Between days 49 and 52 in Barcelona I hit several milestones, including of course our 50th day here. I ran my 100th mile, had my first Break the Fast, and attended my first Entrepreneurs Organization chapter retreat in Barcelona. Learn about these experiences and the several interesting conversations I had during this time.
Day 49 – Learning About Personality Testing
Started the day with my Spanish class as usual. Then met Rob Toomey for a coffee in Sarria. I took the time to learn about his background and his business. I truly enjoyed it. I learned all about personality testing. His company, Type Coach, has created a step up from the traditional Myers Briggs test both in the testing and the software they build for teams. In addition, their secret sauce is teaching people how to read other’s personality type to determine how they can communicate with them more effectively and change their approach if necessary.
He was a past big firm lawyer who had enough of that life and decided to become a coach after a coaching firm presented to their law firm. He remembered thinking that he could do better. Over the next year he moonlighted as a coach until he and his wife, Carly, decided to take a leap of faith together and start their own coaching business. Lots more exciting stories about their journey, but you will have to wait for him to write a book about it.
After the coffee, I walked to the gym and got my daily dose of pushing myself. I am now starting to do chin ups and pull ups which I stopped over a year ago. It is like starting at square one again. It just reminded me that anyone you see who is in great shape constantly works at it. Once you get to your ideal level, you don’t just stay there without work.
It is the same with running. In order to run a long distance you need to do it regularly so your body is used to it. Of course, it is the same with your mind and business. If you take a year off or check-out in your job, it will be that much harder to get back to where you want to be mentally.
I had my weekly huddle with my company when I got home, and then my weekly coaching session with Sigalle, Lawline’s COO. The main theme of our discussion was how do we get out of our comfort zone as a company in 2020. That is the best part about writing The Fast Forward Mindset, it forces me to eat my own dog food.
It was Jonah’s actual birthday so that night we had a birthday dinner for him and ate left-over cake from his party. We got him a mini skate board!
Day 50 – 100 Miles of Running
Day 50 was a milestone for me in terms of two important things. It was our 50th official day in Barcelona and I surpassed over 100 miles of running since we arrived. I did this with my longest run of 8 miles to the top of Montjuic & back. When I went there with Jonah on our day of fun (See Post), I said I will run here one day and check it out. I helped myself by bringing a granola bar and water to give me the boost of energy I needed on mile 5, for the uphill journey back to my apartment.
When I first arrived in Barcelona the most I felt comfortable running was 4 miles. On 50 day of running I doubled it. Keep in mind that is with lots of uphills!! I am exploring the city and getting a decent workout in. What could be better?
Later that day I had my monthly company meeting where we went through what worked well the past month, as well as what needed improvements. From there I had several partnership calls and then met my family out in Turo Park.
We were lucky enough to meet our friends there and decided to go out to dinner together before Yom Kippur started. The meal went great until a plate broke and the kids were so loud the owner had to come up to us towards the end and ask them to keep it down. We decided that was a good time for the kids to leave with the moms and it went from a 10 out of 10 in sound to a 2 out of 10. I just assumed the restaurant was loud as a whole, but nope it was just us. Whoops.
Another fun day in Barcelona.
Day 51 – Break the Fast
The highlight of the day was being invited to our friend’s apartment and having a Break the Fast meal with them and many new friends in Barcelona. The conversations and of course the food was great. What I have enjoyed about many of my conversations the past 50 days is either we dive deep into what brought them here and that leads into many interesting sub-topics, or we talk about travel. Where they have been and where they plan to go. In both of these areas I get energized. That is always a good sign you are talking about the right things.
With one guy I talked to him about a TEDx talk he gave that has about 500K views, just a wee bit higher than the 630 views on my TEDx. The main focus of the talk is how most people only know a subject on the surface, but how they go around making decisions as if they know it in and out. His talk and that the conversation were right up my alley.
There were about a dozen or so kids there wrestling and screaming and destroying the apartment. We put on a movie and it once again went from a level 10 in noise to a 2. Glad to see them having so much fun with their new friends as well.
Day 52 – Entrepreneurs Organization Barcelona Chapter Retreat
This was a big day for me. It was the day of Entrepreneurs Organization Barcelona chapter retreat. Most of the chapter headed to a hotel near Montserrat (45 minutes from Barcelona) to do some deep learning and connecting with each other. For me it was important because EO was a big driving force that gave me the confidence, and the knowledge, to move to Barcelona. Up until this point, I had only met about 8 other members of the chapter.
We arrived around 9am and right away I liked the setup with about 30 people sitting in a circle configuration in a big room with huge glass walls. The hotel was on the top of a mountain which gave the room amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the valley in the distance.
First, the chapter president spoke. She did a lot of housekeeping and handled it well. Having just come from being president of the New York chapter, I know how tough this job can be, especially in these situations. I have to admit it was nice sitting as a member and not in the president role.
I half expected everyone to go around the room and introduce themselves, but then she introduced new members and it was just me and 2 other people. Got it. Everyone knows each other already. The rest of the day was designed around working with 3 coaches on how to center ourselves, handle conflict, & actively engage with others. At one point, we even went outside and did some serious training to fight with a stick.
I remember thinking, here I am in the mountains in Spain, with 30 awesome entrepreneurs, being taught by very high-level coaches and it only took me 45 minutes to drive here.
At dinner, I sat next to Conor Neil. The cool part of that was I actually knew who he was because the year before I reached out to him. Sarah Endline invited me to Regional Leadership Academy in Williamsburg, VA meant for EO chapter leaders. I was hesitant on if I should go as I do each time I have to leave my family on a trip. I googled Warren Rustand who was leading the retreat. I then found a video of Conor talking about his life changing experience with Warren. I was sold after the video and signed up for the retreat. And yes, it was life changing for me, including at one point when I cried uncontrollably. I will save that story for another day.
In fact, because we have Facebook friends in common, Conor also admitted he had seen my recent blog post and new all about our recent trip to Tarragona, Jonah’s bday, and so forth. He felt more connected to me as a result. If I had TEDx envy the night before, Conner’s TEDx talk has close to 1.5 million views!
I dug into what I enjoy most and proceeded to interview him throughout dinner. It was as if no one else was around and we were on a TV show. He has started and been involved in 6 businesses of various sizes and industries. He also is a major speaker and booked all around the world. He has been in the Barcelona chapter for 8 years or so.
Another cool interaction of the day was when one member came up to me to thank me. She said she just hired the chef that my family uses for an event. Knowing I did not talk to her about it, I was a little confused. She told me she read about it on my blog and then spoke to our friends who recommended the chef to us to get her name. Now it makes so much more sense why the chef was thanking me last week!
I started the day as a stranger to most and felt great now to have so many new friends and connections.