Thirteen powerhouse women. All with different businesses. All carving their own paths. All brave enough to stop and ask, ‘What’s next for me?’
We workshopped strategy by the pool. We swam. We walked the beach at sunrise. We shared big thinking (and more than a few cocktails). And yes, we may have even kayaked with dolphins.
But more than anything, we gave ourselves space.
Space to reflect. To percolate. To talk through the messy, magical middle of business.
To decide where to stop adding and where to start choosing.
Here’s what always blows me away every single time I run these retreats
When we create space, even just a little, we start to see what really matters. What’s working. What’s not. What we’ve been holding on to out of habit rather than value.
It reminded me of a conversation I had recently with productivity expert and bestselling author Donna McGeorge, when she joined me on the podcast to talk about her brand new book, Red Brick Thinking – Make Space. Find Focus. Move Forward.
She shares that we’re wired to fix things by adding.
More effort.
More systems.
More meetings.
More “productivity hacks”
More things.
When sometimes the real solution? Is subtraction.
In her workshops, Donna uses a Lego bridge held up by uneven legs, balanced with a red brick at the base. She asks: “How would you fix this?”
Almost everyone adds more bricks. But the fix is simple: remove the red brick.
That’s it. The bridge balances perfectly.
Red Brick Thinking.
It’s such a powerful metaphor for how we run our businesses (and often our lives). We keep layering more, instead of removing what’s no longer serving us.
This tendency to fix by adding is what Donna calls “addition bias”.
We add meetings to improve comms. Add software to “streamline”. Add offers, add ideas, add pressure.
And then we wonder why we’re stretched thin, overwhelmed, and still not moving forward.
But when we remove instead of add, suddenly there’s space. Space for clarity. For focus. For the work that actually matters.
If this is hitting home, I highly recommend you listen to our full conversation on the podcast. Donna goes deep into why we default to “more”, how to spot your hidden red bricks, and the surprising cost of staying stuck. Listen here on Spotify, find on Apple Music or watch on YouTube.
So what’s your red brick?
Donna breaks them into three types:
- Emotional bricks – guilt, obligation, old resentment
- Structural bricks – outdated processes, redundant offers
- Cultural bricks – the invisible rules you think you have to follow
This isn’t about throwing it all out. It’s not minimalism for the sake of it. It’s about discernment.
It’s about asking a better question. Not “What more do I need?” but “What can I let go of?”
That question changes everything.
It forces focus. It brings truth to the surface. It reveals what’s actually in the way of your next level of growth.
So here’s your challenge this week:
Look at your business. Your schedule. Your beliefs. What’s the red brick?
Maybe it’s a meeting you don’t need anymore. A commitment you’ve outgrown. A belief that says “I have to do it all.”
Whatever it is, name it. And then, with intention, let it go.
Because the success you’re chasing isn’t buried in the next thing you add. It’s sitting just beneath what you finally remove.
And I saw this in real time last week.
On that retreat, the biggest breakthroughs didn’t come from the worksheets or the whiteboard sessions (although those had their moments).
They came in the in-between. In the silence between ocean swims. In the unfiltered honesty over a Margherita at sunset. In the brave decision to stop doing and start choosing.
Space creates clarity.
And clarity? That’s your superpower.
Janine x