Career Retreat
“A life spent doing what you love is a different life from putting yourself out for hire to the highest bidder.”
— Laurence Boldt
Unearth your authentic path
Career retreats are suitable for:
People wanting to excavate their deeper self and match it with an ideal career
Those who are in a transitional place ie changing industries or returning to work after a break
People looking for a broader understanding of job opportunities and the structure that suits their needs
Those who value planning & practical approaches to vocational development
People committed to personal development & spiritual development
Kinaesthetic learners
Career Development Workshop
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The Surrounds
Work inside or take time outside in the elements to soak in birdsong and nature
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The Space
A tranquil, restful space with bushland views and access to starry skies
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Local Walks
Chase waterfalls after dark on a local spectacular floodlit night walk in Katoomba
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Local Waterfalls
Our retreat centre is within walking distance of healing Mini Ha Ha waterfall
Career Exploration Workshop
Testimonials
“If you're feeling stuck and wondering, "Where to from here?" having a career evaluation is definitely for you. Marcus leads you on a journey of self-discovery in a way that is genuine and thought provoking. I came out of this amazing experience inspired and renewed... and so will you. It's like a treasure hunt for the soul!”
~ Vanessa Ware
I completed the career journey retreat and would highly recommend this program with Marcus. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and asks the right questions to point you in the right direction and help you think differently. I love how it’s truly personalised and takes into consideration your inner blue print along with practical modules on your skills and talents. I came in feeling stuck and emotionally drained and I walked away with more clarity and energy to go down the right path.
- Julia Murray
“I knew I was in the right field but unclear about my next step and direction. Marcus helped me redirect my energy and focus with plenty of inspiration, curiosity and plenty to think about. Most importantly, his holistic approach helped to ease some anxiety about my path and choices up to this day, with a clearer understanding of where I am heading. Thank you for your insights, knowledge and generosity!”
~ Mani C
Career Change Workshop
Program Outline
Day One
Morning Session 9:30am - 12:30pm
This first session in this career guidance workshop explores job satisfaction and the influence of the worldview we hold and our attitudes to work. It covers how essential it is to discover one’s north star or reason for being and the impacts of integrating, as opposed to compartmentalising, who you are to fit into work roles.
Finding your passion is the foundation to build a fulfilling career upon. The second session explores the flow state and what mythology refers to as heeding one’s call to adventure. It profiles a range of people who moved from career ambivalence to alignment, revealing essential clues when it comes to determining how to find your passion.
Lunch 12:30pm
Afternoon Session 1:00pm - 4:00pm
If you find your passion and combine it with your innate talents, you begin a winning formula. The career guidance retreat delves into the influence of our upbringing to see whether you were educated away from your loves and directed to develop talents in areas you had little interest in. Academic abilities are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to locating your strengths.
In order to market yourself effectively to get into an industry or organisation you resonate with, it is essential to know your skills and how they are of benefit. This session of the job retreat helps you excavate latent skills and recognise skill gaps you may need to work on to obtain your ideal career or move into self-employment.
Waterfall Walk (Optional) 4:00 - 6:00pm
There is an optional waterfall walk for you to do at the end of the day. Exercise and time in nature allows you time to contemplate the days’ learnings.
Another option is to take part in a stand up paddleboarding session or mountain bike ride (weather permitting).
Dinner 6:30 - 7:30pm
Enjoy a home cooked, organic meal or travel out to try one of Katoomba’s local dining facilities.
Evening (Optional) 7:30pm onwards
There are a range of optional evening activities for you to enjoy, such as listening to or reading poetry, life stories, or enjoying a thought-provoking film or inspiring documentary. Other options include self-guided meditation and yoga.
Day Two
Breakfast 8:30am
Enjoy a homemade breakfast, tea or coffee on the verandah whilst the kookaburras and other local birds sing.
Morning Session 9:30am - 12:30pm
You might love what you do and be able to express your talent and skills through your work, but without a sense of purpose or mission, a career can feel hollow. Day 2 begins with the concept that we must find the path of the heart if we’re to realise career alignment. It also explores the notion of finding your tribe.
Career planning must be practical if they are going to enact lasting change. Once you’re clear about how to find your passion and purpose in life, while expressing your talents and skills, the final step is to work out how you can be paid to do all of that. The themes in this session cover self-employment, blended careers, recognising current trends and how to think imaginatively about your career life.
Lunch 12:30pm
Afternoon Session 1:30pm - 4:00pm
This session focuses on the restrictions and obstacles you’ll need to navigate in order to integrate all of the themes covered till now. Together we’ll come up with planning and a schedule to help you actualise your life by design.
We conclude with a final coaching session and the opportunity to more deeply work on important themes and areas that have arisen over the two days.
Cost: $590 for a 2-day retreat *$50 discount on a weekday retreat.
Inclusions: Our retreats include accommodation, meals, workbooks, counselling and activities.
Optional session of bibliotherapy. Learn more about our bibliotherapy service.
Location: Katoomba, Blue Mountains NSW.
The impact of finding working you love
To frolic means: to have fun; to behave or act playfully; to engage in a lighthearted, playful activity. Richard St John coined his own term, workafrolic, to describe people who are not only passionate about their work but have a great deal of fun doing it.
Richard St John researched successful people for over a decade before distilling his discoveries into a few key findings.
His primary insight? Successful people adored what they did.
Richard was careful to highlight that doing your ideal job doesn’t mean you spend every moment in some ecstatic state. He found the 80/20 rule applied. Around 20% of their time was spent doing mundane or routine elements while 80% was spent in a state of absorption.
Being in your element feels like play & you look forward to going to work. Your job expresses who you are and allows you to use your talents. It is rare to have a day where you don’t enter the flow state. Your role provides avenues for you to make a difference, delivers personal growth and contributes to your self-esteem. Being integrated, there is little distinction between your work and the rest of life.
After finding his passion, Bill Cunningham took pictures until his death at age 87.
As the film reviewer, Roger Ebert remarked, “This is a man who seems always delighted.”
During a party that was being thrown for Bill, one of the guests asked why he was working (taking photos) on such an occasion. He responded by saying, “My dear, it’s not work, it’s pleasure.”
Attaining greater self-actualisation and finding fulfilment in your work makes you more generous and fully present with your loved ones. Your joie de vivre is infectious, magnetising other enlivened people into your life. With less need for unhealthy anaesthetics and with a greater sense of inner peace, your health is optimal, increasing your longevity and resistance to disease.
Malcolm Gladwell spent much of his childhood writing because he found it so enjoyable. He became a journalist for a magazine and then worked as a columnist for a newspaper. After his articles became popular he built upon them to form a book. More than a decade after his foray into writing professionally he asserted that writing has never stopped being fun for him. If only we could all say this.
Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman spoke of the outcome of the job satisfaction disparity we’re experiencing when he said:
Work that is rich in gratifying experience, work as self-fulfillment… in short, work as vocation, has become the privilege of the few, a distinctive mark of the elite, a way of life the rest may watch in awe, admire and contemplate at a distance but experience vicariously.
Together, let’s discover where your joie de vivre is to be found.
Blue Mountains Retreats
“Great things are done when people and mountains meet;
this is not done by jostling in the street.”
- William Blake
Take in a local stargazing tour at night
Rejuvenate in the Blue Mountains natural wonders
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