The mission I've accomplished by the end of the Masterclass has been much different than the one I had forecast when I enrolled in, and it also had different metrics.
I set for myself and my experience product a goal even higher than the minimum suggested in the course - my subject was very ambitious and I wanted to target high-paying customers. From a business perspective, it made sense.
I put all of myself into the Masterclass, showed up to every single webinar, coaching, and complimentary calls (incl. Don's ones), despite of my "difficult" Time Zone (very late night) here in Europe, from day one to final day. Took active part to the EBM FB Group and made all the suggested exercises through the Strategy Section.
then - BOOM - I hit the market.
With a "thud" on my head.
The FB and LinkedIn survey I did had brought in too few potential leads, much less than I expected, and that event triggered past fears and hidden shouting voices within myself. Maybe I was competing in a niche already saturated by established instructors and companies with their following and reputation. Maybe I had to meet much higher expectations than I had initially thought of (yes, I'm a damned self-critic and perfectionist, even though I beat myself much less today than just a few years ago. Call it "slow evolution"). Maybe I wasn't ready for that, yet.
On top of that, I realized that I needed to buy some additional tools in order to provide a meaningful experience to my audience, and I simply didn't have the funding for them.
My Higher Self tried to tell me "Step Up! Own Your Power!" - but the thousands shouting voices in my head kept me down and brought me back to the fears I had already experienced in the past few years. I gave up.
While still taking part to the webinars and reading all the material, I didn't do my campaigns. I kept myself busy (and somehow distracted) with a short job assignment, and finally reached the end of the Masterclass... with sand in my hands.
Probably I didn't even complete my course assignments because I wanted an alibi NOT to claim my guarantee by the end of the Masterclass. Marisa's job had been fantastic, beyond any imagination. Mindset, Tools, Personal Power... Marisa has not simply taught them, she has embodied them throughout the course, and has surrounded herself with a Squadron of Superheroes better than Marvel's! So it would have been not fair passing on her my responsibility. I simply wasn't ready, and I had to own it.
And so, this is the dark side of the story. But there's a bright side, also.
When I entered the EBM FB Group, in my first post I described myself as a shy guy and not a "FB animal". I was used to like, love, repost other people's posts, give them advice whenever I had something worth saying. But no "putting myself on the spot".
Yet, as we entered the course, I felt the power of the Masterclass community, something that I had missed in my previous online instructor experience (I've been online for two years now, on a popular e-learning platform), and a parallel space started populating my mind. Sounds ("cha-ching!"), expressions ("Building Momentum!"), roles ("FB Community Magic Maker") became a shared alphabet and language within the community, and the creative source compelled me to give them structure and dignity into a cohesive whole. That's the way the "Experience Product Master RAP" flowed out of my pen (and keyboard). As it was taking shape, I clearly saw that it was my way to express gratitude to Marisa, her wide Team, and the whole 400+ members' community for the precious melting pot of experiences that was being created and shared all around me.
So I stepped up, got into creative mode, and put together something I had never done before. I found a rhythmic base, modified it, recorded my voice, crafted a slide, put everything together, uploaded on YouTube and then on the FB Group.
BOOM. Again, but this time with a different (and laughing) sound.
I received dozens messages of appreciation and love. I had painted our common universe, and took the courage to show up against my shyness! I had taken a step forward towards gathering a community with no expectation, just around our "tribal" world.
I had made a shift of mindset, that had propelled me to a different level of consciousness, that will come in useful with the Experience Product that I'll create, especially for the international audience that I'm targeting. And without the Masterclass, that wouldn't have been possible.
By the way, thanks to that crazy and funny Rap (that Marisa even asked me to replay live on the last day of the course, with my great amazement and King Rono's beatbox!) I've had the opportunity to get in touch with all those people who have been working behind the scenes (namely Donna, Shireen, Murray) to silently complement Marisa's amazing work, that I would have missed otherwise, and the other coaches beyond my beloved Christine, too - and I'm so grateful to the Creative Source for having allowed me to do that!
Besides, in the short job assignment that I mentioned above - where I've been a Scrum Project Management instructor for two days in front of fifteen IT and Software Development professionals from a large Consulting Company in Milan - I've implemented many of the techniques that Marisa has taught us. Pattern Interrupts, Normalizing Challenges, Bird's Eye View, Mission, Future Self, Constant Wins... I had already somehow used some of them with my previous classes, but now I had been able to apply them with more focus and deliberately in order to keep high attention, involvement, and retention.
The results? At the end of the two days, each of them told me goodbye with a big smile and "Congratulations for the course"!
Not a simple "Thank you", but "Congrats". I stared at them, unbelievingly. I then realized that I had made a vibe shift, and I was really embodying the principles that I had learnt during the Masterclass.
So maybe I didn't feel like ready for the Marketing and the Delivery parts of my Experience Product, but I had already taken so many steps from where I had started. Not the metrics that I supposed to meet and that so many have already met until now, but a different metric - probably more meaningful for me right now, for the place where I stand.
I'm still fighting against and within myself to shut up those naughty voices, and maybe that will take some time.
But, as I envision my Future Self with his Experience Product, and as I nurture the precious relationships that I've been blessed with in the course, I feel I've already accomplished a somehow "Personal Mission".
For this, I'll always be grateful to this Masterclass and to all the Superheroes (Marisa, Team, and the other 400+ from their homes) that have accompanied me on this Path through this some 10 weeks' journey.
Hey Tribe - Congrats ;)