They Say it Makes Me Weak. I Disagree.

Many people have told me not to be so open and vulnerable in these notes to you because they say it weakens my leadership position. I say that's BS. You know why? Because I believe that the new-school of leadership doesn't just show you their good side, they show you all sides. So here goes....nnI haven't written you all week because I was feeling a little depressed. The reason is because our last sold-outnOut Of Your Mind Immersion was the best event I have ever put on. The feedback was absolutely amazing!nnWhy the sad face then, you might ask?nnBecause while the event itself was very powerful, the Pay It Forward idea was an utter failure. You see, the only way we could put on these life-changing weekends for just $77 was because we expected people to make a donation at the end of the event to cover the costs and give us some padding to fund the next one.nnIt seemed like a good idea, in theory, except for the fact that it flat out didn't work this time around. Only a handful of people in the room paid it forward and we ended up loosing a ton of money. Ouch!!nnAfter a solid week of meditation, I'm finally in a good space around this so I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some extremely valuable life lessons that I've gathered from this experience.nn1) Nothing is ever anyone's fault. I'll be honest, for the first few days after the event, it was so easy for me to project my judgments onto the group. But the more I sat with it, themore I saw all the ways that I could take full responsibility for what happened. We scheduled the weekend right after taxday. We told people there was no expected donation amount. We made the enrollment fee so inexpensive that anyone couldattend, even if they didn't have any money. All of these thingscreated the outcome we received and nobody else is to blame.nPeriod. BTW, you can apply this same logic to EVERYTHING in life.nn2) If you don't get the results you're looking for in life, be willing to detach and try something new. You can plan, and prepare, and execute flawlessly, and things still might not turn out the way you expected. The questions to ask yourself are: "What can I learn and how can I change?" Be willing to answer honestly and then go down a different path. Life is a game - play it wisely.nnThese are not easy lessons to learn. In fact, they are downright painful. That said, I also know that big risks yield big returns. Sometimes they are positive and other times they are negative. Regardless of the outcome, the game of life requires you to look deeply, observe quietly, and change dramatically. Keep playing and you are destined to pass GO and collect your $200.nnAs always, I would love to hear your thoughts. (I do read all of them!)n nMuch love,nnMax SimonnFounder & Chief Enlightenment Officer (CEO)nwww.getselfcentered.com