Closer to the beginning of the year, I was feeling a little out of whack. After the craziness that was 2017, I was hesitant to push ahead with things in 2018 and lacking some focus and direction. I was telling a friend that I felt like I just needed a couple of days away, a retreat to get my ideas and goals in order to make tackling things easier.
Liz and I have worked on several projects together. Some worked out and some didn’t. But no matter what and despite how different we are, she and I have always had a great working relationship. When it comes to creative projects, you might say she’s the peanut butter to my jelly.
So, let’s do it,” she says.
And so the idea for Pairings Retreat was born.
We were fortunate enough to have been granted access to an adorable beach house in Central Florida for our inaugural retreat. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
The purpose of these few days together was two-fold.
- To get that time I talked about needing to get my thoughts organized and goals set for the year.
- To further develop the plan for future retreats to come.
Neither of us wanted the weekend to end up being just a getaway, with nothing to show in the end. Instead, we put our heads together and came up with a real itinerary to keep us on track.
Pairings Retreat: DAY ONE
The first day was spent focusing on self-care. We had a time of goal-setting. We went through some targeted worksheets together to help us figure out what we really wanted out of the weekend and the year ahead. From there, we transitioned into vision boards to give those goals some concreteness. Then, we spent the evening evaluating how to best use the time we had the next day and beyond.
Pairings Retreat: DAY TWO
Our second day was all about the business. We looked at content calendars for the year – both for our respective blogs and for our various social media accounts. The beautiful scenery lent itself to photo session on the beach in the afternoon; gotta stockpile that content! We also carved out time to work solo, filling in those calendars and getting a jump on some writing. We ended the night as all retreats should: with a time of celebration over dinner at a local restaurant.
After such an amazing time, we decided to take things one step further. Why not open the weekend up to other women? Creative women in need of some focused time to get on track?
There are amazing things ahead, both for Liz and I as individual bloggers, and for Pairings Retreat. If you’re a female creative, mark your calendar for early 2019. We recently opened our registration, and I hope you will consider joining us for another memorable and productive weekend!
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