“You start a journey today,” said America’s voice of financial common sense to open the event.
Dave Ramsey invited “an all-star team” of speakers to Houston last Saturday to speak to an audience of about 5,000 on not just finances, but love, life, resiliency, parenting, and more.
Oh, and Chris Hogan was there. Youtube him (that’s a verb, right?). I’ll wait…
Chris Hogan is a wrecking ball in a china shop with Kevin Hart’s comic timing (nice catch by my new friend Tyler who I met at the event) who quickly became my new favorite public speaker.
That’s saying something. I have a high bar for public speakers. Chris Hogan’s a loveable beast with a booming voice, powerful insights, and a ballet dancer’s touch of landing soft steps and beats at precisely the right movements and moments. (I imagine I’m the first to use “Chris Hogan” and “ballet dancer” in the same sentence, but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.)
Between 9:00 and 5:30 at Grace Community Church in Houston, I took 42 pages of notes. I’m not here to review the Smart Conference, but here… here’s my review: Go. Keep your eyes and ears out for it coming to any city, fly or drive there, and relish the opportunity to watch and listen and learn from a team of the best public speakers in the world.
Rather, I’ll run through my notes and share five points that really landed with me while being careful not to share what I feel to be the speakers’ proprietary solutions; rather, I’ll share links to each speaker I feature so you can do further research.
1. “Every conflict we have is either a perceived threat or perceived neglect.” –Dr. Les Parrott
Dr. Parrott, a clinical psychologist in a shared practice with his wife (named Leslie), was our first speaker after Ramsey’s introduction, and he distilled conflict down to one of two perceptions, and I’d never thought about it that simply before.
His suggestions for conflict resolution included an XYZ formula and something he called “sharing withholds.” Look them up. You’ll be stunned by their simplicity, and I’m eager to test their effectiveness with not only my spouse but even my kids and my team and clients.
2. “Retirement is not an age; it’s a number.” -Chris Hogan
Boom. Yes. Of course, but not even that ING Direct commercial with all those people with numbers over their heads hit me the way Chris did.
Hogan says you need a crystal clear vision of where you’re headed. Have a dream meeting with either your significant other or someone who will hold you accountable to moving toward that dream with investing, saving, and WORK. “Numbers change,” Hogan said “when people do.”
Seriously… Youtube Chris Hogan… I’ll wait again…
3. “Things don’t happen to you; they happen for you.” -Inky Johnson
Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t take any notes during Inky Johnson’s talk… not because he wasn’t good, but because he held me—and about 4,999 other attendees—in the palm of his hand with his preacher-like inspiration, cadence, and message.
If you haven’t heard of Johnson, give it a few months… or hours… and I’m sure you will. I’m usually not one for purely motivational talks, but he had me alternately in tears and with goosebumps.
4. “Parenting has become a competition.” -Dr. Meg Meeker
Nooooooooooo… not us, right? Not (as speaker Rachel Cruze pointed out) on social media, right?
How many of us live with children in our homes who see screens more than they see us? Or children on whom we waste both our and their limited supply of energy doing a lot of what they neither want nor need?
Dr. Meeker, an accomplished pediatrician and author, reminded me of two things in her talk about parenting:
- “You need to understand who you are through your kids’ eyes.”
- “No matter who you are, you never have enough time with your dad.”
Oof.
5. “Is there at least one thing—right now—you need to be more serious about?” -Anthony ONeal
Another “boom” moment… yes… yes there is, Anthony.
“Admit your problem!” he said! See it clearly and state it plainly, he said. Get real with it, he said.
Tell yourself, everyday for the next 90 days, “it’s that serious.”
It’s my new desktop wallpaper.
DAVE
*Clap. Clap.* “Change.” *Clap. Clap.*
“Decide.”
Quoting Henry Ford, Ramsey closed the event by simply stating what should be obvious to all of us:
“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Decide. Decide to let clean, healthy things come into your life to begin to wash out the old, toxic stuff.
This is true for your:
- Family
- Career
- Spiritual Life
- Physical Life
- Social Life
- Financial Life
- Intellectual Development
You’ve got baggage? Who cares?!?!
MOVE ON!
“Decide.”
Sure, Dave said, dream in HD like Chris Hogan suggests, but turn those dreams into goals… and that leaves me… and I’ll leave you… with my favorite quote and slide of all.
