When I turned 40, I did an experiment.

Over the past few years, I have attended several personal growth and transformation conferences, workshops and other retreats. But most of them left me with a sense of…mismatch. Indeed, I always thought this was a very personal work, where everyone is going at his own pace, at his own time. And still, they all included group work or, at the very least, work with a partner. While this was great to meet amazing people with incredible life stories, it left me thinking “Where was the space for me to reflect on my own stuff?”.

When I came closer to my birthday earlier this year, I realised that I needed to take some time off. I figured that this could be combined with the opportunity to think about what I had done during those first 40 years, what I still wanted to achieve, what I wanted to change for the next ones and most importantly celebrate this incredible chance that I have to still be alive and healthy at that age. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I wondered: “Do I need some teaching for that, or do I just need to give myself some time for it?”.

The answer was the latest and, if I had to be honest, so was it the previous times. So I booked a hotel room about 30 minutes away from home, set up an intention, then drafted a program for the duration of the stay: about 3 hours of walk in nature, several meditations and dedicated time for reading, every day. Whatever the weather and whatever the motivation. The result was incredible, it was an amazing week! I left recharged, re-focused, aligned. And most importantly, I found myself again.

It was so great that I recently decided to make it a bi-yearly occurrence: no matter how crazy things are, and in addition of all the personal work I am already doing. I will take 2 weeks out of the 52 to make sure my heart, my intentions and my actions are aligned and in the right place. Session 2 starts in a few days, so I won’t be available for about a week. Above is a preview of the book selection in my suitcase. Looking forward to it!