Over the past few years, I have attended some great in person events. Mostly on the construction industry side, but a couple of them have been more on the personal development side and digging into being a better you. In the process, an idea began to form. I could see myself putting on my own event someday here in southern Maine. About that same time I began to get the itch to return to coaching. I had done some triathlon coaching in the past, but this was going to be different. I was interacting with a lot of entrepreneurs, business owners, younger people, struggling with business and/or life. It seemed like a natural to jump in and try to help. Couple that with my tendency to be the "gatherer of people" and all of a sudden you've got the makings of a budding community.
A year ago I decided to stop ignoring the itch and I created Summit Coaching and Consulting. I did some marketing and let people know that I was available as a Coach. In the amount of time it took for somebody to watch my first video, the phone rang. I was off and running. There was a new pep in my step. I finally had some oxygen. I was helping people. It felt good. I poured every nickel that I made coaching back into personal development and becoming a better Coach. I started a Facebook page, a group, The Summit. I invited people to join. I got uncomfortable and put it out there. We are now at 690 members. I kept podcasting. I blogged when I could and I continued to do what I needed to do to make sure my construction business kept rolling. Contracting paid the bills, coaching, filled the cup.
The support and encouragement I received from the Summit community, and my extended network of friends and business associates was nothing short of amazing. It fueled me. 2023 was a great year in that regard. I was having lunch with a friend of mine this past week, and he said "you've never been afraid to make a change". I guess he's right, and there IS a change happening, a transition, and evolution if you will. I think that just because we're doing one thing right now it doesn't mean we have to do that forever. I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage step into the unknown, to put yourself out there, and just not really know if it's going to work. It's funny how opportunities present. Once you decide that you are going all-in on something, doors start opening. I think that too many people sit on the sidelines and say "what if?". And they go through life, wondering what it would have been like to do what they were really put on this earth to do.
I'm 54 years old. I feel like I'm late to the game of doing what serves me. Oddly, I stumbled onto that by serving others. Funny how that works. I like to get up early, grab the laptop, a huge coffee, and sit on the couch. I guess that's where I am most creative. I guess I have a "never finished" mentality where I can always be doing something better or improving in some way.
I like quotes. One of the favorite gifts I was able to give for Christmas was a wall hanging of Teddy Roosevelt's "The Man In The Arena" quote to my brother Dave. If you guys think I go hard, follow him around for a week. Anyway, back to quotes, I usually will drop a couple of good quotes on my Thursday night call with our paid coaching group called The Peak. The one I have liked the most lately is "sit with the Warriors, the conversation is different". So I would say that would sum up my last couple of years, I have been sitting with the Warriors. The conversation IS different. I've surround myself with people that don't settle for anything less than my best. And I've tried to be there for other people in that same way. In the process I think we've all gotten better.
And then there's that "putting on my own event" thing. It kept coming back to my mind. There are two ways to go at something. One is, "Ready, Aim, Shoot", the other is "Shoot, Aim, Ready". The former is probably the more prudent approach. I tend to roll with the latter. An example of that is my podcast. I decided one day that I was going to create a podcast and I did it. My goal was to do one per week. It's been almost 2 years and I have 43 episodes. Did I hit my goal? Nope. Have I done 43 podcast episodes and impacted tons of people? YUP! And we tweak the process and we adjust and we continue to improve. But I am not sitting on the sidelines saying "man I'm thinking about starting a podcast". I took action, I did it. It wasn't perfect and it still isn't. It is definitely a work in progress. But I digress....Back to the event.
Deploying the Shoot, Aim, Ready approach, I created The Edge Event. I got some great speakers lined up and I secured a venue. I have worked at pulling something together in a couple months that probably warrants at least six. I'm not an event planner. I've just gotten a bunch of great people together in the interest of helping others. Leveling people up. Bringing them along. I'm excited about it. We are one week out. Could I use more time? Absolutely. But the date doesn't move. The tickets are sold and the people are planning on coming. I couldn't be more excited. This one will not be perfect. I will learn. But the next one will be a little bit better and the one after that will be even better. There are people flying in from different areas of the country, and I couldn't be more humbled that someone would get on a plane and fly to Maine to attend an event that I put together. We are doing this.
When I was younger, and I was working at a millwork company, I went to a one day event specific to the industry. There was a lunch and I was sitting across the table from an older guy. Looking back, he was probably the age I am now, and at the time I was about 20. He said something that has stuck with me since then. He said "you know, for as long as I've been in business, I've never missed a chance to attend an event. I went even when I couldn't afford it, and I went even when I didn't have the time. I always found a WAY". I was young, so I didn't even know what that kind of thinking was all about. But it stuck with me that if this guy that clearly ran a successful business, had that strong an opinion about getting together with like-minded people, then there must be something to it. I don't know why it resonated with me so much at the time, but I guess it was one of those moments where someone says something and you just tuck it away not really knowing that you're gonna need it later in life.
The Edge event is on Friday January 12th. A week day. People work. Life is going on. I know. But let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time you invested in YOU?....in making a better YOU? What is your plan for 2024? Will it be the same as 2023? Will you be happy with that? I challenge YOU. Come and invest in YOU. If you haven't signed up, I would love it if you did. Come and spend a few hours listening to some folks that have dealt with adversity and prevailed, people that operate at a high level. Come listen to what makes them tick. You'll definitely take SOMETHING home with you that will stick with you like it did me years ago. Come find YOUR edge. I promise you won't be disappointed. I don't think we're ever done working on ourselves. I continue to look for opportunities to do that and I'm hopeful this will be that for a lot of people. And hey, who doesn't want to take a Friday off?
I hope to see you on the 12th? Tickets are available at the link below! Come To The Edge!!!
eventbrite.com/e/767957490527?aff=oddtdtcreator
Thanks!
BT
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