I found myself driving down to Wicklow at the end of January this year, unsure of both the final destination and the core reason for being there.

A remote hunting lodge just beyond Avoca, free from any form of digital connectivity in the wilds of Wicklow. I needed the connectivity as it was getting ark quickly as I made my way onto the single track road that concluded the almost 4 hour journey from the north.

The location is much better narrated than the reason for being there – a follow up to a casual message on Instagram with Diarmuid Lyng, hurler, commentator, team builder and co-facilitator of The Nature of Man retreat. My initial enquiry of Diarmuid was around something not entirely connected to the Nature Of Man retreat but having had an email exchange and a thorough read of the natureofman.ie website I decided to sign up for the weekend.

Along with 20 other men from across the island – some must have had a clearer sense of purpose than me?

The weekend would clear up a few of these questions – why attend, what is it all about, what’s in it for me?

The usual reasons for attending are, your partner thinks you would benefit from attending, you have attended before or like my case, there is something that lies just beyond curiosity within you but you can’t quite place it.

Diarmuid has a word for it.

So too does his co-facilitator Michael Ryan.

A weekend of breathing exercises, wild hurling, meditation, attending a sweat lodge, confiding in strangers and the odd bout of uncontrollable sadness.

Deadly craic, eh?

In this podcast I let Diarmuid explain why the Nature of Man retreat has the potential to be one of the most transformative experiences of your life.

Seriously.

This podcast takes me to a place that sits firmly within the role of sales leader where at the core is our ability to look after ourselves, to be able to attend to our own needs befre we can even think about attending to the needs of others.

The sales environment – or business, for that matter – is unforgiving, relentless, unpredictable and hard on the psyche.

Success is never guaranteed, failure almost expected.

In those critical moments that sit just shy of desperation, where do you go? How can you lead others if you do not understand how to manage fully your own delightfully varied spectrum of emotions.

Comedian Bill Burr talks of his wife who says that he only has 2 emotions, angry or fine.

Where has it ever been ok for men to talk about the challenges of living mainly a performative existence without having a place, a space or even the knowing that emotions are cool – it is 100% ok to cry, to be sad, to be angry.

Where has it ever been possible to talk about the things, the feelings, that reside so hidden within that talking is just not the done thing – except that it is the done thing.

That’s what I now understand as my reason for driving to Wicklow.

Listen here.

Soundcloud: Here

Spotify: Here

iTunes: Here