What Three Conferences in a Week Will Teach you #60
April and October are challenging months if you speak as well as attend conferences. It seems they are great months with no big distractions like major holidays. Though we have Spring break and Halloween, they don’t seem to slow the conference organizers from scheduling in late April/early May or October through to the 30th.
This year I had three major conferences land in the same week. While I love to learn and am an extrovert, three seemed to max out my ability to process all I’ve learned, all I want to apply, and the energy reserves I pride myself on having.
The work to do now is to digest it all. Part of writing this helps me to sort and categorize some of the immediate lessons. I’ll be sure to share many of the wonderful lessons throughout the blogs in the near future as well.
Clear take-aways from my conference adventures this week are:
- I need to make the time to review my notes and to dos within 7 days to retain as much as possible. I’ve already done so once, I’ll do so to extract the gems, future ponderings and to do’s I may have missed the first time through them.
- I need to incorporate art back into my life. I’m pondering including an easel and canvas in my clarity breaks. As an art major with degrees in both studio arts and graphic design, I bumped into my either/or thinking this week when it occurred to me, I don’t need to wait for the “next phase of life” to get back to that hobby. Thank you Eric Wahl.
- I love music. That’s not new, but I’ve limited my passion for it in the mornings because I live and work with people who don’t enjoy that kind of stimulation to start their day. As a result, I’m missing my own version of caffeine and joy to jump start my day and headphones, Alexa and other means will allow us all to be happy – duh!!! Thank you Eric Wahl.
- I need to evaluate the number of days/hours I will dedicate to those things I love and am great at, those things I like and am good at and delegate everything else. Once I have those hours/days, saying “no” is what remains and I will continue to learn to be great at that. Thank you, thank you, thank you Gino Wickman.
- I need to continue to improve on my listening and micro-messaging. I will actively do so and practice daily. Thank you Michael Allosso.
- Continue to work at being disciplined, reminding myself structure breeds creativity and possibility. I am ready for the next level of my own intentional design in life.
- Eliminate those meetings, people, clients, events and tasks that I don’t genuinely look forward to, bring joy, raise energy or feel impactful.
- Surround myself with dreamers and doers, those whose attitude and energy is positive, contagious and forwarding.
- That what our little team is up to is meaningful, on the right track, matters and speaks to a large number of people and we’re onto something!
- That no matter how much you learn, kindness is significantly impactful. Thank you Rhoda Olsen.
- There’s always a ton to learn and I enjoy the buzz, meeting people, learning together and ending each day silently and quietly escaping to my room when the din of the noise is crescendo-ing.
- That no matter how good it was, how much I learned or how much fun I had, I can’t wait to go home.