at all, vision retreats should become a part of your year. Many have asked how I run my vision retreats, so I’m happy to offer up some helpful guides as you look ahead to hosting one of your own. How to Run Your Own Rogue Mini Vision Retreat 1. Find a New Space Where You Dont Already Work Removing yourself from the familiar automatically alerts the mind to a new way of thinking. Rent a conference room for an afternoon, reserve a private co-working space, or ask a friend if you can use their office/conference room. No distraction from phone calls, no piles of paper that youll fiddle with when you come to a speed bump in your retreat, no roommates or husbands asking where the trash bags are… just you and this new space that youll be thinking new thoughts in. You will want to find something with just enough space for walking around, but not too much to where you feel distracted. I also suggest finding a place with a MASSIVE whiteboard. Well get to that in a bit. 2. Dress Comfortably, Prepare Snacks, and Bring a Blanket This part sounds obvious until youre one hour into the retreat and you think, boy I could really go for a snack, or, Wow Im cold, but you may not be in a space that offers easily-accessible snacks or you might be in a public space with controlled temperature. So now you have to leave to get nourishment or feel cold for the rest of your retreat time. Focused thinking is hard mental work, and you want to provide the best opportunity for your brain to function at its highest level. So wear those comfy pants and a loose shirt. Put your hair up. OR if you think better when you dress up, do it! You do you! 3. Bring a Whiteboard (Unless There is One Already) and Many Colors of Dry-Erase Markers In fact, this should be the gift every person gets when they graduate high school. A 34 whiteboard with a mass amount of dry-erase markers.  Steve Jobs used whiteboards all the time, and I have a couple in my small attic office. Isn’t everyone’s goal to be cool like Steve Jobs? Why am I so obsessed with whiteboards? Because you can write something down and then erase it. Or move it. Or rewrite it because the first time you wrote it, it was sloppy. Whiteboards force you to literally put a word or an idea on a board with your own hand and DO something with it. Even if its to erase it. Ive found whiteboards to be incredibly helpful in my work life, and I dont know how I ever functioned without them. 4. Name the Day and Make an Agenda. Type it in Word and Print it Out This  will feel really, really ridiculous. But get used to that, because youre going to need to get over doing lots of silly things like talking to yourself as you run your own meeting (because who else will?). Making a literal agenda will help you in a multitude of ways but most importantly: Your mind will only take something as seriously as you tell it to. Make an agenda with a schedule (yes, starting and ending times), talking points, objectives, and be ready to make a list of actionable ideas. Here are some suggestions to help you start your first vision retreat: What are words to describe yourself? Your business? Your Art?  Use this tool to help guide you in this exercise. What are your ACTIONABLE goals for your artistic, business, or personal life in 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? What are your dreams? Do they scare you? If not, dream bigger. Use the words and goals of yours and write a Personal Mission Statement that touches on your relationships, profession, and, if applicable, your art. For the self-employed: Who is your ideal client? What have you learned about yourself in the last 6 months? For those unsure of their current career path: Write an exhaustive list of the things that come naturally to you in your current job, and also things that you love to do. Then, write the opposite. Things that arent natural to you, and things you dont love to do. For those confused about anything and everything: Been there. Just write it on the whiteboard. Evaluate what you write. See what happens next. Prepare questions you want answered, but give yourself grace to let some things go unsolved:  Write down a list of questions you want answered. For my most recent retreat, I wanted to know what tasks I LOVED in my first six months of my self-employed time. I ended up not having a concrete list, but it did spur me on to other topics I didnt even realize I had questions about! Write every single question down that your mind has spinning in it. Everything. Even down to What will I make for dinner. Get it all out. Make room on the shelves in your brain to fill with new ideas! [RELATED: How To Envision a Great Future Career For Yourself] 5. Run Your Own Meeting I alluded to this earlier but I want to expound. If youre the only one in the room, then you are the one running the meeting. Use this as practice for running meetings in the future. Call the meeting to order, welcome the attendees. I kid you not, I literally said at my first meeting: I want to welcome everyone here today. Members in todays meeting include Leslie Thompson the marketer, Leslie Thompson the manager, Leslie Thompson the entrepreneur, and Leslie Thompson the chicken nugget. Welcome, all! Im excited for today! Dont feel weird. Set yourself up for focus and awareness! 6. Try to Stay Off of the Wifi and Hide your Phone I would say to leave your computer behind, but sometimes the vision retreats require research and comparison, and taking notes in a word processor is helpful, especially if you want to archive the things you touched on. Do try to administer self-control and dont get TOO distracted. Though I do believe that every hour or so a good ole youtube video (like this one.dont you just want to click on it?.) might help give your brain a short break. 7. Take #Selfies Document the day. Document the process. Document the excitement in your eyes after you spend a couple hours being intentional about how youre spending your time. Heres one of mine if youre needing some inspiration. Im always up for sharing a #selfie or two. I could go on with more suggestions, but I would prefer you try it for an afternoon and see where your mind takes you. Schedule it NOW! Your thinking pattern should be structured but allow space for meanderingso there will be moments of uncertainty, and you should always feel free to follow all rabbit trails you come across, but ultimately know where the main road is. I trust that this exercise will prove to be an important part of your year as it has become in mine youll look forward to it and begin to find your own flow during these retreats. Some may be longer than othersbut ALL will be beneficial. Would love to hear what you think about this, so please do share feedback  here.