Digging Deeper: My Experience at the John Maxwell Live Certification Program
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the John Maxwell Live Certification Program - and what an event! I spent March 7-9th in Orlando, Florida with 1000+ individuals who were showing up to become more impactful leaders within their jobs, their organizations and their families.
While I have known about John Maxwell and appreciated his work around leadership for years, about a year ago, he kept popping up in my email and social media. After further research on the certification, someone I didn't know from the John Maxwell team peaked my interest more and then I sealed the deal by talking to a friend from my Women in Christian Leadership group.
It's hard to explain, but I wasn't necessarily interested just because of getting certified. There was something in my gut that told me I needed to put myself in that room...to be encouraged, to meet other like-hearted people, to be challenged to grow, and to be in closer proximity of thought leaders who could help me raise my game.
While we were in Orlando, and the hotel, and hotel amenities inside and out were beautiful...most of us were heads down and focused on growing personally and professionally for 3 straight days. There were over 1500 people there, depending on the day, and while the crowd could feel somewhat overwhelming, it felt inviting and safe. They have a saying "welcome come" and while I didn't understand that when I got there, I understood it and felt it when I left.
This wasn't as intimate as many of the other certifications that I've received but there were opportunities to make it more intimate. Whether that was connecting with other people and following up and staying in touch with them to further build our relationships, or signing up for the mentoring program which invites you to go deeper with mentors within John Maxwell - and I did both.
I was fortunate to get to travel with a friend and meet other friends once we got there. While we didn't spend the entire time together when we were there, the gift of being there together is what we get to do with and for each other now that we're home - accountability and encouragement!
We all walk away from events like this with different experiences and aha moments. While I appreciated all of the content because I'm a life long learner, my biggest takeaways were:
1.) The importance of me putting myself in rooms and experiences like that regularly so I can be filled up and encouraged to be able to pour more into other people.
2.) Being reminded of my self-worth and the TRUTH of who I am because of the gifts God's given me, and that I have everything within me to accomplish all I'm called to accomplish.
3.) I don't have to do it alone.
I'm sharing this with you to remind you - take time for you! To be encouraged by others, to continue learning...because when we've stopped learning, we've stopped fully living. Allow yourself to be supported and know that you don't have to do this thing we call life, alone.
If something is calling you, and it's in alignment with who you are, even if you don't know the deeper why yet, trust your gut, say yes and figure the rest out later!