For those of you that didn't attend (myself included), think about
why you didn't attend. I'm sure you know the excuses you've told yourself, but are aware of the real reasons you didn't attend. I know I do.
"Not successful enough"
"Not enough money"
"Bad spoken English"
"I'm afraid"
Pick yours.
But I also, sure as hell, know that these reasons (excuses) won't stop me next year. You have exactly one year to work on whatever you think is holding you back.
Let this thread, and your FOMO, kick your a$$ back into gear.
See you at the next Summit.
EDIT: Also, thank you all for sharing pictures and small snippets of the event
My first year on the forum, I didn't attend. I posted the "reason" why I didn't attend, and I got rightfully bar-b-qued for it.
The bottom line is if it is important enough to be there, you will be there.
If it's not, you won't.
The key is that for the people who do attend, it is life changing. The people who I consulted with through the sale of my company? 100% of them I met at the gathering. The depth of your rolodex is greatly enhanced through these personal connections, and you will NEVER get that access by posting some witty comments on the forum.
I learned more from
@AllenCrawley in his 45 minute presentation than any MBA student will EVER learn from some professor that teaches out of a book. I can't put a price tag on listening to
@biophase talk about his company, his exit and his plans. I got from
@Kung Fu Steve a condensed version of what people pay thousands of dollars to attend motivational events get. And it cost me a plane ticket, a hotel room, and a few hundred bucks? Holy shit I got to meet
@James Fend ! Seriously. I hope I didn't show my fan boy star worship too much.
@million$$$smile and I got a private investment lesson from
@James Fend beyond anything he would ever post on the forum. A couple hundred bucks for this? Are you KIDDING ME?
The attendees don't really grieve for the people who didn't attend. Not attending is your choice. There's not much sleep lost over the guy or gal who wanted to come but didn't. There is literal sleep lost at the meetup feeding off the energy of the common bond. The attendees have a common bond and a level of commitment that is not shared with non-attendees.
Some of the presenters there blew me away, specifically because their presentations were unexpected gold. Every year. New faces, same results. Gold. This is a meetup like no other. There's no other ticket anywhere in the United States you can find that will bring you into the inner circle this will be.
@MJ DeMarco doesn't do this for himself... if he did, he would listen to me and charge the few thousand dollars he should and could. He won't. He puts this on for you. He pays this forward for you. All of this is arranged not for him, but for you. It is maybe the only such conference in the United States that isn't selling you anything. It's giving, not taking. Some recently self-exiled jackass wanted
@MJ DeMarco to pay him to attend and speak. Guys like that aren't even worthy of an attendee ticket. That's not what this is.
There will be dozens of people next year who today are like "I am not going to miss it" but next year will roll around and there will be another reason. Another crisis. Another shortage. Another excuse. Another "next year." And that's fine. That is natural selection, which carves out the room for the 99% of the people that are SUPPOSED to be there.
With only one or two exceptions that were predictable, everyone engaged and lives were impacted. There is nothing like it. Stories were told of how MJ's work has made permanent blessed impact. I saw introverts step out and step up and engage, and hopefully they will be blessed by daring to take the risk. I am thinking of one dude who I love on the forum. He took risks, stepped out, stepped up. Definitely not an extrovert, but he put himself in position to meet all of us. And I hope his life is blessed and changed as a result. This takes guts.
Hope to see you there next year, but the only one that gets to decide your level of engagement is... you.
And for those of you who were in attendance, now you REALLY have no excuses. We're depending on you to lead the next wave. Figuratively and literally the leadership mantle torch gets passed every year. Get yourself up to the podium.
My thanks for my boss and mentor and friend
@MJ DeMarco. Legacy. You did it again.