Lessons From My First 10 Years at the GLS
Day One of the Global Leadership Summit was a huge win. I thought the speakers were phenomenal, and a few of them seemed like they were speaking right into my soul. I always find it crazy when the perfect message hits us at the perfect time.....just when we need it most. That was my experience yesterday, for sure.
As we were waiting for the conference to begin yesterday morning, my friend Dan and I were discussing our key takeaways from the conference over the past decade. Since this is my 11th Summit, I've thought a lot about this topic. Therefore, I'm going to share the three main lessons the Summit has taught me over the years. No, these aren't lessons shared by specific speakers. Rather, they are lessons I learned about learning. This applies to the Summit, but through a broader lens, I think it applies to life as a whole.
Lesson #1: Be humble. We can't learn new things if we think we already have things figured out. I noticed this about myself during the first few years of the Summit. For whatever reason, I'd go into certain talks with an "I already know this stuff" posture. That's a sure-fire way to get nothing out of it. It's a great way to stay stagnant and remain right where we're at. Eventually, I recognized that I can learn something from anyone......period. It doesn't matter their education, experience, age, or discipline. If they have a pulse, I have something to learn from them.
Lesson #2: Less is more. In my earlier years attending the Summit, I wanted to walk away with dozens of new ideas and takeaways. I wanted to learn everything and change my life in 100 different ways. Then, I learned the hard way that trying to do 100 things is a great way to do nothing. Change is hard enough, never mind several changes at the same time. Instead, I shifted my goal to latch onto 2-3 key ideas and takeaways that could transform my life/business. That simple shift in mentality changed everything.
Lesson #3: Application. Sure, it's great to learn new things: conferences, podcasts, YouTube videos, books, online courses. There are countless ways for us to learn new ideas and skills. One thing I recognized early in my Summit days was a disconnect between how I felt immediately after the Summit vs. one month later. I learned all these new things and somehow thought that was enough. It wasn't! Ideas stuck in our brains do no good. Instead, we need to apply our learnings to our lives and business. We need to put one foot in front of the other and do the hard work. It's only then that we get to experience true impact.
That's my strategy heading into day two of the Summit. Be humble, find a few key takeaways, and apply them effectively. Regardless of where you're at today, I encourage you to do the same. Principles to live by!
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