This post was guest blogged by Ahmed Dawn of A Dawn Journal.
Toronto Meet Up
If you would like to flourish as an entrepreneur, find someone successful in what is your passion, and then copy their strategies to reach the zenith. This strategy perhaps sounds too easy and simple; however, this is a proven number one method to becoming successful. The majority of self-growth gurus will agree with me on this. As a new entrepreneur, I have been following John Chow and Yaro Starak for a little while and they have always been an inspiration to me. That’s why I did not want to miss this chance to meet them both in person under one roof in a recent Toronto meet up.
Positive Atmosphere
The patio of the Live Organic Food Bar at 7 PM on August 21 was alive with over twenty like-minded entrepreneurs and the palpable positive vibration was in the air. I felt so encouraged and optimistic among these entrepreneurs—it is unbelievable how your outlook can change just by being with the right group of people. That’s why you should always avoid negative people and stay in touch with positive people. It does make a difference.
Yaro Starak
When I reached the Live Organic Food Bar Patio, it did not take long to recognize Yaro. He is very easy to identify because of his long hair and friendly appearance. I was sitting close to Yaro most of the time and we talked about many things, including Darren Rowse and Tim Ferriss. He also answered my barrage of questions; how often should I post new articles, is it OK to write on a variety of topics—which is what I am doing on A Dawn Journal. It made Yaro smile when I asked him why he didn’t have a hardcore Australian accent. Yaro sounds like a Canadian rather than an Australian because he spent a significant amount of time in Canada. In Australia, they have a hard time believing that he is an Australian, not a Canadian.
John Chow
John came a little later but we all knew it was John right away. He seemed to be enjoying the Toronto summer and was dressed up in full summer clothing. John is a person with an amiable personality and greeted everyone with a big, conspicuous smile. John sat on one side of the table and Yaro was on the other side. As I was sitting close to Yaro, I did not have a chance to talk to John. However, I talked to him on my way out and we took some pictures. He seemed to recognize A Dawn Journal very fast.
Dot Com Pho Toronto
This is the first time Dot Com Pho was held in Toronto. We met at the Vietnam Noodle Star on Saturday, August 23 at 12.30 PM. Bret and I were the first ones to show up in front of the Noodle Star. This meet up was more interactive than the first one because there were only ten people. We all sat together at a round table and were able to hear and follow each other. We were talking on not just internet stuff, but on a wide range of topics e.g., politics, China, Saudi oil. One thing about John is that he is never short of any issues. He can keep conversation going spontaneously hour after hour without making anyone losing attention. And oh yes – did I mention his big smile? He has this thing where he laughs and smiles during conversation, it is rather infectious and makes the whole conversation that more interesting.
My Take
To put these two meetings into perspective, let me summarize everything:
- Whenever you get to meet successful entrepreneurs like John and Yaro, grab the opportunity. Meting them in person will give you a confidence boost to pursue your goal.
- This will also give you an opportunity to meet many other like-minded people who are pursuing the same goal as you are.
- It will increase your networking capability which is very important.
- Follow and copy successful peoples’ strategies and outlooks.
- Stick to positive people and try to avoid negative people.
- Be consistent pursuing your goals and never give up.
- Bloggers are the nicest people on Earth. (Ahem …)