Original Post from Sahil Bloom

10 key learnings (that everyone needs to hear):

1. Freedom is the real goal. Once you’ve achieved a certain level of financial success, everything becomes about a quest for freedom. Being able to do what you want, when you want, with who you want is what everyone prizes above all else, but few have it.
2. Success isn’t loud. The most successful entrepreneur at the event has built a holding company that will be worth over $1 billion. He wasn’t the loudest in the room. On the contrary, he was quiet and highly observant. When he did speak, it was with an incredible ability to penetrate to the heart of the topic or issue. Listening, observing, and thinking is a superpower.
3. Insecurity is a natural human condition. These entrepreneurs have built incredible companies and personal wealth, but all open up privately about their personal and professional insecurities. The feeling that we may get exposed as an imposter is natural. Opening up about those insecurities, rather than trying to mask them with bravado, is the key to managing their influence on our lives.
4. Always know the game you’re playing and whether you want the prize for winning that game.
5. If you create value with no expectation of return, you will experience the greatest returns.
6. Owned distribution is a cheat code. All of the entrepreneurs realize what a massive business advantage it is to own your distribution via a personal platform and audience. They are building it into the fabric of their businesses. Everyone views it as a cheat code—a way to do business on easy mode.
7. Environment is EVERYTHING. It’s hard to explain, but thinking big is contagious. Just sitting in the room, the energy gets injected into your veins. Note to self: Get in more of these rooms. Another note to self: Create more of these rooms where others can benefit from them the way I have.
8. No one knows what they want to be when they grow up. The group ranged in age from 30 to 60, but no one seemed to have everything about their future figured out. It’s comforting as a young person to know that you aren’t really supposed to “figure it out” when it comes to your future. Just focus on pointing your compass in the right direction, embracing curiosity, getting around great people, and good things will happen.
9. Entrepreneurial loneliness is a real problem. You don’t have to do it alone. Most of these entrepreneurs had built support systems to make sure they had people around them.
10. Sometimes you need to see the problem differently to solve it. I had several “a-ha!” moments around some problems I was facing during the retreat. All of the solutions felt very obvious in hindsight. The different perspectives allowed me to see the problem differently and break through.

Those were my 10 key takeaways from the event.