Why? Well, it’s Las Vegas. Okay, I also went there to throw a tweetup and hang with the other entrepreneurs attending Ali Brown’s Shine Event.

After 5 days in Vegas, here’s what I learned:

Sometimes you need to do it with your eyes open.

The first “event” after arriving in Las Vegas on Wednesday was arranged by my friend Alexis Martin Neely — a yoga-ish tantric-ish bodywork-ish class facilitated by Alexis’ friend Charu. Don’t ask me to explain what this class was, I am totally not the woo-woo girl who knows about this stuff (yes, I own yoga clothes, but it’s for wearing on laundry day, not actually doing yoga).

Bottom line is that this class was designed to get this small group of women back into ourselves so we can access the power & truth in our bodies.

After working with us for a while, we each paired up with another woman in the group and did exercises which involved extended eye contact. This totally freaked me out.

Not because it was a way to really connect with another person (I’m totally into seeing other people’s stuff) but because it involved letting the other person into my stuff. Whoh.

Here’s the thing, I have a history of doing it (ahem) with my eyes closed to keep the other person at a bit of a distance, to maintain the artifice of who I think I appear to be.

So standing right there, with that woman in front of me, I decided frak it, I’m keeping my eyes open.

And I kept my eyes open for the next 5 days. Strangely, people seemed to still like me. Or at least they didn’t run away screaming.

Maybe I shouldn’t get used to having fans.

Something weird happened in the last 6 months. From some magical combination of making transparent videos & sharing TMI (too much information) on twitter, I became a famous person.

Okay, not an actual famous person. More like famous in a tiny tiny little world. I don’t know, maybe to like 5 people or something.

What I mean by “famous” is that people know me, really well, who I don’t yet know back. Not that I don’t want to know them … I just have not yet connected with everyone who feels that they have already connected with me.

So when I had my pre-shine tweetup on Wednesday night, not only did people actually show up (whew!) but some of them came to see me. Well, I’m sure they also came to talk to other people, but they wanted to connect with me in person, since they had seen my videos, followed me on twitter, or been on my list, and already knew me. Except I didn’t know them. Yet.

And let me tell you, that’s really strange. People I don’t know asking me to be in a picture with them, or just wanting to introduce themselves & say how much I have helped them. Awesome, yes. But really, really weird.

At first I thought, well, I have to get used to it. Get used to being a famous-in-a-tiny-tiny-world person, so when I’m an actual famous person, it’s easy. But the thing is, “getting used to it” might involve expecting it. Getting jaded. Holding myself up over the “other” people. Gross.

So never mind re getting used to it. I’m just going to get okay with being freaked out about it.

And, I’m going to keep connecting, keep engaging, keep nurturing the relationships I have with my tribe. So the next time I hook up with them IRL (in real life), it will be, well, less weird.

I am already awesome.

On day 1 of Shine, we were supposed to fill out a worksheet to figure out what needed to be done about our business and lives.

Question: how are you frustrated about your business & life?

Answer: Objection, question assumes facts not in evidence. (Sorry, inside lawyer joke there.)

Answer: My life & business are awesome.

Any frustrations I have are little things (my computer not working fast enough, the Starbucks chick forgetting to stir my mocha, etc.) that are easily moved through or solved.

And that’s huge. Every other year, I had a whole list of reasons my life & business sucked. But for the first time, I realized that they don’t. My life & business are freaking awesome. And whenever they aren’t, I immediately take action to make them so.

Really, that was worth the price of admission.

Knowing that I don’t need anything. Knowing that I’m already kickass.

Now that is freaking awesometastic.

(coming soon – part two, including: “If it worked yesterday does not mean it will work tomorrow” and “Bullsh*t does not work on social media.”)

Did you go to Ali Brown’s Shine event?  What did you think?  I want to hear from you — leave a comment below.

Related posts:

1. Speaking, Bullsh*t, and Billionaires: Post-#Shine Wrap Up pt 2
2. Magic, Energy & Ecstasy Outside the Seminar Room: Post-#Shine Wrap Up pt 3
3. My Fav iPhone To Do App: Awesome Note (video review)

Here’s a photo of my group:  from left to right – Sandy Grason, Sandra Martini, Andrea Blackwood Harriott, Alexandria Brown (head coach), Jane Button, Carolyn Ellis, Fabienne Fredrickson, Toni O’Bryan, Valerie Hayes, Jayne Brodie, (yours truely) Elizabeth Potts Weinstein.

Our mastermind group has a few components, including monthly meetings by telephone, a yahoo group for us to exchange emails, and we get six 15-minute coaching calls with Ali.  But the core of the group benefits are the meetings we have three times per year.

At the meeting, each person gets 45 minutes to do whatever they want – to discuss particular issues or problems, to go over a business plan or new project idea, or to just brain dump a bunch of ideas and see what the group thinks.

During my session, I went through my current plans and asked the group some specific questions.  I handed out a spreadsheet I had created that summarized all my marketing campaigns and my product funnels, and we talked about my target market and the group asked me to identify my passion.  But the biggest part for me was just that the group made me focus on what I wanted to do, stop doing what I "should" do or did not enjoy, and help me figure out how to spend my time for the next 9 months. 

Listening to everyone else’s presentations was very helpful to my own business — new marketing ideas, new wasy to spin my current offerings, and new ways to outsource work.  Our head coach, Ali, also gave us some "insider-only" information about what she does in her million-dollar business, what works for her, and what she has changed to triple her income in just one year.  And then at the end of the meeting, we went around the room and each person said what they are going to do by the next live meeting (90 days) and by the next telephone meeting (10 days). 

This Mastermind group is a great balance of working with a coach and working with a group.  There’s a clear leader to pass on information, give her opinion, and keep us on track.  We also have the collective wisdom and experience of a group that provided more valuable feedback and ideas than any one person (no matter how great of a coach one person may be).

Ali launches her 2008 platinum mastermind groups at her next Online Success Blueprint Workshop in November.  You can learn about the OSBW at her free preview calls – see you there! 

Related posts:

1. My Mastermind Group Reins Me In
2. 4 Things I Learned from My Mastermind
3. There Is No Group. (aka Why I Might Drop Dead.)