Last month I invested in a trip to Chicago and spent four days with peak performance coach Tony Robbins.

 

If you don’t know Tony or his work, he is worth knowing. He grew up in a household with very little money, often experiencing holidays with no food and a rotating door of four absent fathers.

 

His career took shape in the early 1980s as he walked on the beach, 40 pounds overweight, listening to the rock tune “Barracuda,” and feeling a big change was needed.

 

At the age of 19, after working with other legendary speakers like Jim Rohn, Tony’s path of success included conducting seminars, radio shows, writing books, and coaching.

 

Wikipedia reports Tony earned more than 30 million dollars in 2007, and that he has coached Serena Williams, Donna Karin, and Greg Norman, just to name a few. If that’s not enough, this spring NBC picked up eight episodes of “Breakthrough with Tony Robbins,” a reality show that follows Tony and participants as they battle personal challenges.

 

I’ve been a fan of Tony’s for years. I’ve read a few of his books and seeing him live was an item on my wish list. This year I decided I was going to do it.

 

A while back, I saw Tony on NBC’s “Today” show. The segment touted his web site so I checked it out and signed up for his emails.

 

I receive them often enough, but not on an obnoxious schedule. They’ve always been inspirational and have a deliberate business purpose. Most include a video of him, which I’ve found to be a great way to disseminate information and sell product. I’m definitely going to start using video when Oddpodz relaunches in few weeks.

 

TR sold me. The last email video message mentioned his upcoming Unleash the Power Within™ event to be held in Chicago.

 

I signed up. And not just as an attendee. I purchased a Diamond class ticket for an additional $1000. Why spend the extra bucks? Because, 1) I deserve it (which I know sounds like a Saturday Night Live segment with Jack Handy) and 2) If you are going meet other high achievers, it shouldn’t be in the nosebleed section. The extra fee was well worth it. Not only did I meet a ton of very cool, got-it-going-on people; the choice seating and no-wait entry zone is the only way to go.

 

By far this event was one of the most enjoyable, inspirational things I’ve done in my adult life. And I would highly recommend it to people looking to take their lives to next level of success and happiness.

 

The event was held at the Radisson in Schaumberg, IL, which is one of the nicest convention properties I have visited. It is very contemporary; hip, and energizing.

 

The event attracted over 3000 people from 18 countries. It was four packed days of incredible content, inspiration, and networking.

 

Tony was completely amazing. His nonstop energy and conviction were invigorating, and for me the fact that he and I were born in the same year and same month was my magic connection. I have to admit, there were moments during which being his age made me feel like a slacker.

 

Then I had a dose of reality. I am definitely not a slacker; I just need to amp up my standards and goals a bit this year.

 

All four days were extremely intense. There was lots of jumping, yelling, dancing, and loud music, and tremendous energy flow.

 

I learned some fascinating methods for controlling the mind and managing the body. And there are sessions that the wussies should not apply. Breaking old and bad patterns is very personal. While the event includes a big room of people, the exercises are very intimate.

 

If you ever take this journey, wear running shoes and bundle up. The room is frigid. In fact, I heard they kept the temperature at 58 to keep everyone alert and focused. It worked for me.

 

The first day Tony introduces human concepts about how most of us live; embracing our values and needs, thus creating the results we have. He then walks though those same situations and demonstrates how people can achieve different results by breaking old patterns, changing their story and mastering a deliberate, strategic state of psychological and mental being.

 

While none of this is new, breakthrough science or even a foreign language to most, it is presented in a way that can alter one’s thinking and beliefs and produce meaningful change.

 

My mind was in very good place when I arrived in Chicago. While the economy has challenged all of us, I had a very good year and continue to make excellent progress on my road to higher success.

 

My agenda in attending this event was two-fold, 1) observe a fellow master speaker and business authority and 2) further develop my success package. I took away both.

 

As many of you know, part of Tony’s Unleash the Power Within™ program is the infamous fire walk.

 

This is where sane humans prance across several yards of smoking-hot, burning coals while their fellow higher achievers and some tribal drummers chant on. And most don’t burn their feet.

 

Including me.

 

I’m not disclosing all the details, because the ultimate experience comes from participating in the journey; but I will tell you, it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had.

 

Being with thousands of complete strangers, in 37-degree, raining and windy, freeze-your-ass-off, brutal weather and achieving this scary-as-hell task was freaking remarkable.

 

Some highlights the event taught me and Tony Robbins teaches so well.

 

• Fear is the universal poison. But there are ways to leverage it and manage it to achieve happiness and success.

 

• Your past does not equal the future unless you choose to live there.

 

• The one word to sum up success is progress.

 

• Your mind and body are amazing success and happiness alleys. Master them both.

 

• Proximity is power.

 

• Start now. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

 

So, did my fire walk experience unleash more of my personal power?

 

Stay tuned and you’ll see for yourself.

 

Countdown begins, as we get closer to the re-launch of Oddpodz. I promise you, the wait will be worth it.

 

If you’d like more information on attending one of Tony’s events, reach out to my pal This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it at Robbins Research International, Inc.


Whoever said “No pain, no gain,” obviously had a few start-ups and small businesses under his or her belt.

The past few months for Oddpodz have been a period of growth and transformation. We are happy to report, we are still moving forward, however, we’ve also had a good share of “OUCHES!”

 

We have struggled through a frozen economy.

 

We have danced with investors and fundraising gurus in “not-much-action-for-pre-revenue-deals” funding market.

 

We have squeezed 18 hours of productivity out of 8-hour work days with a limited team.

 

And we have kept smiles on our faces, when inside we were often scared and freaked out.

 

If being an entrepreneur—starting and leading a small business—is in your life path, put your thick skin on and embrace the ability to let challenges not defeat you, but drive you forward.

 

Progress and change are essential for business success. But when you are a young and small enterprise they also bring several suitcases of uncomfortable side effects.

 

For almost a year, Oddpodz knew our Web development company was not the right fit. They were not a bad company, but our needs and budget and their needs and budgets were miles apart. We didn’t make a change because the interruption and anticipated new expenses outweighed the acceptance of sluggish service, spending more than we needed to for hosting, etc., so we just carried on.

 

For nearly eight months, Oddpodz has been operating with a half-tank of gas too. Running a community, marketing, producing content, managing a site, and still earning a living to fund a pre-revenue producing company requires a full tank of dedicated resources.

 

No matter how creative and passionate we were, this combination was not going to take us to the Promised Land. In fact, it was likely moving us closer to the end.

 

No matter how painful it was going to be, change had to happen.

 

We needed a new, responsive, affordable Web partner.

We cut our ties with our old dev firm and found a new resource. They are 3by400. They are Joomla specialists, (Oddpodz is build in Joomla), they have a track record of social media and ecommerce successes, and most of their clients are our size; small, but with potential to scale up quickly. Today we had our first strategic planning meeting with Brent, Kim, and Beth. We heard about many new applications and solutions and are looking forward to enhancing our community platform and site with their expertise.

 

We needed an additional dedicated, strategic partner, and contributor.

If the one lone founding partner was to lead and fund the company’s growth, at a pre-revenue stage, we needed another social media- and business savvy entrepreneur to add to the team. Rome or any city of stature was not built by one person. We drafted a very comprehensive position description for an ideal community manager. We placed it on high traffic social and job sites and started the process of finding Oddpodz a new community master. Ultimately the winning candidate came through a Twitter post. His name is Keith Burtis. He is a balance and mix of techno-dude, market maker, and creative wonder. He resides in my old stomping grounds outside Buffalo. Oddpodz is ecstatic about our new relationship. We will share more about Keith soon, but just know that there are lots of exciting and new things around the corner for the company and you.

 

Yes, all this progress is exciting. But with it comes time-consuming, brain-stretching, and investment-needing stuff too.

 

Turns out our old site was pretty cobbled together with lots of out of date applications and workarounds from a programming team that was no longer anywhere to be found. In fact, Joomla 1.0 had no support and the hosting and IP change caused many features to not transfer or function.

 

Yikes! This kind of progress hurts a lot until you start reaping your first season of fruit.

 

Our new community master is awesome. Smart, thoughtful, and creative. His presence feels like a double shot of B12. And once our immune system gets strong again, we are confident there are no marathons we won’t be able run.

 

We know many of you fellow entrepreneurs are feeling this stress too. Here are five tips to help you manage through your progress and change too.

 

1. Stay focused on the big things that matter. Answering every email and looking at vendors’ offers when you don’t have the time or resources to invest in them are a huge waste of time.

 

2. Amp up your efficiency, in everything you do. Put instructions and expectations in writing, start every meeting with an agenda, and utilize productively tools to maximize the hours in your day. While this takes time, it saves a lot more in the end.

 

3. Keep your standards high and don’t compromise because you are feeling beat up or frustrated. This will, in the long run, produce better results.

 

4. Do not worry or obsess about things that you cannot control or are in the past. Channel your unequivocal energy on finding solutions that get you closer to your goals.

 

5. Make your physical and mental fitness regime a top priority. Exercise daily, stretch, meditate, and take deep breaths often. Eat right and sleep enough.

 

 

In this time of change we are doing our best to support and grow our community. What types of things can we do better? What types of features would be valuable to you?

 

Until next time

Thank you for your continued support, your visits, time, and suggestions.

 

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

Last week we posted some cool, valuable and FREE productivity tools. I’d like to comment with a follow up thought. Yesterday, I started my day at 7AM and turned off my computer at midnight and as I lay in bed, I asked myself, “what big, meaningful items did I knock off my list today?” And, the list was decent. It included: a billable project (always good), a proposal that needed to be written to generate new work (always needed) and another weekly category of FREE Biz Findz, which is directly tied to my dream and mission. So, at the end of the day I felt productive, positive and energized to score even bigger results for the following day.

 

So how did this happen?

 

4 specific things I did to have a truly productive day?

 

1. Don’t take calls throughout the day. I didn’t take calls while I was working. I checked my phone in the AM and at the end of the day.

 

2. Pick your friends and time commitments carefully. When I friend of mine called to invite me to a holiday event, I politely declined. The event was with people that are not my prime target and honestly hanging out with this friend is starting to feel like waste of time, too. Nice person, but does not add anything to inspire me, or accelerate my life course. I know this sounds cruel and maybe selfish, but decisions and time commitments with friends need to support your dream or they too be become time suckers.

 

3. Treat your body and mind well. I exercised for an hour and didn’t drink too much wine the night before. Both of these actions produced better and more ideas and results.

 

4. Take a break from the computer. Think and write the old fashioned way - on paper. 24/7 staring at a computer screen will make your nuthouse invite arrive early.

 

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She is has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos, Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com, an idea engine for creative professionals and business. Her work has benefited large and small organizations in the United States and around the world.

Do you ever have those dreams where you’re still at work? I do. Never the good parts, only the seemingly hopeless stressful parts.

I worked in the service industry for years, waiting tables and bartending to get through school and pay the extra bills. One dream I will never forget was my odd currency dream. When I delivered a drink, the customer gave me a hundred dollar bill. I had to go get change (causing me to get even more behind…) and when I returned, he was furious. He said, “I specifically asked for my change in a $38 bill, an $18 bill and two $9’s.” I spent a good portion of the rest of this dream trying to deal with someone who was asking for things that I could not give him. It was like we were living in two completely different realities.

I remember this dream even years later because my feeling of helplessness and frustration was so acute. Since then, I’ve experienced many times in my career as a designer when I felt I was being asked to perform a similarly impossible task. Or, as one of my instructors used to say, to try to put the Gettysburg Address on a business card. And sadly, no matter how much you may be attached to simplicity and negative space, you’ve got to make it work. So, what to do?

Ask questions. Get to know what your client does in far more detail than your initial consultations can provide. What are the lesser known details of their industry? What is their audience? (And do they actually have a grasp on what it is?) What are their goals beyond the scope of the project you are working on?

You might come to find that the $38 bill really does exist to them. You’ve just never heard of it, and all you needed to do was understand more about where they were coming from to get it. Or, you may discover that what they have asked for initially is not actually what they need. (I don’t say this in a “designer always knows best because other people don’t understand my creative vision…” way.) If you think there is a better method for them to meet their goals, offer suggestions. The worst that can happen is you still have to complete a difficult project but with a much greater understanding of your client. And the best is that you collaborate to come up with a creative solution and in the process develop a relationship that will last longer than one individual project.

Practice some design Zen. I know, I know people throw the word “Zen” around like it’s going out of style. But it really does have some value in this situation. The goal is to do what you’ve been doing, only with a completely different understanding of it. As the lecturer Genro Seiun Koudela says, “…the mind has a chance to quiet down. You get away from this habitual way of thinking, and discriminating - judging good, bad, unpleasant, and so on.” I’ve occasionally caught myself thinking things like “I can’t do X, it’s not the way layout (or logos, or whatever) works…” or so on. Don’t fall into that trap.

While I’m practicing design Zen, I like to assume that I already know the answer top the problem I’m facing, I just haven’t given my my mind a chance to tell me about it yet. But I know it’s in there. This allows me to deal with “blocks” without loosing too much sleep about it.

I know you have some suggestions to add to the mix.