Mastermind and Connect

The worst part about travel is the trek home.

You just want to BE home. You don’t want to have to go through all the “going”.

And last Saturday in Orlando was a near-worst case scenario.

Often when I attend seminars, you never really know if it will be worth staying until the end. This time, it wasn’t. I should have left on Friday evening even though it would have cost me $300 to change flights.

Instead, I was stuck with an 8pm flight on Saturday night, no good sessions to attend on Saturday afternoon, and a hard checkout time of 12pm. Plus,  the Internet connection at the Orlando airport (that I arrived at 5 hours  before my flight) was really, really weak.

Fortunately, I’ve learned to focus on the positives. There were plenty of things  to walk around and look at (I needed to get up and get moving). I was able to  check-in early.
The Wifi improved once I got past security and up to my gate. I  got a couple of messages from good friends to boost my mood.

I then read a couple of good travel magazines (my brain had checked out of work mode a long time ago). The flight not only left on time, but arrived in Toronto early. I was home and in bed by 11:30pm.

Each time I’m traveling home, I tell myself, no more. Or at least, less.

But then the next day, after I review my notes, inspirations, big “A-ha’s” (and I had a HUGE idea come to me while I was in Orlando), I’m reminded that it is  all worth it. And it is.

Or as Loral Langemeier explained in her talk on Saturday morning, “Successful  people see an opportunity and they GO for it. They play bigger and go deeper  into the circles of success. They don’t hold back.”

Sure it would be easy to skip the events. I know a lot of people that do. People that  think they are too smart for the room. Those are the same people that come up with  all sorts of excuses for not joining my Mastermind.

I’m too busy. I don’t want to be away from ____ (insert reason here). I hate travel. It’s too far. That’s a bad weekend for me. I was away last month. I don’t have the money.

(I get a kick out of it when people from LA tell me it’s too far to go to San Diego for  a 2-day event…and then we have people from Japan and Malaysia that somehow make the time to make the trip. Likewise, we have kids from India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan that travel every year to Lithuania for our Blacksmith entrepreneur camp  because they see the value.)

Listen, your success is up to you.

In most cases, you’ll never fully achieve what you want sitting at home in your underwear. Not even the smartest, most independent traffic-buying gurus (like  Mike Geary) stay at home and operate solo and undercover.

And yet those are the guys that you’d think could get away with being Lone Rangers – after all, they don’t really need to connect with JV partners like you and I do.

But heck, Mike is one of the biggest travelers I know. Last month he went to an  event in Puerto Rico (one that I couldn’t make due to other commitments). Then  he was in NYC for Roman’s book launch party. And I’m sure he’s off to some  cool places to meet even cooler people this month, too.

Mike knows the value of connecting. Mike knows the value of Playing Up a Level  and Going Deeper Into the Circles you want to get into.

Yes, travel is a pain in the butt. Literally. My low back and hip always ‘act up’ from
sitting too much.

But that’s not stopping me from getting on a 5-hour flight to San Diego this week for my Mastermind group, then a flight to Denver on Sunday to visit ETR, then a cross- country flight to NYC to attend a copywriting seminar with Perry Marshall, then back  to Toronto for a doctor’s appointment on the Thursday before jumping back on a  plane to Denver on Friday for the weekend – as we’re filming another LiveCast and doing another product launch.

Like Loral said,I’m seeing opportunity and jumping at the chances.

After a week off near the end of May, I’m back to NYC for the annual Atlas 400 meeting, followed by a week in London and another in Barcelona with Matt Smith and a couple  of other long-time business partners.

As soon as we get back to North America we do not pass go (although I’ll collect a lot
more than $200 from my Internet businesses) but head directly to Denver for ANOTHER LiveCast and product launch (coincidentally for a product on how to create products).

Then, after a few days in Toronto, it’s back to San Diego for my annual TT Summit (which is a legendary event with guys like Bedros, Martin Rooney, John Romaniello, and Adam Bornstein…plus Rachel and Alwyn Cosgrove coming down ‘just to hang out’ on the Saturday).

It will be the toughest event of the year for me to leave…I always get a little sad when
it’s over.

But after that I have a couple of other Big Trips to add to my schedule because there  is great opportunity that I need to jump at. That’s how it goes when you’re committed  to success, achieving your goals, and living the dream.

And you’re telling me you can’t travel to one of our 1-Day Mastermind events or  the TT Summit?

Bah, humbug.

You can. You just won’t.

There’s nothing physically stopping you. It’s all mental. You’re just not ready to  play the game UP a level in the environment you need to be in to succeed.

You wonder why you aren’t as successful as you want to be and then you put all of
your energy into coming up with excuses why you CAN’T chase an opportunity or
go deeper into the circles where you ought to be.

It’s your decision. It’s your WON’T, not your CAN’T.

At least be honest with yourself – and with others – when it comes to what is holding you back.

Let’s get clear on:

a)     What you want to do
b)     What you can do
c)     What you’re willing to do

If the answers to all three of those questions are not congruent, then you will
always struggle.

Period.

And here’s a dirty little secret.

That’s okay and it’s not your fault.

Maybe you don’t really want to be successful. That means you just have to go back and
adjust your answers to A and B based on C. Because the answers to C really determine
your standing in life.

Where you stand in life depends on your decision to jump.

Are you willing to jump an opportunity?

Are you willing to work harder to go deeper into the circles where you want to be?

Are you willing to deal with some annoying pains in the butt?

If you answered yes to all three, then trust me, you’ll succeed.

After all, it’s easy to jump. It’s simple to go deeper. And there are stretches to counter those pains.

But first, it all starts with you saying YES I CAN instead of no i won’t.

Those three words determine your success. They predict your future.

Choose the right ones.

Yes you can.

See you there,

Craig Ballantyne

PS – “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his  goal; nothing on Earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

PPS – We might still have room for you…

…at the 1-day Mastermind meeting that Bedros and I are holding in  San Diego this Wednesday, May 9th.

Email Frankie@keuilian.com to find out the details. It’s $997 and for  serious folks only…the ones who have congruent answers for those

three questions above.

See you there?