Why Priests Need Live Events - Ep. 191

On this episode, I explain how priests can benefit from in-person community and why it's so important to purchase proximity. I hope you enjoy and subscribe.

Want help growing your Catholic parish? Click HERE to learn more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

For the first year of me doing social media, doing online fitness coaching, I didn't have a lot of followers. And then I had hired this mentor, Brian Mark, and he helped fitness coaches kind of get started and build a business. Um he had like different tiers. So I was I was a beginner and I had like no clients, and so I went in like the beginning tier. And then that helped me get like my first 10 clients. Um, but then he hosted a live event, an event uh at his not his mansion, but a mansion in uh where was it? It was Canada, uh Kelowna, British Columbia. And uh to get to the level two in his mentorship program, uh you had to pay like$10,000, and he was willing to throw in a ticket for the the event to the mastermind. And basically what it was is you all got together and it was really like close to a group, and you spent a few days in this mansion in Pelowna, British Columbia, to grow, to talk business, to level up. So I had made progress with Bryant, and so I trusted him. He'd helped me grow my business, and so I said, Yeah, let's do it. So I bought the ticket. It was a lot of money for me at the time. I think it was like 10,000 or whatever. Uh and you know, I'd blown up most of my money on law school, and so this is a lot of what I had, most of what I had. So I spent it, and I remember going to uh like the airport, being like, this is crazy. Anyway, I went and I had a very wonderful, positive experience. I learned a tremendous amount about business. I got very clear on what I needed to do, and I set goals that I that I reached, which was well. I remember at the time saying, if I could get 10,000 followers, I remember if I can really money again, I'd be so happy. I'll be so happy. And so that was like the vision. I was like, guys, I don't know if I can get 10,000 followers, but you can do it. And so I got the conviction. Anyway, it just goes to show you how things can change over time. So I have more than that now. Um the point is, is I saw a lot of really good results from that. So what I did is I paid money to get around people who were ahead of me, and then because of that, I saw positive results. The reason I wanted to share that story is because I think it's something the pastors and parochial vicars, and just priests in general, can take advantage of. Because it's not something they typically do. You don't see a priest going to an event very often to grow their parish. They might go to an event for other things, but not for the growth and the progress of their parish. But that is what they need most of all. Because here is what a uh a live event does. It gives you three things, three C's. It gives you C number one, which is clarity. You figure out what the actual constraint is on the parish. See, what a lot of people don't realize is organizations want to grow. They're like a flower. And the flower wants to grow, but it's constrained in certain parts. It's also constrained in one part more than any other part, which means that's the highest point of leverage. Okay. If you have, let's say you're a car wash business, you have people, you know, a line out the door of people who want to buy your car wash service. Okay. Well, sure, you could spend more money on marketing, but that doesn't seem to be the biggest point of constraint right now, right? Because there's a line out to go on. So it's a different point. So that's why getting clarity on where the biggest constraint is, is by definition the most efficient and the most prudent way to work is to work on that constraint. So see clarity. And you might ask me, why would I get clarity going to an event together? Well, the people who are there have significantly more experience than you and are farther ahead in whatever endeavor you're doing. That's the point of like groups like that. Um, so for example, I plan to host events for pastors, for parochial vicars, so we can get really clear on the vision and the uh the situation of the parish helping grow. And if I've done that to a thousand parishes, I can give clarity. So the first C is clarity. Fuzzy targets don't get hit. If you don't know what the biggest constraint is on the parish or how to fix it, you're treading water or you're doing something inefficient. Number two, the second C is conviction. When I was when I was at that live event, there were so many things that I believed I could do simply because I met the other people there that had done what I wanted to do. They were just regular people. I met a guy who had a hundred thousand followers, and uh he was just like a regular dude. He's like, Yeah, I just have posting. I was like, Wow, I've been posting for about a year. And he's like, Yeah, that makes sense. I've been posting for about three years. So he had just done it longer. He was just a regular dude, and it gave me the conviction that I could do it myself. But you don't always have that if it's over the internet. And so, you know, if you're a beneficial or a pastor who is at a parish with 500 families, to get around a parish that was at 500 families and got to 5,000 or whatever. And they're like, Yeah, we just did this, uh, kept growing, kept making it work, introduced more people, oh. And then that original pastor gets the conviction that he can do it. Because he's not, you know, he may have gone to seminary, he may be ordained, he may be very self-developed, but he's not uh, what's the word? Uh he's not uh he's still affected by the things that men are, that men are, which is fear, the belief that they can't do something. And so getting around people that have done it, that were just in your position similarly, gives you the conviction that you can do it too. And then the third thing is community. So one of the points of community is that it should benefit the person, right? At a most fundamental level, the tribe should make you better off than not not being it, than being in a lone wolf situation. And so if you can get uh the leader of a parish to be in a community of other parish leaders and they're exchanging ideas and what works and what doesn't work, they can ask questions and people can answer. That is so beneficial because it makes everyone else in the group grow. And that's what paying for a group is. Now, I'm not running events yet for this, but I will. I'm going to host events where priests can fly in, we can come together in community, and we can help each other grow. I can give clarity on the marketing and the operation side, and we can have and we can have priests who can exchange ideas with one another. And that is what parishes need. It's the quickest, most efficient way to like grow. Because what do what do pastors do? They're probably super busy. They're not exactly talking to people about this stuff about how to grow. You know, for example, let's say the pastor has always kind of struggled finding good talent to work at the parish. Well, then he goes to this event and we do a three-hour talk on a talent acquisition fund, which is, you know, fancy way of saying like how to hire. And it's obviously only for Catholic churches, and he gets so much info. Then he has a couple questions. So during the coffee hour or whatever, he's asking questions about it to another priest, and the priest says, Well, yeah, I implemented this, but then this is how you do it, ABC, and that worked really well for the see, and everything just comes together, and then that priest is gonna think, Oh, well, I could do that. That's so powerful. So um, I call it purchasing proximity. Purchase proximity. Buy the lessons from other people, saves you time, unless you're value money more than time, which I don't think is very prudent. Only one of those is a finite asset. Money's finite, you can always get more of it. Time is not. And so I've always been of the opinion that we should trade as much money as possible to buy back time to learn the lessons we need to learn anyway for our ministry so it can be as successful as possible. And if you do that, the money always comes. So, anyway, just to wrap up, purchase proximity. Get around people who are in a similar position as you and have gotten to where you want to be. And that will give you clarity on what your next step is, conviction that you can do it yourself, and community that will help you grow. And if you're a priest listening to this, stay tuned because I plan on doing this for pastors, for parochial bakers, for any priests who want to grow their ministry. And uh yeah, it'll be it's part of the vision, and I think they'll be amazing. Um, okay. If you got value, drop a like. If you are a leader at a parish and you want help, you know, reaching more young adults, you want to help with your operations, you want help, maybe even just with your bulletin design, you don't like it. Go ahead and go to chapelaunch.com. I don't see if I can help. Thank you so much. God bless.