After coming back from a 10-day extravaganza of masterminds, meet ups and conferences, I wanted to sit down and review all my lessons learned and share my biggest takeaways with you.
In doing so, I’ll not only be able to better retain the information I learned, but I’ll also be organizing and prioritizing so I can take action on the key points that will help us here at EntrepreneurOnFire – all the while sharing what I think can help you move forward in your business, too!
After all, what’s the point of going all in with masterminds, meet ups and conferences if you’re not going to take action on what you learned and then share it with others?
Here are my lessons learned and key takeaways from the last 5 events I was a part of.
1. Fire Nation Elite Mastermind Meet Up
Fire Nation Elite is our Mastermind Tribe here at EOFire, created by myself and John in early 2013 and launched that same year on July 1.
As a part of the membership, we host an annual meet up to bring our members together in person to get to know one another better and to work on their business in a positive and conducive environment.
Our format this year? HOT SEATS!
What are Hot Seats?
Hot Seats are powerful, challenging and can be quite uncomfortable for some because being in the Hot Seat puts you in a very vulnerable position. That’s why it’s important that your mastermind tribe be a supportive and trustworthy group.
Our Hot Seat rotation consisted of a 30-minute timed session for each member where they reviewed where they’re currently at in their business (5 minutes), what their 30, 60, and 90-day goals are (5 minutes), and what their biggest struggle or roadblock currently is (10 minutes).
The remainder of the time is used to share feedback, insights and recommendations as to how the person in the Hot Seat can move past their struggle or roadblock.
Masterminds and Hot Seats rock
My biggest takeaway: Masterminds and Hot Seats rock because they not only provide a trusting environment for you to share some of your biggest struggles and request feedback and help from your Tribe, but they also allow you to learn about what others are doing in their business, what struggles they face, and what’s working for them right now.
Oftentimes I hear from our members that they learn a ton from just that: listening to others’ struggles and the recommendations and ideas generated from the Tribe as a result.
If you’re not already a part of a mastermind group – whether it’s paid or unpaid – I highly recommend that you become a part of an already existing one, or even start one of your own and invite others to join you.
How do I join or start my own mastermind?
Joining a mastermind might sound like a lot of work (and it is a lot of work once you’re invested), but it’ll be well worth it – I promise. Plus, there are several ways you can go about finding and joining a mastermind group.
Here are 3 ways:
1. Start by reaching out to those who are already in your online network and asking for recommendations;
2. If you don’t have an online network built up yet, then do some research on the blogs or websites you follow within your industry or niche to see if any of them offer a mastermind membership;
3. Join one or two free online communities and start to build relationships with other like-minded people. If they don’t belong to a mastermind, the you can create one with them on your own.
Quick tips for Mastermind members:
Try and meet once a week if possible. Whatever your schedule, be consistent.
Rotate Hot Seat sessions so everyone gets a turn.
Being in a mastermind with those who aren’t doing the exact same thing as you can be a good thing.
Always choose someone to lead the meeting (having a stop watch and a focused agenda helps!)
2. Social Media Marketing World
Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net
“Don’t compete for the moment, compete for meaning.” ~ Darren Rowse Click to Tweet!
Darren brought up some incredible points in his talk, mainly that we as content creators have started combating the noise by – creating more noise. What’s up with that?
This reminds me of when I was publishing on the blog daily because I thought that’s what I “had to do”. But truth is, publishing daily was forcing me to be robotic and “machine-like” in my creation. I was doing it to hit a deadline, to compete for the moment.
Darren suggests that instead we should take a step back, re-evaluate what the purpose behind our content creation really is, and then instead of competing for the moment, compete for meaning.
My biggest takeaway: Darren’s talk inspired me to sit down and evaluate the purpose and meaning behind every piece of content I create. Because at the end of the day, I want to be providing valuable content that is making an impact in my readers’ / listeners’ lives and businesses. If I’m not doing that, then I’m wasting my time.
3. Podcast San Diego
Podcast San Diego marked my first ever solo stage talk, and so this was a nerve-racking yet exciting event and milestone for me!
I owe a huge thank you to Dan Franks and Jared Easley for putting this event on and for the opportunity to open Keynote, in addition to Sandy Donovan of Clearly Influential for helping me with my talk!
Okay, my talk… it was all about embracing fear in order to break through it so that we can make an impact and create the life we want to live. I truly feel like I was able to impact and engage the audience in this movement.
I covered 3 ways I believe we can all embrace fear in order to break through it, and those include:
1. Through community
2. With the help of baby steps
3. By focusing outward
I talk about each of these in the episode that accompanies this post, so make sure you listen in to hear about how these 3 ways can help you in embracing and breaking through your own fear!
My biggest takeaway: Embracing fear is the only way to breakthrough it because fear never goes away, and I proved this by getting up on stage and talking in front of 100+ people even though it made me incredibly uncomfortable!
The result? I was able to reach others with my message who will be impacted and served by it, and I moved myself one step closer to reaching my own goals in the process.
4. Flip Your Nine to Five Live
Shane & Jocelyn and Jill & Josh are two power couples you’ve gotta check out, especially given they’re changing the game for SO MANY entrepreneurs!
Their 2-day in-person event here in San Diego called Flip Your Nine to Five Live was a massive success – so much so, they’re at it again!
How do I know it was a success? Well, I was lucky enough to be invited to join the Flip Crew on a San Diego Bay cruise to chat business, talk about breakthroughs and enjoy the good company. I heard nothing but RAVE reviews of the event, including action plans and ah-ha’s all thanks to the all-day Hot Seat mastermind they held the day before.
My biggest takeaway: Nothing can replace the focus and intensity of an in-person meet up to help you take that next step forward in your business. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people and investing in yourself is the difference between feeling lost, overwhelmed and not knowing what step to take next, and making big strides forward in your business thanks to support and clarity.
5. ICON by Infusionsoft
This was my first time attending ICON, and so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
All said and done, my mind was blown by the way this event was put together and presented!
My biggest takeaway: attending events around industry or niche-specific content is really valuable (social media, new media, podcasting, as some examples), and I highly encourage attending these types of events; however, I never knew how powerful attending an event around a specific piece of software could be.
As Infusionsoft users ourselves, John and I were able to learn so much more about the ways in which we could be leveraging this software to better automate and move our business forward. The tactics and techniques shared in all of the breakout sessions, along with some very motivating keynote speakers sharing how they use Infusionsoft in their own business, really made me appreciate how powerful this software can be when used properly.
What events or conferences will you be attending this year? Check out our top recommendations for 2015, and then drop down to the comments section and let us know where you’ll be so we can meet up!
