Recently I volunteered at the LA Swim Week runway show, but before I tell you about that I want to rewind just a bit.

Throughout the spring, summer, and early fall of 2023 I missed a large number of events due to talking myself out of attending. I knew they were happening and I had no real reason for not going other than my own insecurities.

Fear of rejection, impostor syndrome, tons of self doubt, and maybe even a little fear of success. It's too far away, the ticket is too expensive, I won't know anyone there, I don't look like everyone else there.

Whatever the reason I allowed myself to miss out on opportunities I knew I wanted/needed to be at. This lead to making a commitment in late fall 2023 to attend the events in 2024.

In 2023 once the event was over and I would see all the posts on social media recounting the amazing times I would have a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and wish I had gone to the event. I was done with that feeling.

This led me to a commitment that come 2024 I would attend the events. I went on to list out the events, their dates, locations, prices, and links to purchase a ticket in a Notion page so I could track them and have no excuses.

So this year I have been doing that. I have been to conferences, creative meetups, workshops, happy hours, openings and so much more. I have been following my gut, trusting my intuition and being in the places I knew I needed to be.

I read a book last year titled The Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman. Simply stated the proximity principle states In order to do what you want to do you need to be around people who are doing it, and in places it is happening.

If you want to be chef get around chefs and take a job in a kitchen for example. If you want to work in art get around painters and take a job at a local Paint & Wine place. If you want to take pictures of fit males go volunteer at a fashion show and connect with designers, models, and photographers.

Another thing I have been doing recently is something I picked up out of both The Strangest Secret and Think And Grow Rich; The Note Card.

Both of these pieces of work suggest to make a note card about what you want to focus on in the next 30 days, your number one chief goal, and what you are willing to give in exchange for this goal. You read this every morning when you wake up and read it before you go to bed. Every day.

I took this concept to heart and wrote out an entire 2-page paper I call my Daily Read which includes all of my goals of the month, the income I intend to produce for the month, my debts I intend to pay this month, and the specific connections I want to make.

I read this every day and since I began doing this (I update it each month) I have noticed a huge change in my approach to life, which brings us back to LA Swim Week.

Earlier this year the same team produced LA Fashion Week but due to a previous conflict I could not go. That made me commit to attending LA Swim Week instead this summer, so when I received the email reaching out for volunteers I signed up within a few days.

Wednesday was load in/set up, the show was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with Sunday being the load out or tear down. I signed up to work Wednesday set up and both Friday and Saturday for the show.

On Wednesday I arrived to find myself as the first volunteer to show up. I worked hard to set up backdrops, break out table cloths, assemble lighting stations for the beauty teams, and so much more. My history and experience in trade shows, conferences, and live events came into play in a big way and the team putting on the fashion show definitely took notice.

Since the show has ended they already have talked about bringing me on for the next show and the one after that, and possibly to help with the marketing in between shows so the impression I left in just this one day was a good one.

Let me tell you one more thing about my Daily Read document. It begins with a list of names of the people I want to connect with this month. Currently the third name on that list is Julian Arroyuelo.

Julian is a martial artist black belt, a competition winning bodybuilder, fitness model, social influencer, actor, and if that was not enough he also works in real estate. Julian is someone I have desired to connect with for a few months now and never saw exactly how to do so.

When I arrived at the venue Friday to assist with the show I had been working behind the scenes for about an hour an a half when I looked up just in time to see Julian walk through the door. He was there to model, to walk the runway for various brands, and right now he was standing right in front of me.

I will not lie, it took me some time to walk up to him and start a conversation but by the end of the night we had talked for over 3 hours total and I had taken numerous pictures of him both on the runway and behind the scenes. We made plans for future shoots, future online collaborations, and I can say we walked away from the night as friends.

Between Friday and Saturday I made so many connections with models, designers, photographers, event staff, other volunteers, and the company who put on the entire event.

Not only did 3 days of my life lead to immediate connections, those 3 days also set me up for further events and future [paid] work because I chose to attend the event rather than allow myself to come up with an excuse not to.

This is only one example of the benefits that come from attending live events in your niche, one benefit from having a note card statement you read daily, one example of why it is important to trust your own gut and intuition.

This is only one example of what personally came out of LA Swim Week for me, or the direct business growth I have experienced after volunteering in order to be in the place where it was happening and around the people doing it.

Steve Jobs has the famous quote from his commencement speech "And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

It is, without question, one of my favorite quotes ever.

My call to action for you is to list out all the events happening over the next 6 months you would potentially want to attend. Their dates, location (city, state, venue), the ticket cost, and a link to the event landing page if they have one.

Take inventory of what you want and find the events happening that directly feed back into your dreams and goals. Then go to those events, make connections, and grow. A note card or daily read document will absolutely help you align on these but what is most important is to know when the events are and to be intentional to attend.

I personally cannot wait for LA Fashion Week this fall, Mr Olympia soon after, and a number of similar events happening between now and the end of the year. I made a commitment I would attend the events in 2024 and I have been doing so and seeing massive returns on that commitment.

Go out, attend the events.