JT Foxx held his MegaSpeaker series in Chicago this week. 

JT Foxx bills himself as the World’s #1 Wealth Coach. 

I first went to one of his events about 15 months ago.  At the outset he can come across as arrogant and condescending.  After you have a chance to listen to him for several hours and hear the way he engages with participants and hear from those that have attended multiple events, you realize how much depth there is to his systems. 

He has built a terrific team led by Francie Baldwin and by Brent Turley.  Brent always opens for him, much in the way that Joseph McClendon frequently opens for Tony Robbins.  He bills his presentations as a way to help people get speaking opportunities, but the reality is that the events are so much more.  He helps them focus on getting a mentor, branding and being decisive in their decision making as a way to get better results in their business. 

If you have a chance to attend one of his events, you can feel the energy and passion he has.  Despite his critics, he is an extremely hard worker and travels around the world speaking and putting on events.  Typically over 320 days per year!! His upcoming MegaSpeaker event has 2000-3000 people in Anaheim and attracts high level entrepreneurs from across the globe.  If you can handle a bit of the schtick, you might get a lot of benefit out of it.

Here are just a few of the highlights. If you want more details, please let me know and I am happy to share more information with you.

• Make Quick Decisions. One of JT’s ongoing themes, is the importance of making quick decisions.  Brent Turley focused on the speed of the decision and making sure you satisfy one the 3 reasons people buy: 1) to make their life easier; 2) make life more convenient; or 3) a need.  When you are trying to make a decision, you should write down:
  • Best case scenario
  • Worst case scenario
  • Most realistic scenario (usually somewhere in between)
  • Then most importantly, make a decision within 5 seconds, otherwise you over-rationalize the decision.
• Keep your word. To me, one of the most interest facts in the entire presentation, was the fact that 1531 people signed up for the free one day event.  Of those, only 112 people showed up.  This speaks to a few facts: 1) not charging makes it very difficult to determine how any people will come;  2) people really do not live up to their commitments.
• 5 Steps to Success
  • Step 1—Maximize Your Strengths
  • Step 2—Turn Your Weaknesses into Strengths
  • Step 3—Mental Toughness which is the ability to tune out liefes bs and go out there and do your thing
  • Step 4—Learn from your failures, be bothered by them and most important never repeat them
  • Step 5—Replace Yourself and Stop Working in Your Business but Work On. Build an organization
    • Recognize if it is just you, you can never effectively increase your prices.
• The importance of note-taking.  He has never seen a successful person that does not take notes. Very few people can remember everything. He also finds it disrespectful if you are not listening to what is going on.  The other occurrence  is that people who don’t take notes often say they didn’t learn anything
• Big 5 traits.
  • Persistance
  • Work Ethic
  • Commitment
  • Loyalty
  • Attitude
• Making Everybody Happy.
  • 25% of the people like you
  • 25% are looking for a way not to like you
  • 25% don’t like you but are looking for a way to like you
  • 25% will never like you no matter what
• Objections
  • Bring them up early. If you know people will find some objection to you or your service, bring it up early and overcome it.  This takes the air out of the objection and allows you to position yourself as having been up front.
• SELLING THE VISION
  • Pitch the WHY
  • Sell the WHAT
  • Close the HOW
  • Use the “imagine” close

Many of you who know me well have had the opportunity to meet my sister, Sharon.  She recently celebrated her 50^th Birthday, and I was given the privilege of making a speech to honor her.  I decided that the best way I could pay tribute to her was to talk about the many life lessons that she has taught me.

My parents put together a fantastic event that was held on March 3, 2019 at Union South.  The facility was a great setting and there was plenty of space for the large crowd.  Throughout her life, Sharon has touched so many people and interacted with so many members of the Madison community.  She has been mainstreamed from an early age and was one of the first children to be integrated into a regular high school, participate in Camp Shalom as a camper, attend Beth Israel Hebrew School as a student and serve as a counselor at Camp Shalom. 

Her positive disposition is infectious and her glowing attitude bring warmth and energy to everyone around her.  As I said in my speech, she has probably taught me more than anyone else in my life.

And as I looked around the room throughout the day, it was apparent that Sharon has taught many of our friends these same lessons. 

Sharon had such a terrific time at the party.  She had a huge smile all day (and the whole week leading up to the party).  You could hear her laughing across the room and see her teasing various people throughout the afternoon.  She welcomed people for so many parts of her life:  Very Special Arts, Job Coaches, YMCA, Shorewood Hills, Beth Israel, Camp Shalom, Memorial High School and many family friends.  The morning after the party, Sharon woke up and told my parents what a great time she had.

I did my best to capture Sharon’s essence in the brief time I had to speak and it was rewarding to have so many people ask for copies of the speech and/or the video.  Sharon is a very special person and has a unique disposition.  The 25 Lessons that I spoke about are really only the tip of the iceberg.  Sharon has taught our whole family so much about kindness, graciousness and perseverance.  There is truly no way to capture all of her remarkable spirit in just a few minutes.

If you would like to read the 25 Life Lessons I Learned from Sharon, please click below and you will get the full text of the speech that I wrote. In the videos, you can also see Sharon’s love, excitement and her infectious smile.  I hope that you will take a few minutes to watch. I think you will learn something yourself.

Text of Roy Kessel Speech, 25 Life Lessons I Learned from Sharon

VIDEOS FROM SHARON’S PARTY

• Merle and Jerry Sternberg presenting portrait to Sharon
• Les Mirkin Speech, Parts 1 and 2
• Raymond Kessel Speech
• Everyone singing Happy Birthday to Sharon
• Sharon’s speech thanking people and telling everyone to each cake

If you did not get the opportunity to join our family for this special occasion, I hope that you enjoy these photos and that you take the time to watch the videos of the speeches and presentations.

And here are some special videos made by our relatives in Israel:

• Dudley Kessel Family singing Happy Birthday to Sharon
• Colin Kessel Family sings Happy Birthday to Sharon

PHOTOS FROM SHARON’S PARTY

SHARON KESSEL 50TH BIRTHDAY PHOTO PAGE