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The epigraph from Jim Kwik above seems truly apt today. I write this exhausted from weeks of preparing for our annual conference. Tack on the five days of the conference itself and a workweek closing as many open loops as possible before my vacation. I’m currently sitting in an airport lounge in JFK preparing to leave for Spain. R&R commences in T-minus 90 minutes. Yay! But I have one last task to complete.

Our annual convention is always an educational smorgasbord and this year was no exception. Family Reunion 2024 featured a star-studded lineup of speakers, including Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Codie Sanchez, Rory Vaden, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, and Phil M. Jones. We also curated over 200 breakout sessions and panels on every topic imaginable.

Imposter syndrome defeats more entrepreneurs than competition. No success arrives without setbacks. Every leap forward is preceded by pratfalls, private and public. 

On the eve of our annual convention next week, I’m revisiting one of our most popular posts on getting the most out of a training event.

The world doesn’t need a new way to set goals. What we need is a way to have a relationship with our goals. Pile up the literature on to-do lists, resolutions, “SMART” goals, and business plans and you could blanket the planet a few times over. Good luck finding guidance on how to keep striving toward those goals. It’s probably simple economics like selling pickaxes to prospectors instead of lockboxes to successful ones. Hoards come searching for gold while few find it.

I was recently listening to Steven Pressfield, one of my favorite authors, on the How I Write podcast with David Parell. Discussing inspiration, Pressfield shared, “There's a thing in Kabbalah that above every blade of grass is an angel saying, grow, grow.” I love that. It’s both beautiful and encouraging. And it got me thinking about the personal and professional relationships that serve as my angels. 

Many years ago, I stumbled upon a PDF of Charlie Munger’s famous 1994 speech at USC. In it, he championed the idea that with 80 to 90 timeless mental models you could better navigate the world. This inspired me to create a list of models I believed mattered in early 2018. I often draw from that document for these articles. Almost six years since I began, I’ve assembled exactly 80 mental models. Many were learned through costly mistakes I’d rather not repeat.

Among the biggest challenges of leading a team is the gap between what you say and what they hear. Somedays the gap feels narrow. Others it can seem like a chasm. You did what? That’s one reason we recommend weekly accountability meetings with staff. Whether you botched the delivery or they fumbled the reception, it’s hard to get too far off course in 7 days. These weekly meetings serve as weekly course corrections, coaching opportunities, and celebrations.

Author Michael Lewis applied to be a tour guide for a boutique travel company when he was graduating from college. When he arrived, the owner said, “I don’t have time for the interview because they’ve just told us we need to move our office furniture around. Will you help me?” Lewis agreed and they spent the next hour rearranging the furniture. The owner called him the following day to say he’d landed the job. Turns out each applicant was given the same story. One would move the furniture out and the next would move it back. The owner wanted to know what the applicants were like in action, how they collaborated, and, most importantly, how they handled the unexpected.

Anson Dorrance may be the best coach you’ve never heard of. As the head coach of the University of North Carolina (UNC) women’s soccer team, he has claimed 21 of 41 NCAA women's soccer titles. No other program has more than three. Famed UNC basketball coach Dean Smith once declared, “This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them.” When I worked on Mia Hamm’s book, Go for the Goal, I got to hear about one of the keys to the team’s success –  the “competitive cauldron.”