Savoir Vivre Vignettes
Legacy Contemplation Opportunity
Annual Camino de Santiago Walking Retreats Why do you walk the Camino de Santiago again and again every year? Because it's my annual board meeting with myself. Summary In our fast-paced world of quarterly reports and constant digital connectivity, we...
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The Wisdom Integration Cycle: Annual Retreats for Accelerated Personal Growth
Breaking Through Personal Growth Ceilings: Why Annual Retreats Outperform One-Time Transformations Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat every year? To integrate what I learn into who I am. Summary In our rush to make progress, we...
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Embodied Problem-Solving: Walking Meditation Unlocks Solutions
When Thinking Fails, Walking Prevails: The Science of Embodied Problem-Solving Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat in the southwest of France every year? So my physical body can help me solve my professional problems. Summary When...
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Identity Reset: The Annual Practice That Grounds Success in Core Values
Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat every year? To remind myself who I am without my professional accoutrements. In the crisp autumn air of southwest France, Maria stood at the start of the day's Camino de...
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Physical Intelligence Development: How Somatic Wisdom Enhances Leadership
Walking the Way to Wisdom: An Annual Pilgrimage and the Somatic Foundation of Exceptional Leadership Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat in the southwest of France every year? To enhance my leadership skills. In the rolling...
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Decision Recalibration: Identify Your Decision-making Blind Spots
An Annual Pilgrimage as Executive Practice for Recalibrating Professional Judgment Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat every year? Because it helps me fine-tune my decision-making process. In the glass-walled conference room, executives stare at PowerPoint slides,...
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Merging Strategic Emptiness with Holding Space to Catalyze Growth
How Holding Space Creates Room for Breakthroughs My article The Strategic Void: The Professional's Guide to Mind-Clearing Breakthroughs, made me think of the concept of "holding space," which prompted the writing of this post. The concept of "holding space" is...
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The Strategic Void: The Professional’s Guide to Mind-Clearing Breakthroughs
Why do you attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat every year? For the mind-clearing breakthroughs. Picture this: the CEO of a tech empire or the maestro of mergers, vanishing into the ether for a springtime sojourn along a thousand-year-old...
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Pilgrimage as Professional Practice: The Case for an Annual Camino de Santiago Walking Retreat
The Surprising Power of A Yearly Week-long "Pilgrimage" to the Southwest of France "Pilgrimage" in quotation marks, because the Camino de Santiago trail no longer has a solely religious connection. These days, 200,000+ people walk the Camino every year to...
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Camino de Santiago Retreat: First Day’s Walk
Claire’s Story I wake to the gentle clatter of breakfast preparations at the farmhouse. There’s a reassuring hum of activity in the kitchen—our host trundling crates of rosy apples in, someone humming an old troubadour melody, the clink of butter...
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Embracing Change: Support for Life’s Major Changes, Challenges and Transitions
Weekly on Instagram and LinkedIn It sometimes feels as if life consists of one transition after another - from career shifts and relocations to relationship changes, health challenges, or processing loss. These moments can feel overwhelming, yet with the right...
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Reconstruction vs. Reinvention
Why Rebuilding after a Life Transition is a Better Investment than Starting Over In the landscape of personal and professional development, we've been sold a seductive narrative: when life throws you a curveball, reinvent yourself. This mantra has become the...
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Breaking the Cycle of Repeated Life Transitions, Changes and Challenges
Mindful Miners vs Surface Skimmers In the high-stakes world of professional achievement, we've mastered the art of the pivot. We navigate corporate restructuring, career changes, and industry disruptions with the composed exterior of seasoned veterans. We survive. We adapt. We...
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The Art of Mindful Travel: Wisdom from My Camino de Santiago Retreat Guests
Essential Tips from Experienced Travellers The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step—and a bit of preparation. Whether you're joining one of my Camino de Santiago walking retreats or embarking on another adventure, the difference between a...
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Walking the Camino de Santiago: When Is the Best Time to Go?
5 Key Takeaways The Camino can be walked year-round, with each season offering unique experiences. There's no single "best" time to walk—it depends on your personal preferences, though spring (May-June) and fall (September-October) generally offer the most balanced conditions. Summer...
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Reclaiming Your Professional Identity After Divorce
A Path to Impactful Reinvention There's a particular kind of disorientation that arrives after the dust of divorce begins to settle. The immediate legal and logistical storms may have passed, but in their wake lies a question that can feel...
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Rebuilding Confidence After Professional Setbacks
Finding Your Way Back to Self-Trust There's a particular kind of silence that follows a professional setback. It's the space between who you thought you were and who you fear you might be. If you're reading this, chances are you...
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Soul Food: Reading while Walking the Camino de Santiago
“Books should go where they will be most appreciated, and not sit unread, gathering dust on a forgotten shelf, don’t you agree?” —Christopher Paolini Introduction: The Gentle Art of Getting Lost (in a Book) When was the last time you...
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Why You Should Start a Travel Journal on the Camino (Even if You’re Not a ‘Journal Person’)
Because someday, Future You will thank Present You for remembering what Past You went through on this walk... Listen, I get it. You’re already carrying blister plasters, protein bars, and a pebble from your garden to drop on the way…...
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Gratitude as a Compass: Navigating Life’s Earthquakes with a Thankful Heart
A Compass that works even when the Map has been destroyed In the landscape of our lives, some changes arrive like gentle breezes, while others crash through like seismic events, upending everything we thought was solid. These "life quakes"—major disruptions...
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The Brutal Truth About Your First Year as an Entrepreneur
Why Success Requires Accepting—Not Avoiding—These Uncomfortable Realities #LifeTransitions:Employee2EntrepreneurSeries Let’s start with a confession: You’re not here for a pep talk. You’ve earned your stripes in boardrooms, hit targets that would make Excel weep, and mastered the art of nodding politely...
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The Transformative Power of a Growth Mindset
Thriving Through Life's Pivotal Moments You've climbed the ladder, navigated boardrooms, and likely aced a few metaphorical tightropes in your career. As accomplished professionals, you understand the art of strategic moves and the value of a well-honed skill set. But...
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Role Models as Lanterns Through Life Quakes: Finding Stability When Everything Changes
The most important role models in people's lives, it seems, aren't superstars or household names. They're "everyday" people who quietly set examples for you-coaches, teachers, parents. People about whom you say to yourself, perhaps not even consciously, "I want to...
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How do You Answer the Question: Who Am I? Without Saying What You Do
(Part of the Post-Crisis ReConstruction Protocols series) INTRODUCTION: THE IDENTITY CRISIS NO ONE TALKS ABOUT Who am I? Not the Instagram bio version. Not the résumé bullet points. Not the person people politely applaud at a fundraiser. I mean the...
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The “Purpose-Driven Profit” Model
Building a Business That Makes a Difference #LifeTransitions: Employee2Entrepreneur: Of the whole series, this is my favourite post. I hope it will inspire you too. Introduction Let’s be honest: the word “profit” has had a bit of a PR crisis....
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The Return and Revive Option: Building Your Business with a Corporate Safety Net
#LifeTransition:FromEmployee2Entrepreneur Introduction: The Strategic Value of Maintaining Corporate Connections Ah, the corporate world—a place of stability, predictable paychecks, and the occasional office birthday cake. It's a comfort zone that many successful professionals find hard to leave behind, even when the...
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The “Intelligent Risk” Road Map: Navigating Uncertainty with Confidence.
Introduction Imagine standing at the edge of a cliff, the wind whipping around you, and the vast expanse of the unknown stretching out before your eyes. This is the exhilarating and often terrifying reality of entrepreneurship. The path is fraught...
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The “Anti-Retirement” Revolution: Redefining Work and Purpose in Your Next Chapter
Reinventing Your "Retirement": Purpose-Driven Careers After 60, 70, 80 (and Beyond!) Introduction: the "Anti-Retirement" Revolution Does the notion of "retirement" conjure up images of beige cardigans and endless daytime television, a kind of elegant fade to invisibility? A gold watch,...
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The “Second Act” Advantage: Leveraging Your Network and Capital for Exponential Growth
“In the world of business, it’s not who you know; it’s who knows you.” – Jeffrey Gitomer Introduction There’s something magical about a second act—especially when the lead character already knows the ropes. You’ve been around the block (possibly a...
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The Myth of “Perfect Timing”: Why Now Is the Right Time to Launch
The "Someday" Syndrome and Procrastination Right, let's tackle the inner critic in our potentially entrepreneurial minds: the myth of "perfect timing." You know, that elusive moment in the cosmos when the stars align, the economy hums just right, and your...
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