“Just sit down and focus”. It feels as though I had been telling myself to do this for months. Well, if I’m going to be completely honest, it doesn’t just feel that way.
At 33, my enthusiasm for my day job had been waning, to say the least. Throughout my twenties, I enjoyed working in advertising. It was cool and creative. The people were generally fun and the challenge was exciting. Back then, I could work at all hours, every day. Every new project that came across my desk made me feel needed. And I guess feeling needed felt good. In hindsight, this was probably not such a good thing, but what can I say? I loved it. I even had my very own client entertainment budget that allowed me to visit all of the best restaurants and bars in Toronto.
By the time I reached 30, I was still going strong. I had changed agencies, got a promotion, bought a condo. Sometimes I worked 14 hours a day, and often on weekends. I was tired, but with every new project and request, I would see dollar signs dancing before my eyes and that made it all worthwhile.
While I was grateful for the experiences and things my career has afforded me, I started feeling as though I was stuck on a loop. The excitement I once felt has been replaced by a weariness that made starting each day feel insurmountable. I procrastinated. I resisted. I cleaned my house. Anything to avoid facing these nagging feelings. And often I would find myself asking “Is this it? Have I worked my butt off all this time only to feel uninspired and unfulfilled?”
I recently caught up with a friend I don’t see often enough. She’s finally landed a new job with the title she’s been chasing for years. This is after she invested over $100,000, of which she didn’t have, into getting her Executive MBA. She worked her tail off for almost two years, studying while working full time, sacrificing time with friends and family, even her health, so she could put those coveted letters after her name. Unfortunately, this job has failed to provide the challenge she was hoping for. Now she’s also wondering, “Is this it?” Has she been working so hard, investing so much, only to find herself held back by petty workplace politics?
Is this it?
It’s probably no accident that on my 33rd birthday I quit my full-time job without a plan. I travelled to Colombia for a month instead. I needed time to rest and recover. I need time to feel like a human again. Earlier that year I founded Nomad, my very own side business that specializes in helping people who struggle with the same problem - folks who are wondering, among other things, “Is this it?” In my search for greater meaning in work and life, I realized I definitely wasn’t alone. So many of us define ourselves by our careers. It is a reflection of who we are and when we’re not happy in our work, those feelings spill over into our lives. As we grow into adolescence, we focus our energy towards learning and seeking approval from others; from our parents, friends, teachers, peers and managers. Unfortunately, as adults, we’ve exhausted the need for approval and instead, we seek greater meaning in the work that we do.
A year before I quit my full-time job I became an NLP Master Practitioner. I turned to NLP because I wanted to have more self-awareness, improve my relationships and have more confidence to step into a leadership role. I was tired of feeling like a drifter. As a result, I started to become clearer about what I wanted in life and started to ask myself better questions. I incorporated this knowledge into the self-awareness workshops and spiritual wellness retreats I facilitate through Nomad. My aim is to help others discover who they truly are, find their purpose and ultimately, get closer to their own definition of what happiness is. Through Nomad, we organized three retreats so far: in Bali, Ontario, and most recently in Peru. Our retreats attract individuals who feel burnt out and want to stop living their lives on autopilot. We go away on a great adventure together, where we don’t have to think about our to-do lists. We play. And as we quiet down our conscious minds we allow the subconscious mind to come through. This is our bigger and wiser self that has the answers we seek.
Our next retreat is titled The Unlimited Self: Luxury of Purpose-Driven Life. It’s for people who feel lost and overwhelmed and out of alignment with their highest potential. For those who are burnt out and working in jobs they don’t love. For those who are wondering, “is this it?”
We will spend 8 days at a real-life chateau in the South-West region of France, from April 28 to May 5, 2019. Chateau Bardouly, nestled between Bordeaux and Toulouse, will be the backdrop for the retreat, with daily workshops, teachings and guided meditations designed to remove the limiting mindsets that hold us back from living our life in alignment to our truth and highest potential. Every day will include:
Teachings and hands-on workshops designed to help you achieve self-awareness and balance; identify your coping mechanisms that have prevented you from moving forward; identify and face your fears; develop a plan to take the steps required to create a life, and career, you love.
Morning grounding practice to open the body and mind to receive the abundance of each day.
Gentle Vinyasa and Yin Yoga.
Guided meditations to assist in quashing anxiety and start committing to personal alignment.
Night meditations to set intentions and align chakras.
Joining me is Christina Prokos, a Toronto Spiritual and Life Coach specializing in Shadow Work, a process that helps individuals identify and heal past emotional traumas that create limiting beliefs that prevent people from flourishing in their careers and lives. Christina is an extrasensory with gifts of intuition and healing abilities. I have worked with Christina for almost two years now, and she has helped guide me towards building a sense of self, that ultimately allowed me to make some bold moves in all areas of my life, not just my career.
If you’re feeling unsettled in your job, maybe because you took the so-called safe route or, somewhere along the way, you put someone else’s ideas of success ahead of your own, this retreat could be what you need. It’s a start to a new journey and a step closer to knowing what you really want.
It’s a chance to re-examine your goals and ambitions and align them with your true self. Sure, you can vacation at your typical all-inclusive resort and sit around and drink your cares away. But when the party’s over, you’re right back where you started. Instead, why not work on yourself, in an inclusive environment surrounded by a supportive community of people who can relate to you?
Commit to pushing through your career blocks, align with your true purpose and step into your true potential, where manifesting feels effortless. What do you have to lose? A career that isn’t working for you?
To reserve your spot or see a detailed agenda, check out our retreat page. And just maybe, we’ll see each other in France in the Spring. In the meantime, check out Christina’s latest post on the Law of Attraction, that goes deeper into what effortless manifesting is like, a topic we will dive deeper into while in France.