Hey, you guys, welcome back to the podcast. I thought it would be fun to create an episode sharing my insights and kind of behind the scenes of an event I just went to with Rich Litvin. If you've been in my world for a while, you know I love Rich Litvin and his book, The Prosperous Coach. I followed his work for a long time, and this is the first live event that I've done with him.
It was super fun, and I got to go with a few of my friends and clients. And it was just like a really fun trip. I kind of wanted to share my reflections. I actually wrote an email to my list about it, but I thought it'd be fun to also share it on the podcast just so you can hear my voice and maybe some riffs about the lessons that I learned. You know, writing, I think sometimes we get one aspect. I think it's more thoughtful, more precise.
And I also wanted to create this opportunity to kind of just share my thoughts in real time about me being the client. I think that that was really interesting for my clients to see and your clients as well if you're a coach, to see like how I am a student and to see my own growth because I am absolutely a student of the work. You've probably heard me say something along the lines of you are your first best, and always client, and I really believe that.
I've always been investing in my own coaching and groups and events and courses and programs and masterminds. This was a really unique one because it's someone that I have followed his curriculum a long time. I found The Prosperous Coach, let's see, in 2019 or 2018 or something like that, and it transformed my business.
So I've been on his email list, I listened to his podcast. I try to go to his webinars and the classes he teaches. And so it was really cool to be in person. This is what I learned from Santa Fe. The first one, he kept saying this thing, like he'd get on stage and he was like, what you came for, isn't really what you came for, and it's looking for the lesson behind.
What's behind the thinking, and he said this, and like my small group leader had said it a few times. And so I was very curious, I'm like, ooh okay, why did I think I came and why I went to the event?
Like I came in with the intention; I was like, I thought I was going to like re-imagine my business. I thought I was kind of picturing what's next, dreaming bigger, like what's the next evolution? I've achieved so many things that were on my business bucket list. What's next? That's what I went in thinking that I wanted to solve for or to create.
But what's interesting is over the course of the few days that we were together, I realized it really wasn't to figure out my next level. I know what my next level is and I know what I want. I didn't need the event to help me get clarity about that. What I really came to the event for was to figure out how to create more space in my life and in my business, which was almost shocking to me because I already have a lot of space.
I only work three or four days a week, part-time. I work 20 hours a week. You know, I already have a lot of space, but it was more about the mental space to create other things. What I've learned, and you're probably going to hear me talk about a lot more, is what I'm going to call multiplier projects; projects that are good now and good later.
I need space to do that. The other kind of thing that rang true for me was something that I read in a book called The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. He calls it “Einstein time” which is where you experience time differently. That's what my brain was going to in the event. I was like oh, I want more time for Einstein time; time that bends time that doesn't feel slow.
It's like I manipulate time and I need the space because time and space are highly correlated. I need the space to create that time difference. One of my other mentors, Dan Sullivan, he talks about making progress with slowing down time. So speeding up progress, slowing down time.
That's how I experience “Einstein time” where it's like my experience of time slows down, but my progress is a quantum leap, and I've experienced this before. I think I'm just on the cusp of whatever that next step is for me. Right now, I feel like I'm leaning into it. And so, the things that I'm taking away, the first lesson is more spaciousness, more time for integration, and then more high-level thoughts will help me get where I want to go faster by speeding up my progress and slowing down time.
The next lesson that I got from going to Santa Fe was the power of working on your business, not just in your business. And this is something that I see a lot as a coach. I give my clients space to work on their business. Sometimes I think it can be so easy to get lost, especially when you're working with clients on their business.
Like you get lost in their business. It's so powerful for us to work on our own businesses. To me, this distinction was I want to get more events and more time and space on my calendar to work on my business. What was interesting is I do this on a micro level. I spent a couple hours every week on my business, but I was in a different state for days, working on my business. And so it's not just I won't take away my hours during the week that I spend on my business, but I'm seeing the need and the desire for days at a time, like a big chunk of time to be creative, to work on my business, to dream, to connect the dots in different ways. That's something that I'm definitely going to be integrating going forward as well.
Number three, I said observing is good for confirmation and contrast. This is what I think is interesting, I love Rich Litvin and I don't agree necessarily with everything he said. Not like, oh I disagree, but I was in agreement with a lot of things and I was like, oh I would teach that differently, or I have a different perspective.
Both were valuable for me to observe in myself while I was observing Rich because one of the things that I teach my clients is that contrast creates clarity. I think it's useful to have contrast. Like, how would I do this? How would I say this? Even if it's different than one of my mentors, it's useful for me to know how I think differently, how I am differentiated, my unique perspective, my unique approach, and things like that.
I think putting yourself in situations where you can observe neutrally the contrast and the confirmation is useful for your growth. Even if you like super align with your mentors, and this is something that I've always told my clients, I'm like you can align with me in so many ways, but I promise there are distinct differences in how you would teach this, how you would live this, how you would say this, and that's what makes you unique in the marketplace.
It's good to have alignment and it's also good to have contrast. It's so useful because that's where you get your unique insights, that's where your ideas really come to life, and you stand out. So when you observe your mentors, like I said, I was noticing myself do this, I was observing for agreement, but I was also observing for where would I do this differently.
Number four, golden nuggets come from beyond the curriculum. This is what's really interesting to me. I love thinking about my thinking. Like I said, I read the book, The Prosperous Coach, years ago, and I've read it multiple times since then.
Maybe a dozen times, truly I don't even know. It's a book that I've read so many times, and so his curriculum and his content is not new to me. I didn't go to the event for more content. I really wanted the application. And I think that Tony Robbins says this, he's like knowledge isn't power, using your knowledge is. Like applied knowledge is powerful.
So when I went into Santa Fe, I wasn't hoping to learn his curriculum. I already knew his curriculum. I already know The Prosperous Coach approach. I often teach aspects of The Prosperous Coach approach in my own way, and I've embodied this for myself in such a deep way. It wasn't really like I wanted more of his content, what I really wanted is to watch him help people apply it.
This is kind of a funny side note, in groups, I am very shy. I never raised my hand to get coached. I didn't ask questions, I just observed. And that's kind of how I am in groups, which is why I often will tend to gravitate towards my own one-on-one coaching because I can't hide.
In groups, I tend to hide. Not that's not even the right way to say it. I don't feel the need to speak up in groups. I don't feel like I'm missing out. I don't feel like I need to say something or have questions. I observed a lot. In my small group I would contribute because small groups are kind of like my favorite place to interact with groups where it's like I can know everyone's names and I feel more comfortable speaking up and asking questions, but as far as like the massive group that, I think there's like 120 of us in the room, I just don't feel the need to raise my hand and ask questions.
I was happy to just observe. And so what's interesting is watching him answer questions, watching him coach, watching him handle some spicy situations with his clients in the room, I learned so much from the application and the integration of the work, not just the content of the work.
In general, this is what I think makes coaching so valuable. It's not just content. It's not information. It is about the application, and that's where transformation comes is like when you actually use the information in a very specific personal way to make a change in your life or your business.
And so watching him do that live was very valuable to me. I'm a really good client and student. So I took every coaching, like how is this for me? How is this the answer to my questions? I don't think I had to get coached to get coached. I think that was a really useful way.
If you're in a group, if you're in my group, if you're in the matrix, this is true for you too. Even any group, it doesn't really matter. Looking at it as an opportunity to ask yourself, how is this for me, opens up a doorway where you get your own answers and you make your own connections and have your own “aha” moments that are completely useful to you.
Cause sometimes this is what's interesting, I've found that information can be super interesting, but not necessarily useful for what I'm up to. And this is why developing a strong filter as you consume content, even people that you love. This was the other thing, I think it's fascinating to follow mentors over a long period of time because it's not new, and yet it lands new.
So some of the things that I heard Rich say, I have heard him say dozens of times on his podcast or in his book or whatever, but it landed differently because it wasn't about information. It was about the application. It was about transformation, not just learning more. This is why I fell in love with coaching in the first place because I feel like it was a beautiful intersection of ideas, which I love, and human behavior, like my human behavior or my client's human behavior or my kid's behavior. It's like the intersection of knowledge and change. That's why I went to the event was to figure out: one, how can I be a better coach? How can I be a better leader in my company? What's my vision? Two, someone I respect and like how he runs his business.
He teaches word of mouth, basically coaching business, and I've always built my one-on-one clientele that way. I deeply resonate with how he teaches it. And so I wanted to put myself in a room where I could see the application on a deeper level, and because I'm not the same person. I have some clients that have been with me for years and it's not that I'm necessarily teaching them something brand new all the time, but we do go deeper and it lands different because they are different and I am different. So even if we're talking about the same thing, it lands in a more powerful way because they are continuously growing and evolving.
I don't think reading one book one time or getting coached one time is the game. To me, I've always been interested in wisdom and I think wisdom has a depth to it where it's like you continuously grow and evolve and apply the knowledge in new and powerful ways. And that's what I felt from Santa Fe.
Those are my lessons from Santa Fe. I had a lot of fun. I had never been to Santa Fe either, and it's a really cute town in New Mexico, and I enjoyed my time. And it's interesting because it's been a few weeks since Santa Fe, I continue to process and to remember and to write down ideas that originated while I was there.
And so I think it's really useful to get out of your norm. I didn't say this originally, but I want to add it. There's working on your business at your desk and there's working on your business in a new place. I will say both are useful and that's kind of what I was hinting at with creating this time and space away from my business work on my business.
I think traveling is going to be a part of that. And this is why I do VIP days with my private clients because even if it's just not in your home, even if it's just like down the road or like somewhere new, it gives you an opportunity to think differently and have more creative ideas come to you.
If you have never gone to a conference or you've never gotten out of the house and worked on your business, try it. Even if it's like going to a local coffee shop or going to the park, and ideally, maybe getting in a room with other people who are like you. It's very, very useful and worth your time.
I know it was for me, so those are my lessons from Santa Fe. Thank you for listening to this podcast, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
