Wisdom Retreats

Beach Retreats

Offered Periodically: Inquire by Email

A Meaning, Success and Happiness Retreat

A Leadership, Life, and Excellence Retreat

Limited Enrollment Retreats
Morris Institute for Human Values
Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, NC
For Information, EMAIL Tom at TomVMorris@aol.com with title “Retreat”

On a Previous Retreat: "The Extraordinary Life Retreat is, indeed, extraordinary. To take some time to consider the most profound truth is to invest in your own achievement and your own happiness. And, if that's not enough, you're on a beautiful Atlantic beach under the tutelage of one of the most engaging, entertaining and wise people you'll ever meet. Please, don't miss it."
Jack W. Hayhow, Jr.
Author, Wisdom of the Flying Pig
Founder, Opus Communications, Kansas City

New from The Morris Institute

For the Fun 30 second Google Search Story of one retreat: Click Here.

If you've ever heard Tom Morris speak at a business meeting or a big convention, it's our hope that you've experienced an entertaining and energizing hour of ideas that you knew right away you could use. Many people who have first come across Tom's ideas and presentation style in such a context, and many who have read his books, have contacted us over the years asking for retreats where they could explore the greatest wisdom for life and work more extensively.

After a career of teaching at Notre Dame, and two decades of serving many of the world's most successful companies in closed, private sessions for executives and top performers, Tom came to believe that now is the time for him to provide a number of personal, informal, intensive, and deeply enjoyable small retreats. Our need for powerful wisdom has never been greater. And Tom takes tremendous pleasure in bringing the best wisdom of the ages into people's lives in a practical and profound way.

We're pleased to announce that The Morris Institute for Human Values is hosting Wisdom Retreats on a variety of exciting topics, as dates become available on Tom's calendar. In each retreat, typically between ten and thirty participants will work intensively with Tom, and sometimes with one of his nationally known senior associates, as well as occasional guest experts, to explore life-changing wisdom that can be implemented in every facet of our lives. The retreat focus, across topics, will be on ideas that have stood the test of time and how they can best be used in the challenges we face today.

Come and Have a Great Time

Come to stimulate your mind in new ways with your colleagues, or with people from across industries and around the nation, explore deep and practical wisdom, and walk along one of the most peaceful beaches on the east coast, as you talk over the truly important areas of your life and work with Tom and Senior Fellows of the Morris Institute. Dig deep, broaden your vision, and perhaps resolve some long-standing issues in your business or personal life. Plant the seeds of new ideas, and leave the beach refreshed. We?re sure you?ll want to come back again for another retreat and a new set of issues.

To see the new short video on our location, click here:

The Morris Institute Wisdom Retreat Beach and Hotel.

For a Washington Post essay on our beach, click here:

Our Beach for Philosophy.

A few Retreats Will Also Be Held on the River in Downtown Wilmington, Coming Soon!

Retreat Topics

Some retreat sessions will revolve around the simple but powerful philosophy of success and excellence developed from the world's great wisdom traditions by Tom, and first brought to public attention in such books as True Success, The Art of Achievement, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, The Stoic Art of Living, andIf Harry Potter Ran General Electric. Other retreats will involve looking at issues of excellence, leadership, personal growth, life transition, the challenge of change, happiness, and individual effectiveness, by consulting select ancient texts and modern insights that go far beyond the normal academic or business school curriculum. The joy and power of ideas will be experienced in every session. The goal of these retreats is to be transformative.

Over the long run, there will be a regular cycle of Morris Institute Wisdom Retreats involving 4-6 different topics, with special subject matter retreats added now and then on both professional and personal issues. At present, we offer two different retreats. There will be short, recommended pre-readings for each.

Classic Topics
The Meaningful Success and Resilient Happiness Retreat

This retreat will be built around the idea of what it is to create an extraordinary life of meaningful success and deep happiness. We'll ask the sources of meaning in our work and our personal lives, and we'll seek to identify their contours as they apply to each of us. We'll explore how we understand personal success, what the great thinkers of the past have said about satisfying achievement, whether professional or personal, and how our goals and habits may change as we move through the different stages of life. We’ll tackle crucial topics about how we handle difficulty, resilience, and uncertainty.

We'll dig deep into Tom's most popular and practical framework of ideas, The 7 Cs of Success, and take a closer look at the hotly disputed topic of personal happiness. One goal will be to see how real success and enduring happiness can arise in times of great change.

We'll also broach issues on the psychology of happiness and positive thinking, and examine the nature of the 'flow' experience in sport, work, and life. Our goal is to see what some of the most profound and practical thinkers have had to say about creating an extraordinary life.

TESTIMONIALS FOR OUR MOST RECENT RETREAT

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for the opportunity and really the gift of time to talk, share and be. In our busy lives of work, two young kids, volunteering, etc. It was a true gift to be part of your amazing weekend in such a glorious spot. If my family was open, I could see myself picking up our home and bringing it to Wrightsville Beach!"
Janice Foley

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"I didn't know what to expect from the retreat, but I left with great insight and energy. It provided a venue to learn new ideas and process these with a diverse group of forward thinkers. The retreat challenged me and empowered me to be a better person, personally and professionally."
Lori Greer

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"Dr. Morris has the unique ability to make seemingly perfect sense of some of life's more complex questions. These 3 days were incredibly helpful for me in my personal and professional life as we processed through real ideas and feedback. I've found myself reflecting back on the conversations and using them in my everyday interactions. You can't leave this weekend and not be rejuvenated."
Matt Ham

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"What I really liked about the retreat was the small intimacy of the group. Both Mary and Tom were extremely hospitable and made everyone feel welcome immediately. Everyone was there because they wanted to be there to learn and share, which I believe made a huge difference. Everyone attending had something unique and interesting to share, which made for very engaging conversation the entire weekend.

The retreat really left me with many things to ponder. The topics truly challenged my way of thinking about my life, what my life has been up to this point, and how I am the only one who can decide where my life is going. It has really helped me put things into perspective.

It was an absolutely wonderful weekend and I would recommend it to anyone with a desire to look deep within to try to achieve an extraordinary life. Thank you so much!"
Kris Pollock

NEW!

The Leadership and Life Excellencea Retreat
The Perils and Possibilities of Talent, Skill, and Power

This retreat will revolve around reading and discussing several short, classic explorations of how top achievers and people in leadership positions can go wrong, with the purpose in mind of getting clear on what it takes to go right. The powerful cautionary tales for greatly talented and highly intelligent people that we'll explore include the oldest leadership story we have, the short and powerful Epic of Gilgamesh, as well as the Anglo-Saxon classic of Beowulf, and Mary Shelley's remarkable short novel, Frankenstein, which is perhaps the greatest cautionary tale for high achievers ever written, and possibly augmented by a short powerful essay on the life of a leader by Socrates' top practical student, the Greek military leader, Xenophon ('Zen-o-fon').

Supporting lessons will be drawn from such classic sources as Don Quixote, Moby Dick, Machiavelli’s book The Prince, and Xenophon's profound exploration of leadership in action, "The Education of Cyrus," a forgotten text that the modern pioneering management guru Peter Drucker once called "the greatest leadership book ever written."

Corporate Retreats

Special topics are available for private corporate retreats. Contact TomVMorris@aol.com for more details.

Pricing and Schedules

All retreats will give you a choice of a senior or junior fee (junior for people 25 years old or younger). The cost will cover the educational fee for all sessions, the opening dinner, and any break snacks. Attendees will make their own room arrangements at a special low price negotiated for the retreat, and cover other food on their own, onsite, after an opening dinner that’s our treat for you. The Holiday Inn Resort, an attractive, convenient, and very comfortable hotel on the beach run by a North Carolina hotelier, is offering us deeply discounted room rates for the standard two-night stay. All rooms have water views, either an ocean view, or a very nice bay view. Other retreats will be scheduled downtown on the Cape Fear River at a beautiful new hotel that you’ll also really love, and one that’s within an easy walk of all Wilmington restaurants, bars, and shops. Plus, the stunning Cape Fear RiverWalk is just outside the doors. More information will be available soon.

A Beach Retreat Typical Schedule

Retreat attendees will be asked to arrive prior to an opening dinner (6:30 PM on the launch day) and a short welcome and orientation session. The next day, there will be morning and afternoon sessions, with some time over a long lunch break for walks on the beach or the riverside or other forms of exercise, relaxation, and reflection, with later informal discussions continuing into the evening. The following day, there will be morning sessions and a late morning send-off. Some retreats will be held on weekends, beginning with a Friday dinner and ending late Sunday morning.Others will be held during the week, on a Tuesday through Thursday schedule.

Our Next Retreat Dates

The next scheduled Wisdom Retreat dates will be posted soon. Come back later in December.

Our Primary Location

Most Wisdom Retreats in a coastal setting will be held on Wrightsville Beach, NC or in downtown Wilmington along the river. If you come with a spouse or guest, you might even want to spend an extra day or two to explore the quiet beaches, historic streets, harbors, museums, great restaurants, and charming shops of the lower Cape Fear River. Come join us at an ocean front resort with inspiring views from every room and enjoy a time of personal reflection and growth you’ll never forget.

Getting Here By Car

Wrightsville Beach, just outside Wilmington, is located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina, at the eastern end of Interstate 40.

Getting Here By Air

Our airport (ILM) has commercial jet service from American Airlines many times a day nonstop from Charlotte and Philadelphia. There are also numerous jets daily from Atlanta on Delta. It's little more than a two-hour drive from RDU International Airport, and is about an hour and a half from the Myrtle Beach airport. New service has recently been added with United nonstops from the Washington DC area and seasonal service from Chicago. In addition, Wilmington is an active destination for corporate and private jets, served by Air Wilmington. The main resort for our retreats is located approximately ten miles from the airport, a drive of about twenty minutes. A complimentary shuttle service is provided for guests by the hotel. Taxi service and rental cars are also available.

Our Retreat Leader

Tom Morris - Host and main presenter at each retreat.

Tom Morris will typically run each retreat. Tom will host some solo. And others will also feature guest presenters.

There Will Often Be Guest Presenters Like David O'Connor

Senior Morris Institute Fellow.

Dr. David O'Connor draws on the wisdom of the ancients to illuminate the challenges of the modern world. Dave is a Senior Fellow of the Morris Institute for Human Values, and his lectures to business and civic groups include international engagements in such places as Sicily, Barcelona, and Istanbul. Dave's famous lecture course at the University of Notre Dame, "Ancient Wisdom and Modern Love," has been featured in O: The Oprah Magazine and Self Magazine.

After undergraduate work at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame, Dr. O'Connor earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University, and has been a faculty member in the Departments of Philosophy and of Classics at Notre Dame since 1985. Dave's wife Beth is a developmental psychologist, and a consultant in early childhood education as well as in toy design. They have three daughters.

And Special Guests Like Southern Novelist And Banjo Picker, Clyde Edgerton

Clyde is the author of such books as Rainey, Killer Diller, Lunch at the Picadilly, The FloatPlane Notebooks, In Memory of Junior, and The Bible Salesman. He will visit on occasion to speak about story telling and life, and maybe sing us something strange and funny.

The least important things, we think about and talk about the most; the most important things, we think about and talk about the least.  

- Socrates.

Join us for a retreat soon, where we can think and talk about important things, and maybe even to the point where we “get it”!