Brendon Burchard, Summit of Greatness
Success is the result of practices. -Brendon Burchard
At the Summit of Greatness, attendees asked on repeat, "Who are you most excited to hear speak?" Many would rattle of their top names, but for me - I was unable to name just one. Some of the speakers I had never heard of before, and many I had been following for years.
Brendon Burchard was a speaker whom I was very familiar with as many of my friends and business buddies really loved him. I had never really connected though, as I wasn't a big fan of his presence on the videos on his YouTube channel (silly me!).
However, my lack of connection with him wasn't for not being successful or having an amazing story, journey and impact! Brendon is no joke. He's consulted for and shared a stage with all of the big names: Oprah, Arianna Huffington, Dave Ramsey, Deepak Chopra, Dalai Lama, Sir Richard Branson, Steve Forbes, Tony Robbins, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg to name just a few. Larry King named him “one of the world’s most successful motivation and marketing trainers.”
Brendon was the closing keynote speaker for the conference and as with the others, was ushered in with a ramped up version of Legendary Lane and the amazing drum line. But Brendon ... unlike ANY of the other speakers, brought an energy, an excitement and a ridiculous amount of passion to his entrance. He jumped and danced and high-fived his way down the aisle. He approached the stage and paused for just a second - with his arms raised high above his head, soaking up the audience. Closed his eyes ... and then danced for a full 60 seconds ... using the entire width of the stage to jive with the drummers. In a full suit, I must add.
As I watched him, I kept thinking to myself - boy, was I wrong about him.
He captivated the stage and the audience for 45 minutes - and when I say captivated, I mean it to all definitions of the word. He told the story of love lost, heart break, a near death experience as a teenager, and with humor and passion - the story of a skydiving experience.
His new book, High Performance Habits : How Extraordinary People Become That Way has just come out and he gave us a sneak peek to the six top habits that high performing individuals master (the book released after the conference).
This - my friends - is a game changing book. It isn't about high performance in business, or high performance in your entrepreneur life, or high performance in corporate or ... any of that. It's about high performance in the ONE life you've been gifted with living.
Make your goals an agenda item. Look at them EVERY day. Common sense is NOT common practice. Who do you want to BE? After Brendon's life changing car accident, he realized that he wanted to be able to answer three questions every day. (1) Did I live? (2) Did I love? (3) Did I matter?
He went on to say that seeking clarity means asking yourself consistently, "Who do I want to BE in this specific situation?" The next question he posed to us on the topic of seeking clarity as a habit of success is "What skills must I master to hit the next level?" Interestingly enough, Brendon said that in the massive study and research project he conducted for the book, they realized that strengths alone do nothing. Nothing! It's about skills and master of those skills. Fascinating!
The final question he posed was pointed: "How do I serve?"
KEY TIP / CHALLENGE: Choose three words you want to be known for. If you don't already know them, sit quietly for a few minutes - hand on heart. Think about those you have in your life, and the legacy you want to leave. What three words come to mind? Set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself throughout the day of those three values / traits.
"Don't wait for the energy, you have to summon it." This goes back to the way Brendon entered the theater for his speech. He didn't ask permission, he didn't wait for it. He literally and physically summoned the energy that he wanted / needed. Interestingly enough, I discovered that he was REALLY sick the week of this speech -- you wouldn't have known it. He summoned the energy he needed and said (in a separate interview): "You don't get to choose how you feel when you are in a leadership position, you have to summon the energy necessary for the job."
This next statement he made at Summit of Greatness was powerful:
Brendon shared several examples of high performing individuals and their ability to release tension and instead set intentions. Those that are the most successful in their day, he said, are focusing on mastering energetic transitions. Between events, meetings, projects, intentionally release tension and set intentions for whatever is next.
KEY TIP/CHALLENGE: Next time you are leaving one meeting and about to enter the next, take time to go for a 5 minute walk or drink a glass of water. Stand up and close your eyes for one minute. Or, try Brendon's RELEASE meditation technique (he starts on the "how" at the 6:03 mark, but the beginning of the video is gold).
Success IS required. He again went back to basics and reminded us that his message had nothing to do with business aspirations or entrepreneurial projects but our LIVES. When we go back to step #1 where we realize and seek clarity, we can begin to understand the answer to the question "When is it important to show up?"
KEY TIP / CHALLENGE: Success is required, not an option. It's an absolute must. Suggested read: How Good People Make Hard Decisions by Rushwood Kitter.
PQO = Prolific Quality Output. The definition of prolific is to be present in large numbers or quantities, plentiful, abundant, bountiful, profuse, copius. What is your primary field of interest? What matters the MOST to you? Decide to be ALL IN with that primary field of interest and ALIGN YOUR DAYS TO IT.
[Tweet "Holding yourself back serves absolutely no one. @Brendon Burchard via @naomihattaway"]
KEY TIP/CHALLENGE: KNOW what your field of interest is and align your DAYS to it.
This was the most powerful part of Brendon's time with us at Summit of Greatness. He asked us to put our phones down, close our notebooks and place our hands over our heart. "Close your eyes", he said "Think of the ONE person who has been most influential to you in your life."
Go ahead, try this for yourself! Close your eyes, wherever you are - and think of that one person.
Brendon then told us to open our eyes and said, "That person - undoubtedly - taught you how to think, challenged you and your character, and role-modeled the behaviors and showed you the way."
KEY TIP/CHALLENGE: How consistently are you teaching others how to think? How consistently are you challenging others on their character, their connections? How are you role-modeling for others?
Oh, if only you could have seen Brendon share his story on courage. His version of a sky-diving experience had us roaring with laughter, crying and on the edge of our seats.
Courage means implementing, not intending. He spoke about intentions and the value of them, but real courage comes during the implementation OF the intentions. Impact not intentions. High performers act, they speak up for others, themselves and their beliefs.
KEY TIP/CHALLENGE: Showcase your life ... don't show it off.
After his speech, when I had the opportunity to have Life's Golden Ticket ($1.99 on Kindle!) signed by Brendon, and the honor of a quick chat, I told him that while I'd known about him for years, I felt badly that I had dismissed his greatness. I went on to add that weirdly, I hadn't resonated with him on video (his primary medium/platform I was aware of). I said "I just can't believe I made that bad call, and missed out on so much, just because I didn't allow myself to connect with you and your message early on." His reply?
"I'm glad we've connected now. You likely didn't need all of the previous content. I'm really glad you were here today, and heard my message TODAY. We don't always connect with each other early on and that's ok." He then added, "SO many people tell me I'm remarkably different in person. It's hard to really be ME on video. I much prefer the stage."
Thanks for the lessons, Brendon.
(If you want to see a sneak peek behind the "stage" of Brendon and his tour/speaking style, watch this)
((So fun to find myself at the end of Brendon's backstage/tour video, can you find me below? Watch Here))
