There are few things that our team looks forward to more than our Making Things Happen Intensive. This March, we gathered for our one and only intensive this year (a big, but welcome change from our normal schedule), and met a group of women who blew us away by their honesty, passion, and dedication.
If you’ve been to Making Things Happen before or are considering going, you might be familiar with the “I have no idea what this is going to be like, but I am READY” feeling that most attendees arrive with. There’s usually a current of nervous excitement throughout the conference in the hour leading up to our start time. But this spring, something was different. Yes, there was excitement. But the nerves? They were replaced by headstrong readiness and sheer devotion to start living life more intentionally. These women were prepared to dive in!
This year, we welcomed back a powerhouse speaker team. From left to right: Amber Housley, Kristin Winchester, Katelyn James, Carrie Grace, Lara Casey, Randi Smith, Gina Zeidler, Emily Ley, Rhiannon Bosse, Nancy Ray, and Maghon Taylor.
We don’t want Making Things Happen to be a conference defined by speakers talking at you. We want you to do the work right there with us, not when you’ve gotten home and the fire has dulled, or the information has been forgotten. Everyone has the opportunity to stand up and declare what they want to make happen, because we believe there’s power in your voice, and in saying your goals out loud! Another thing we’ve learned? Speaking and standing with open body language. You might be surprised how the simple act of opening up your hands and allowing yourself to be seen and heard will make a difference in the way you feel about your words.
In Day One of the intensive, we dig into the core principles of Making Things Happen:
1. Surrender your fear.
2. Know your purpose.
3. Take action.
4. Cultivate community.
The day is packed with introspection and clearing away distractions from your life. In breakout groups, attendees started to declare the aspects of their lives that needed to be pruned back or tended to for further growth. It’s a moment of clarity and confidence that is followed by writing a note of encouragement to your future self.
We breaked for the day and sent groups on their way to dinner. Afterward, though, attendees were invited back to the conference room for “Fireside Chats” in their pajamas. No, there’s no fire — but it does have the intimate camaraderie and conversation following a life-changing experience. Our Chief Encouragement Officer, Kristin, and our guest speaker, Carrie Grace, lead a conversation among the group to help unwind from the day, process any thoughts or takeaways from the intensive, and offer encouragement for moving forward.
Day Two had attendees bright eyed and ready to go! Tuesday morning is one of our favorite moments of MTH. We see so much clarity and excitement in the eyes of our attendees, new friendships being formed, and fulfilling conversations being had.
One Day Two, we tackled the concept of taking action little by little, defining your why, and setting good goals. Each attendee is equipped with an Action List for them to write action items on throughout the intensive, and a Five Essentials list to help them narrow their focus to things that will help them cultivate the life they want to lead.
Maghon Taylor of All She Wrote Notes, the Southern Weddings team, and Randi Smith of Sugar Euphoria all spoke on growing little by little, challenges and big wins, and doing business with a strong mission at the center of it.
In breakout groups, attendees started creating short term and long term goals. We broke them down into small, actionable steps and anticipated hurdles that need to be overcome.
As we closed out the day, Carrie Grace stood up and read a letter of encouragement to the group.
We ended the day with final declarations — each attendee has the opportunity to voice how they’ve embraced where they are and where they’re going — and a guided visualization of what your life could look like if you surrendered your fear and took action.
As everyone closed their eyes to visualize this intentional life they’re starting, we popped around and left two surprises in front of our attendees! We wanted to give each attendee two of the tools we’ve found most helpful in living more purposefully: the PowerSheets Intentional Goal Planner from Cultivate What Matters, and the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley.
Once the intensive was over, it’s time to mingle! We loved meeting and hugging each attendee individually, seeing the conversations and friendships develop between groups, and to hear more of each of your stories.
This intensive was so rewarding and fulfilling, and we walked away with clarity about our paths forward, and excitement for all of you who joined us! We can’t wait until March 2018 for our next intensive!
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