Best Practices On How To Prepare For Big Events

You should make sure that if you say yes to taking someone's investment, or you say yes to stepping foot on someone's stage, or you say yes to zooming in on their call, that you are giving them the best version of yourself. It'll pay long term dividends all the time. And it's what people deserve.

And we're back with another episode of He Said, she Said.

Feel like every time I say and we're back, I'm always like, in Arizona and then in Newport beach and then in Wisconsin Lake House. So we are once again in another location. We are at our Newport beach home. How good does it feel to be back here?

Let me just tell you. I am that person who loves moisture in the air. So I am obsessed. Like, I just feel good here. You know when there's some spots in the world that you just feel good? Like, I know for a lot of people, like when they go to Maui, they're like, oh my God, I just feel different. Like, I feel that here. Yeah, for sure.

Here's what I love. It's the kind of place because it's so condensed and there's so much energy and so much going on. It just forces you and the weather's so good that it just forces you to be like, let's get out and explore yesterday. Okay, I'm pulling out my phone right now to find out what the real accurate number is. Yesterday we went for a walk, left the house, didn't really know what we were going to do, ended up walking through the outdoor mall and down by the beach and everything. We put on 9.6 miles. Yesterday, walking.

It's like my dream Sunday, like literally just to wake up and say, you know what, let's just go explore. And wherever the wind takes us, like, do we want to go get a fruit bowl over here or do we want to go down by the water? Do we want to go pick up, you know, some new tennis shoes that we need or whatever that looks like? It's like unlimited possibilities because it is so condensed, which is amazing.

And for me, like, that's part of my preparation for when I run my masterminds, right? I put my all into running my masterminds. And so literally scheduled out is the day before, the first day of math, has to be totally cleared and just full of relaxation and joy. And for me, you know, some people relaxing might sound like laying on the couch. For me, it's just wandering in nature and being inspired and having that space and no phone calls, nothing like that. So yesterday was like the perfect relaxing day before I get into Mastermind we week. It's like my favorite week, by the way.

Okay, you guys. So I wanted to let you guys in on the preparation that goes into not only creating a Mastermind, but what does it look like the week before or going into it. How do you prepare? How do you make sure that you're facilitating an incredible room? How do you even just hold all of the stress and the ideas, all of the things? So, Chris, tell me about how you prepare for Mastermind Week and how would one even put it on if this was something that they decided they wanted to do?

For me to answer this, I want to answer it in the context of giving things that everyone else can do for big things that they're going into. So if you guys have a one day event that you're doing, if you're speaking at someone's event, if you're running your own Mastermind, or if you want to be running some type of event or Mastermind, if you want to have your own stage one day, if you want to run an online summit, like whatever you want to do. A lot of these best practices I would consider adopting because I'm going into my sixth year of running the elite Mastermind and there's been a lot of refinement in there and a lot of trial and error on a personal basis that allows me to show up in the best version of me, in the version of me where the cup is just pouring over so I can give to everybody from the part that is totally pouring over and that there's enough to give to everybody, you know, because in that room there's about 30 different seven and eight figure earners and they deserve, you know, it's no small investment and they deserve to get 10 times their money back or more in terms of value from me. And so I have to show up as the best version of myself each time that we have a Mastermind week. And this, that's what I've been working on, really refining. And that's the approach, you know, if you take anything out of this, that's the first lesson right there. You guys, once anybody invests in you, or when anyone asks you to be on their stage, even if you're doing an hour keynote, you should make sure that if you say yes to taking someone's investment, or you say yes to stepping foot on someone's stage, or you say yes to zooming in on their call, that you are giving them the best version of yourself. It'll pay long term, dividends all the time. And it's what people deserve.

So how are you preparing to become the best version of yourself? First of all, for in this room? And how do you take care of yourself while in the room?

Okay, so it starts with what we did yesterday. I make sure I clear the whole day prior to Mastermind week, so I can just do things that I want to do that will fill me up with energy that will also be simultaneously relaxing. That means eliminating phone calls, eliminating meetings, eliminating access to other people. It's just you and me and Bananas the Sheepadoodle and making sure that I'm getting that one day of full recharging in my soul more than anything else. Like me being happy for that entire day before I go into this thing.

You know, the cool part was, is I watched how you kept that day clear. But also yesterday on our walk, like, you got massive clarity for your intro. Like how he's going to open everything up. And it's so funny because I think that people look at people who run events or masterminds and they're like, they must have that planned out six months in advance. And honestly, all of the ideas for kind of like the intros or like the little segues, yes, you have your content planned, but all of those little moments that you really want to impact people with, those come right beforehand. It's the weirdest thing. Like before my big events, Lindsay Schwartz told me before this last event, it was like day before. So you got your idea yesterday as well?

Yeah. So we've had the three theme plan for this Mastermind for four months. We knew exactly what we wanted the theme of this one to be because this is our second week with this group that, you know, we've been together for almost a year now. So we've had the theme plan, but the opening, like what I'm going to say to deliver that theme, how I'm going to make sure everyone gets that punchline that came yesterday in creating all that space. Remember I grabbed my notes and started typing them down and all that. I'm like, oh my God, this is it. This is what I'm opening with. And it's kind of neat to have the long term plan that you're attached to, but not the granular things. Some of the granular things you need to clear space for them to come to you so that they're really organic in the moment.

I promise that's right.

And that they're real time.

So don't stress about them long term. They will show up like the night before or morning of.

Yep. So a couple more things I do to make sure I'm the best version of myself. I don't drink for a couple days leading up to the Mastermind. And then I definitely do not have a cocktail while I'm at the Mastermind. And by the way, everyone around you is having cocktails. Right. We throw big dinners and we do cool events and all that stuff. And I make sure that I do not have a cocktail, like, in my system until the very last night when we're celebrating, everything is over. Because again, I need to be not 99% sharp, but 101% sharp. They deserve the 101% version of everything that I've got. Not the 99 or 96 or 90% version, because I have this little asterisk back here. I'm tired or I'm lagging a little bit. And that wasn't always the case. I used to think that, oh, they want me to party with them at the dinners in the evening. They want me to have drinks with them. And actually sometimes just like, oh, good, it'll take the edge off the nerves of, am I doing a good job or not? But now I make sure it's totally out of my system going into it and stays out of my system until we're all done. So I can serve everybody.

You know, you might think, like, I mean, it doesn't really hurt anything, but at the same time, it's like you want to be able to access those.

Thoughts and those memories and those stories.

Like, at the drop of a hat, like. And sometimes even just one cocktail makes you not sleep. It makes you a little bit groggy. So, yeah, this is definitely what I do whenever I'm speaking and hosting as well.

Yeah. You may think, oh, gosh, you know, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt anything. Guys, if you're giving people 98% and you could have given them your full hundred plus percent, then it is hurting. It might be a small little couple percent here and a couple percent there, but it adds up over time and people feel it. And even if they don't feel it, they deserve your 110% version of yourself or they're going to go elsewhere. That is the truth.

Last night. Go for it.

Yep. I get good sleep. Last night I slept almost nine hours. The night before that, we slept almost nine hours. So I make sure that I'm really well rested going into this thing. And then I think the most important part is I'm not the one running around doing the last Minute preparations, setting up and all these things. And this is very important because even when the budget was tighter, when you were doing Bliss Project, I don't know if you remember, we did a really good job of saying, nope, we need to separate Lori from the running around and setting up the day before. This is where I'm so grateful for my team. You know, we've got Dakota, our events manager for several years now, Nick, our coo, Taylor, my assistant, and then Girl Squad photography. They're all setting up, they're all collaborating every time for a couple days beforehand. They're already there at the venue as of yesterday and it doesn't start until this evening. And me not stepping foot in there. And they do a great job of answering questions themselves among each other. They don't ping me with a question unless it's an emergency. They know that I need to be fully, you know, able to just step in to. All right, it's showtime. Let's go. Let's give everyone my best. And not running around putting out fires last minute.

No, I just want to share. Like there definitely in the beginning when we were putting out events, we were the people setting up and taking things down. But the events were either much cheaper, were not for as long as short term speaking, things like that, but for something this high level and intense, you absolutely want to be having somebody else take the wheel for you.

But there is a lesson here. I know you're trying to include everybody and that's good because that is in the very, very beginning. You gotta set it up yourself and take it down yourself. But the message here is find a way to not be doing that as soon as possible. People let that go on too long. Yep. Sometimes you can get volunteers to do it, you guys, because they just want to be in the presence of everybody else collaborating. So trust me, it is your mission to pull yourself out of that part of it sooner than later. Most people, they spend too long doing that, thinking they're saving a little bit of money.

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Now I think one of my big questions for you, if somebody wants to put something like this on, what does that structure even look like? Like, how do you put together content for the outcome that you want?

This is what I get really passionate about. You know, I always say I do a good job of putting this mastermind together. If everything they need for that one year that they join is in the room or one introduction away. So I'm always trying to make sure that it is a very diverse group in the room and we select who gets in and who doesn't. But beyond that, the way that I then further their connections and further the fact that they're getting what they need is because I'm intimately involved with each of them as the year goes on, I'm not. Here's my pet peeve for other masterminds and to each their own. But this is my pet peeve. Most people say, oh, I've got a mastermind week or weekend coming up. What friends are available to come and teach? And that's the wrong approach. The right approach needs to be, what do I know the group needs right now and how can I make that happen? Who's the expert I need to ask to come in? Who is the person that I might need to pay because I don't have that relationship with them yet, to make sure they can teach on the thing that I know the group needs right now? Who's that one connection, you know, four, five, six people in the room. They need X, Y and Z. Who's the person that can really deliver the X, Y and Z? And so I curate the speaker list, the teacher list, with such intention, starting months ahead of time. And that's tough, by the way, because the bigger the speaker, the shorter time they want to commit. Meaning I can't reach out to some of the people who are coming and speaking at this mastermind, even though I know I need them. I can't reach out to them three months ahead of time and say, hey, in three months, would you put this on your calendar? Because they say no, because something bigger and better or more important for my business might come along, but circle back to me three weeks before it, circle back to me two weeks before it. And so what I do is I build redundancies. I have my number one choice that I really, really, really hope can come and teach because I know the group needs their expertise. But then I've got a backup teacher who also would be good at teaching that on my radar, that I know I'd be able to say, hey, would you ever come with a couple weeks notice if the first choice can't make it? So you walk that fine line because they won't commit too early. They want to wait till last minute. But you can't just all sudden not have someone to teach that particular thing. And this is where other people's groups, they do it differently. They're like, oh, well, so and so can't teach. I'll just find out what other friend is available. And that's not how I roll. The way I do it is I know the group needs X, Y and Z. I'm going to find someone that is an expert at teaching X, Y, and Z because the group needs it.

So what are the main points that you always hit on meaning like, okay, so you teach things effective for their business. And you also, though I notice you curate groups that make sure they use each other not only for answers, but for connection and trying to make sure that they get the answers that they need. So how do you kind of like, curate that connection within the participants?

So we do a great job of breaking down any walls that people may have up. You know, there's extroverts in the room, there's introverts in the room, and there's people in between. We make sure that nobody can hide. Right? If you're an introvert, you can't hide. If you're an extrovert, you're not going to dominate. So we create these really intentional exercises, starting with how we start the mastermind to make sure everybody is forced into being included, but also feels included, and that everybody has their safe container to be included in a way that feels good to them. Does that make sense? So I'll give you an example. Every time we have an opening night reception, I typically gamify some kind of question and answer where they have to go around while they're having their cocktails, while they're having their hors d' oeuvres and ask specific questions of each other, knowing that the answers to those questions will have to do with something that'll get them prizes later or get them pretty cool privileges or perks later. So that's one example of making them come out of their shell, ask questions about each other, learn more about each other, and also take it seriously because it's really going to affect something later that they're going to want. That's number one. Number two is we add a whole extra day to our masterminds, where we take them off site and we bond them through challenging things. We've had them scaling rock walls and we've had them doing, you know, group exercises where they're on scavenger hunts across the city and they got to do little challenges at each, you know, stop. We've had them. Well, you know what, this is going to come out after this mastermind starts this week so I can reveal what we're doing here, they have no idea. The theme we picked a few months ago was putting the fun and magic back in their business because we knew they needed it. And so where else who's done that better than anyone else is Disney. So they don't know. But tomorrow they're getting on a bus first thing in the morning, and we're taking them to freaking Disneyland, right? And they've got, like, front of the line passes and a whole nine yards. And we've broken them off into groups, and they have intentional questions to ask each other in those groups as they wander around Disneyland. Questions like, where could you put the magic back in your business? Or where do you see Disney merging fun and business? Things like that as they're experiencing the park all day? How fun, right? So it's super intentional. And here's what's neat. They come back from that day so bonded because they don't choose what groups they go off. And I put them in groups so I make sure that they're meeting new people. They come back so bonded. They come back with new friends, they come back with new business partners that the rest of the time that we're learning, the few days after that, they're cracked wide open, and they're collaborating with someone who they didn't even know five minutes ago or they didn't know them on this level five minutes ago. So, I mean, I'm telling you, the experience is so intentional. It's not just, hey, get in a classroom. I hope you learned something. It's, we're going to make sure that you guys are learning from each other first and foremost, that you're helping each other first and foremost, that you're bonding with each other first and foremost. And then we're going to put knowledge on top of that.

Okay, so we talk about these things and curating these things and going to these things, because, number one, they changed our lives. And we curate them. And just by curating them, they change our lives. So by being at them, they completely change our lives. And then by curating them, they also totally change our lives. So, Chris, tell me the impact that some of the masterminds that we have joined have had on you. I know specifically Lewis Howes, one of those masterminds, was just one of the biggest launch pads and accelerators of your life.

Well, I've got two of them. You know, I had bought the domain name for the love of money.com for $18,000 when I wanted to start my podcast, except I sat on it for a year and you know, you'd always kind of tease me, like, hey, remember when you spent 18 grand on a domain name? Are you ever going to do anything with it? And it's because I was making convenient excuses that, well, that's important, but other things right now are more important. But the fact of the matter is I would have kept putting it on the back burner despite making that financial commitment to it for some unknown reason, until I got into that mastermind years ago. And the group, when we did a group exercise, said, okay, you know, what do you want to bring to life? And I said, yeah, I've got this thing. And I bought this domain name. They said, great, by when? And as I was like, oh, you mean you want a date? I got to be accountable. And they said, great, what are the. What's the first step to get there and when will you do that by? What's the second step? When will. And they mapped out the launch of my podcast and they then made sure as a group that it launched on time. And actually it launched sooner than the date I had set because of being at Matt. And something that was for an entire year, despite spending that money on it, just sat back burner. And I don't know if that would have come to life because we had enough other things that we could say, oh, this is important going on at that time. So that's one example. Another example though is, you know, Matt, my business partner, now in building this peer to peer lending app, he, his tech team, all of these things that are making the app go so much better and so much smoother than it would ever go on my own. I met him at a mastermind, an entirely different one, right? First in Boston, then in the south of France, and we developed this great lifelong friendship starting a few years ago. And then because we had that friendship, I was able to say, hey, buddy, you just sold your tech company for, you know, multiple nine figures. What are you doing next? Because I've got this dream and I need you to help bring it alive. And now he's my 5050 business partner. So things like that wouldn't have happened in my life. The podcast brand, my business partner Matt, this new app that we're going to be launching, all this stuff wouldn't come to life without the support of a mastermind. What about you though? Do you have any that stick out for you?

Every single one of them, something huge came from because exactly like what you're saying, the people hold you accountable and you set a deadline within the room. If it's being curated well, which the ones that we've been a part of have been curated so well, where you don't leave without setting what you're going to do next for that next one. And do I always hit them? No. But do I hit some of them? Yes. And even if I hit one of them, I've moved forward far more than I would have on my own. Because people create accountability. It's just the truth. High level people create accountability. You don't want to disappoint them and you don't want to show up in that room full of excuses.

Trust me, it's the peer pressure. But said in a good way.

Said in a good way, right?

These are your peers. And when you're in a room full of successful peers that you know are going to follow through on advancing their goals, you don't want to be the one that walks into that room and says, I didn't get around to it, because you don't want to show up that way. So that natural peer pressure, among the other ways that they help hold you accountable, that alone is either you build it yourself or go join it to get that peer pressure, because that's the best pressure on the planet. All right, guys, well, listen, appreciate you letting us kind of rant on how we get ready for big events. I hope that you take some of these things to get ready for your events, whether you're speaking for an hour, whether you're running something for an entire week. I'm telling you, the way that you conduct yourself when you show up for other people is what will either make or break your brand and your dreams long term. And so take some of these cues from the preparation, from the details that go into it, from the intentionality. Don't take the shortcuts, go all out, spend the extra money, get the extra team, do those things. Because I promise you, your lifelong vision comes true. Bigger, faster, stronger when you do. And if you want to get in the room, by the way, all you have to do is go to Chrisharder Me Mastermind. It's for anyone whose business is going to be earning more than $500,000 in 2023 as first come, first serve in terms of those who fill out their application. So go to chrisharder Me Mastermind. Check it out. Fill out the app. When you fill out the app, we get on a zoom call to make sure it's a good mutual fit for you, me and the group. Again, Chrisharder Me Mastermind or just DM me on Instagram, ask me some questions. I love having conversations there.

Bye, everyone. Until next time. Have the best week ever.

Love and appreciate you. Sat.