I’ve been contemplating depletion a lot lately.
Partially because I’m offering five retreats in the next four months and partially because I’ve been on the brink of burning out myself.
And because I’ve talked to so many clients and friends lately who have wondrous lives but can’t enjoy them because they are crispy fried.
Charred.
I’m a learner, learning is what I do, so I reached out to Dr. Charlie Gilkey for a smart guy’s perspective on self-care and comfort. When I start to chew my own tail, I know I need an outside perspective.
We recorded a great conversation – it’s worth your time. Charlie’s witty insights include:
You understand replenishing with your mind but you don’t understand it deeply if you’re not doing it a lot. You know you need self-care intellectually but until you do it and see the results, you don’t get it.
You grow through discomfort but if you’re too uncomfortable, you can’t grow. (Thanks Charlie for summing up my 19 years of work so succinctly. This is why I dig you so much.)
You can’t package comfort like McDonald’s fries. What resources and fills you up has to be tailored to you and your actual challenges.
Retreating gives you the same thing good coaching does – an outside observer and process so you get past your blind spots.
When you do a retreat, there is a trust you place in the people who creating it that you don’t always place in yourself. You haven’t harnessed your own resources yet so you don’t trust yourself. A retreat is a way to stop questioning everything you are thinking and doing, you can be just in the process and thus renew yourself.
Listen in for lots more groovy insights.
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Virtual_Retreat_Call with Charlie and Jen 
P.S.
Love yourself INTO action and OUT OF depletion with me and 12 other world famous teachers… without even getting out of your pj’s!
The Virtual Retreat package includes:
• A copy of “How To Retreat,” an eBook that helps you let go of the fear and shows you how to create the time.
• Gentle ‘Get Ready’ emails – to help you prepare for your self-caring-est weekend ever.
• Exclusive access to a members-only blog, where you will get untold amounts of support and encouragement, PLUS…
• 13 heart-expanding mini-retreats with world-renowned authors and healers over three days.
• Easy-to-download recordings and transcripts of each mini-retreat – so you can come and go as you please. And use the material for years to come.
If you sign up before February 5th, you get a $50 discount!
Save Texas retreat save 30$ before February 6th, Wisconsin retreat is almost full.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 marsha shenk Feb 1, 2010
Thanks for all your good work, Jen,
and thanks for this post. It’s a big challenge.
My guideline for innovative solopreneurs (have been one and been coaching them for 30 years) is 8 hours of white space per week. No kidding.
That means 8 hours in your calendar with NO OBLIGATIONS – not the gym, laundry…nothing. I sometimes spend it lying on the floor with my dog, sometimes out walking…I wait till the moment comes to ‘know’ how I will be in the fallow time.
I know – it means that you work less. You DO less. But less really is more.
White space rejuvenates our creative juices and keeps us whole – in shape to keep contributing. It’s a long-term strategy. It works.
All best to you and yours
2 Shawna R. B. Atteberry Feb 1, 2010
I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to this retreat. I am ready to go! Well…I guess I’m ready to stay in my PJs!
3 Comfort, Creativity, and Self-Trust - Among Other Things Feb 1, 2010
[...] productivity, and self-trust, among other things. If you’ve listened to the the version up on Jen’s site, you might want to listen to this one, too – this is the uncut [...]
4 Tweets that mention Choose Your Life Mondays – The Charlie Gilkey Edition » Comfort Queen -- Topsy.com Feb 3, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jennifer Louden, Jennifer Louden, HiroBoga, Charlie Gilkey, topsy_top20k and others. topsy_top20k said: New at my blog: Choose Your Life Mondays – The Charlie Gilkey Edition: I’ve been contemplating depletion a lot lat… http://bit.ly/crDSPd [...]