Good People Summit
Rarely do we take time to focus on our big picture ideas. There are always things like laundry, organizing your closet or that show you just can’t turn off. Realizing this, Clayton and I knew we needed to do something differently.
For the past three years, Clayton and I have carved out a weekend to get away, reflect and do ‘deep work’. While not a vacation, these so-called ‘self-retreats’ centered us and made sure we were making the most of our year ahead. The inaugural self-retreat began in June of 2017 in a remote Airbnb Loft in somewhere, Wisconsin and it was 100% time well spent. While each has looked very different some things have remained the same including the opening letter Clayton is responsible for drafting and the overall intent of the experience.
Our motivation for doing this came when we realized how quickly the days days pass and how little progress we had made towards our yearly intentions.
Prior to going, we would share a Google Doc filled with reading suggestions, prompts to think through and any specific items we wanted to tackle together or independently.
This year, Clayton had the great idea of expanding our retreat to a wide group of friends we thought would also enjoy a similar experience. Thus, Clayton created the ‘Good People Summit’. A more robust, larger group retreat with of course a personal chef (shout out to Chef Amy, I’m still dreaming about those homemade cinnamon rolls!)
The purpose of ‘GPS’ was clear; come with one intention or main focus you wanted to work on during the week. Good People Summit gave us dedicated time to explore and be surrounded by good hearted and curious people. You’d have a support network of people to bounce ideas around with, challenge you and basically make sure you got stuff done!
After a welcome dinner on Thursday, the summit kicked off Friday morning with motivating conversation that led us into the weekend. The group was dynamic. People from all aspects of Clayton’s life met each other in a Woodland Park, Airbnb where each of us shared what we planned to work on. Nothing was off the table.
Some people were writing books about secret activities while others were determining their next career move. I was blown away by the group’s goals for our time together. With a solid start to the day, everyone got to work.
We enjoyed breaks outside in the fresh Colorado air and always came down to the kitchen to find delicious snacks to fuel us. It was incredible to see everyone ‘in the zone’ working towards an individual goal but yet in a group setting. You could feel the energy! While we worked hard, we also found time to indulge in homemade margs, kick back in the massive hot-tub and end each night with the hilarious category card game that I’m still laughing about.
Another creative exercise posed by the group was ‘black-out poetry’. It’s an Austin Kleon idea but the gist is simple: find a newspaper and a sharpie, leave select words open and black out the rest to see what type of original poetry you can create. Warning, it’s addicting.
On our final night, we re-grouped and shared our progress. We heard chapter outlines for books, a curation of short stories, a new business plan, system updates for an existing business and the list goes on. All of these things came to be because of the dedicated time Good People Summit created.
I left Colorado with a new sense of hope and encouragement knowing there were 11 other people who chose to spend their time intentionally. It was thoughtful intentional and productive making it the coolest thing I’ve done all year (it will be hard to top)!
The gift of time is a special thing and I’m so thankful Clayton made it happen.
Can’t wait for the next Good People Summit. Let me know if you want to join!
-Emma
