Howdy and welcome!
Right now I’m probably sweating my butt off in FL…in August. This week is Podcast Movement and it’ll be my 4th time attending. Now that I actually have a podcast again it might be more fun. It’s always fun to see friends from all over the world anyway. Since I put A Face Project on hold, my first podcast that I launched all the way in back in 2013, I haven’t been in the podcasting game. It feels good to be podcasting again.
Thanks to all of you listening I’m able to actually help folks and do something I enjoy. Thank you so much for listening & sharing with others. It helps this info to reach people who might need to hear it.
Speaking of things we need to hear, today I’d like to talk about some things that I learned at Thrive last fall. Thrive is a conference with the theme: make money matter. They talk about the idea of a for-purpose business rather than just a for-profit business. Think Tom’s shoes, they do it well.
Anyway, I was gifted a ticket by one of the organizers who’s a friend and didn’t really know what to expect. It wasn’t necessarily my comfort zone or a crowd I typically hang in. But like all things, I went in with an open mind and I’m so glad that I did.
There is a saying I’ve heard in business circles that “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” If you have a teaching background like me, you are probably used to leading others and helping more often than learning from others. The idea is that to make big changes or achieve higher levels of growth you need to be challenged by others a few (or many) steps ahead of you.
I felt this message loud and clear at Thrive.
Here are my top five takeaways from the conference:
Tim Storey
Tim needs no introduction, but if you’d like one, it’s here.
I went through a really tough couple of years recently. I separated from my husband, had some family losses, and haven’t had a home until last week. Some days were downright awful. The kind of stuff I hadn’t experienced before. Tim said something that stuck:
Turn the “mess into a message and the test into a testimony.” Reading this now I’m feeling a little bit of the cheesiness, but it’s close to my heart as a teacher. What is the point of enduring and learning if you can’t pass it on to others? I’ve woven many of the past years’ lessons into my current coaching and online courses.
Legacy Perez
He is one of the best dancers in the world. Seriously. Check him out.
But he’s also profoundly intuitive and our conversations really shifted something inside of me. He reminded me that we all have tremendous power. Not in the gross political ladder way, but in the subtle, beautiful way where we can inspire, support, and transform our world and the people in it just by holding honest space. I’m grateful to him for that message.
Caleb Maddix
He was just plain fun to listen to. For sixteen years old, he’s already a master speaker.
His journey has been filled with hurdles and criticism. Internet trolls and insults. But he keeps going and continues to inspire. Sometimes when I step out of my comfort zone in a blog or social media post and act more like me and less like the constructed-internet-version-of-me, I get nervous. I worry that I might be taking things too far out of the box. I might lose clients. It’s easier to play it safe. But what does Caleb say?
“If people don’t think you’re crazy then don’t expect crazy results.”
He follows that up with thoughts on going with what you know to be true for you. Hugely important stuff. It’s important to remember that if you’re being true to yourself, and repelling someone, it’s okay. We want to please everyone, but finding your people, your group will only happen when you own YOU. You’ll attract what you want and repel what wasn’t a good fit anyway.
Sanja Hatter
She is one of the founders of Thrive and talked openly about having a huge fear of speaking. She used notes and stood still behind the podium. But her message changed something for me. It seems like a little thing, but applied to life daily, it changes everything.
She highlighted the difference between urgent and important things. We so often overlook, ignore, and bypass what is really important in our lives because of the illusion that things are urgent. Mostly they are not. Almost never. Unless you’ve been hit by a bus and need a doctor. Things are at our fingertips so we respond in kind. I gotta get back to this client. Have to post to social. Need to make this conference call. Urgent, urgent, urgent.
Not really.
Your business and your life will not fall to pieces if you take one hour or one full day to hang with your family, take a walk, meditate, or do anything that is truly important. Urgency is temporary, but important things have a lasting impact.
Nick Santonastasso
This man. I can honestly say his talk, his 45 minutes on stage, changed my life. Please read his story if you have a minute.
He said, “The biggest disability you can have is a bad mindset.”
My punch to the gut. Because I know with every fiber of my being that it’s true. This is the shit I practice in daily medication, conscious action throughout my day, and as I work to build a better life and business. Mindset is everything.
But it means something different coming from someone with no legs and one arm. It makes me feel like, even though suffering is relative, I should be keenly aware of what is really a limitation and what is a crappy mindset. It seeps in. I choose everyday to be a little better. And it works. I’m happy and my life is full of incredible abundance. I created that shit.
Thanks Nick.
Whew.
So that’s a wee recap of Thrive. Grateful for the experience and excited to take these lessons into 2019 and beyond.
Visit photobizhelp.com to find epsiode 28 if you’d like to diving into links from this show in the notes. Thanks for tuning in today and remember, in all you want to achieve, consistency is key.
EPISODE NOTES
Join our FB group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/photobizhelp/
Tim Storey: https://www.timstorey.com/
Legacy Perez: https://legacyperez.com/
Caleb Maddix: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2016/03/15/caleb-maddix-extraordinary-entrepreneur/#732144cd34b5
Sanja Hatter: http://morethanjustmama.com/author/mtjm-sanja/
Nick Santonastasso: https://www.instagram.com/nicksantonastasso/?hl=en
