From Breakdown to Breakthrough

I’d like to share how the idea of holding personal retreats came about and the chain of events that led to my conducting one last week in Miami. I think it’s a great example of how breakdowns can be the portal to breakthroughs as well as how beneficial it can be to follow the breadcrumbs of your passion.

Last year, I realized how much fun ‘collaborative adventures’ (also known as strategic alliances or joint ventures) could be especially when the others involved are a good fit. So, I created a collaboration with the Intentional Growth Center’s director, Larry Ousley, and one of our Life On Purpose Certified Coaches, Kathleen Stolz, to sponsor a LIVING & WORKING ON PURPOSE MOUNTAIN RETREAT. We first thought we’d hold the retreat in April, but that felt way too far into the future for me, so we decided to have one in November and a second one in April.

Well, the long and short of it, we didn’t have sufficient registrations for the November date, so we cancelled it. A breakdown. However, a couple days later one of the people who had expressed an interest in the retreat but hadn’t registered called Kathleen ready to register. When Kathleen heard how disappointed the lady was, she got creative. Since the lady already had her own place at Lake Junaluska where the retreat was going to be held and was planning on being there in November, Kathleen offered to conduct the retreat by phone with her. Long and short of it, it went very well.

Meanwhile, after Kathleen shared this idea with me, I realized I had a couple I’d been coaching that had registered for the retreat and had also been disappointed when it was cancelled, so I offered to design a personal retreat for them and to host it at Highland Lake Conference Center about a mile from my home. Since my clients already had the retreat time scheduled, they were thrilled. Long and short of it. We held the personal
retreat and it went great.

Humm, I wonder who else might be interested in a personal retreat, I thought a week or so later. Then, one of my previous clients contacted me to say that he was ready to resume our work together. Since we were approaching the end of the year, I suggested kicking off the New Year with a personal retreat here in the North Carolina Mountains. His reply, “Why would I want to be in the North Carolina Mountains in January when I
can be in my beautiful condominium here on the beaches of Miami. Why don’t we do the retreat here instead?”

Long and short of it. It went incredibly well. I love following the breadcrumbs of my passion. I think this example illustrates why I often say, “You may not know where the path of breadcrumbs will lead you, but you’ll never be disappointed where you end up.” What’s the next passion filled breadcrumb you could follow?