A life-changing weekend!

 I boarded the plane on Thursday to head to West Palm Beach, FL, with KK and my girls giving me a sendoff at the airport.  I was sad because I knew I'd be meeting something special by being gone. 

 Gabbi kept telling me that she wanted to ride on the plane with me... talk about a dagger to the heart!

 Todd the Bod had already planned to be  out of town on a golf tournament.  So, that left KK in charge.  And as it was, Monday was Ellie's "first" day of kindergarten.  I write that in quotes, because I refused to acknowledge it as her OFFICIAL first day or I couldn't have stood it! 

 JinJin agreed to take her to school, gather the necessary paperwork, and head home.  NO Facebook pics.  NO big hullabaloo.  I wanted this experience to be with me!  And so, mom did just that.  They went in, took a few pics, sent them to ME, and headed out.  Today, there was no school.  Tomorrow is the REAL first day of kindergarten!!  And we have already laid out the outfit, washed the hair, prepared the backpack and packed all the school supplies. And now.. about MY trip.

 For starters, it was quite expensive.  And a real commitment; one that I made in February or so of this year.  I did not know exactly what I was getting into.  I have been a studier of leadership since my Poppa started sending me Zig Ziglar cassette tapes in the SIXTH grade!  I liked this topic then.  And I LOVE it now.

 Most of my studies in the last 10 years or so have been in the books by Dr. John C. Maxwell.  I LOVE the simplicity of his writing.  And he just makes so much SENSE.  I flew into Palm Beach International Airport to get the party started!

 There were 500 like-minded people in the room, all there for personal growth.  Many being personal coaches, international speakers, trainers to huge corporations.  And then, me.... I think maybe I am on the entrepreneurial side.  But, not (yet) in the "industry".

 I can see that in my future.  I love people.  I love to meet people.  I love to invest my time and energy and life into other people.  And that is SOOOO the John Maxwell philosophy. 

 The way it starts is by taking these new learning models/ books and  bringing together groups of 8-10 people who have the desire to learn and grow.  I have the John Maxwell materials to facilitate these people into a deeper self awareness.  To try and explain what I learned this weekend would be ABSOLUTELY impossible!

It was one of those kind of things that was life-changing.  And what, ideally, I would do is hole up for about a week and marinate in all the new information I gained. 

 I seriously do not even know where to begin.  But, I have my first three groups of masterminders set up.  One will be my leaders/ directors at MMPT.  I have to share what I've learned as soon as possible.  We've set up our first event next week.  And then, I just mentioned it one Facebook, and I have the next 8 set up for a women's group.  They are all my friends, so I think it will be good "practice", as I should be fairly at ease with these girls. 

 The thing that impressed me in the last lecture we had this morning was the idea of the aspiratonal level of awareness which is that level (of health, professional/ financial, spiritual, family, and more) where you hear, "I'm going to..." or "One of these days, I am planning to..."  or "I'm fixing to...."  It is about aspiring to do something.  And really, there is only MOVEMENT.  Movement forward.  If we stay put at the aspirational level, and nothing happens, then we start blaming... "not enough time", "not enough money", "I can't work out, I am needed at home with my kids", and immediately we slip down in levels of awareness to animalistic.  At that level, we just blame.  We say everything we do is because of someone else.  For instance, someone cuts you off in traffic, and that's all you can talk about or think about all morning long.  That person has control of your thoughts and feelings.  How sad is that?  I am in control of my thoughts, actions, and feelings.  I should never say, "He makes me so mad".  Or "She has ruined my whole day.."  That's really sad and says nothing for my level of awareness and ability to master my own thoughts/ life. 

 With that, I decided to make a few changes.  And more importantly to take a little ACTION!  Our life is ticking away.  What am I going to do with every day?  I went with no idea how I would use the information, and I was asked many times about my passion.  I am still struggling with this answer.  Because, I seriously feel like I get passionate about all kinds of things.  Therapy, business, art, teaching, mentoring, my kids.. all of it!  And  would love to figure out how to mesh all these things into one.  I was talking to KK today and asking her what SHE thought was my passion was.  After much reflection (another biggie over this past weekend), she said, the common denominator, as she saw it, was people.  Hmmm.

 I have an idea.  And I think it will be a BIG idea.  I am going to treat you as my "focus group" to roll ideas off of.  How many of you are really interested in personal growth?  I mean, who really wants to know more about leadership?  mastering your thoughts/ attitude?  communication with connection?  how to become a person of influence?  And putting your dream to the test.  All of these areas are based on Dr. Maxwell's books.  The very ones I've been reading and studying for years. 

 I'm not being rhetorical.  I really want to know what you are most interested in.  I have SO many new platforms I could use.  I started a book today that really, really fires me up.  It's premise is that how you plan and stick to your daily agenda is ultimately how your entire life will look.  So, what you do day to day will manifest in your life's level of success.  WOW.  I'm thinking I need to get myself a day planner! 

 I'm not even going to go back and read all this that I have written to make sure it all makes sense.  It was like everything that dripped off their tongues, for three days, was gold.  It was just so rich and inspiring.

 So, you can see I have been a little detained.  I am sorry I had to skip the blogging.  I thought an iPad was the solution.  Apparently, it was iStupid of me! The run of the mill laptop would have been the ticket.  But 'm back now, and will have lots of new things to share in the near future. 

 Ok, so who thinks I am a nut?! 

Maybe so, but my Poppa would be so proud!

MO