I had an absolutely amazing time at the meetup, and wanted to corral the lessons learned into one post. I am curious to hear what other aha moments people left with- and how they plan to implement them. Here are a handful of pivotal moments that I had during the meetup (I'll write more about how I intend to implement these ahas in the near future):

- Know your numbers. Most people that were there that were successful had a background working with numbers and tracking expenses and income. The faster a person can develop this skill, the more likely they will be able to hold onto success once they achieve it.
- Measure your data points. I was so blown away with Cactus Wren and Snowbank with the level of analysis that they were doing. I suppose the cliche is true: if you can measure it, you can manage it. Start measuring everything you can think of to chart progress- or so can adjust to move toward progress.
- Be perceptive. What is working for your competitors and what isn't. What is working for you and what isn't. Adjust when needed. Jill's topic on an ebay business (along with pictures!) illustrated this beautifully.
- How determined are you? Lots of people put in a couple of hours, maybe 10-20 hours a week on developing a business, and they think they are really giving it their all. Snowbank and Jill showed the time committment necessary to get them to where they wanted to be...and it was about triple than what I mentioned.
- Choose your company wisely. If life's a journey, who are your traveling companions? Around the World and her husband are an amazing team. Hearing about how they tag teamed challenges and brainstormed solutions made me realize how much I crave that- and how important it really is.
- Pay attention to what go into your head and comes out your mouth.
- Be humble, teachable and approachable. I was so impressed with SteveO, Russ, ATW, Andviv and MJ (to jut name a few) as to how they embraced all three of these characteristics. They were easy to be around, were interested in what other people were saying and asked questions at every turn.
- Be at team player and not a lone wolf. This is something that I have always struggled with, but will begin applying in my life.
- Think Big. Why focus on thinking small as a stepping stone to thinking big? (i.e. focus on the small deals as an accelerant to the fastlane.) Focus on how to think and act big now and reverse engineer it.
- The Y factor. Talkintoy pointed out this wonderful concept that he calls the Y factor. Basically for the first 18 years or so we are dependent on our parents (moving up the "stem" of the Y). When it comes to time move on we branch one of two ways. To the left is self-employment of some kind, to the right is employment. The more we progress up the Y, the harder it is to jump the chasm to the other side.
- There is no comfort zone in the fastlane. SteveO brought this up, and that was really profound for me. The fastlane is a mindset that is about achieving goals, and moving, um, well, fast.
- Timing is never right. Utilize your time well. Don't take a year to do what can be done in a month, don't take a month to do what can be done in a week; don't take a week to do what can be done in a day; don't take a day to do what can be done in a hour.
- There is no magic. You need to run with your idea. There will be roadblocks and detours, but you have to keep your eye on the finishline- if you don't you only have you to blame.
- Hell is where God shows you all the gifts He gave you that you didn't develop. This came from LegacyDad's presentation. This one hit hard for me, and really lit a fire under me.
- Self-development is part of the game. In order to get to where you want to be, you will need to fine tune your attitude, and really spend time on introspection, as roughly 80% of success is mentally thinking that you can on a continual basis.

Some of these lessons I had been exposed to before, (and often times they just sound cliche) but actually spending time with people who were living these principals really re-enforced them. ...Some of the fastlane lessons that I gathered were more subtle. For example, seeing SteveO's apartment tour was interesting- but the lesson for me, was more of seeing that a down-to-earth guy like SteveO could achieve on a massive level. Or, being around the group and realizing the common threads between the most successful members, (sense of humor, positive attitude, working for the betterment of each other) are often times a conscious decision that over time become a habit (which makes it looks like they are just naturally that way).

Those are some nuggets that I walked away with. What did you glean from this get together?