As someone who’s led retreats for almost a decade, there’s certain things that I’ve become very comfortable with that may come as a surprise to new retreat leaders. I think it’s important to be transparent about it all so it’s not a shock to the system when you decide to take the plunge…
𝟭.) 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆. You have to energetically connect to it daily if you want it to be a success. Maybe that means your posting about it online (I post every day or every other day about mine), I’m handing out postcards in class to my students, I’m telling friends about it when we’re out, I’m writing newsletters, I’m “touching” it somehow in some way every day. Even if I’m on vacation, even if I had a bad day, even if I’m busy with other stuff, my retreat is always top of mind, no excuses. It’s my priority.
𝟮.) 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲: “I don’t have the money,” “I’m busy”, “I have kids”, “It’s too long”, “I don’t do yoga” and the list goes on. Don’t let those FEW people shake your confidence. I have people tell me “no” all the time followed by an excuse whether it’s with my own retreats or this business, but I stay energetically clear and open for all the people who will say yes (and they are out there!). It’s not personal and often times I find people will change their minds later or sign up for a retreat with me at some other point in time. Do NOT start making changes to your retreat to accommodate a couple people’s “no’s” and excuses. Believe in what you’re offering, you’re the one in charge.
𝟯.) 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁. A retreat is not something that you just throw together last minute. It’s takes time and discernment to make all the decisions that go into putting everything together on the front end and it takes time to gently finesse people into coming. It’s a deliberate and unhurried process from beginning to end, but once you start to get in the swing of things with your first retreat, the process is much smoother for the next ones.
Are you ready to start planning your retreat and an extra source of income?