My "current situation," as I write this, is a crackling fire in my backyard with a dog and cat sitting beside me, watching the flames.

I am here to tell you the morning fire is THE BEST!

But my three-weeks-from-now situation will be a beach in Maui looking over the North Pacific and wondering if the surf instructor will be any good.

I mentioned this to one of my old real estate buddies over the weekend, who responded, "Man, you're so lucky! I wish I could go on all these vacations."

I started to say, "But you don't understand. . ." and then just shook my head and smiled; there was no point in explaining it to him again.

I know where he's coming from.

I was in the same place in my late 30's.

Stuck, tired of being "just a Realtor," and not knowing what to do about it.

If I'd been invited to Hawaii back then to attend an event like the one I'm going to later this month, I would have balked.

Why?

Because it doesn't come with any "tactics."

I'd be looking only at the short term - the immediate impact on my life or my business.

Since there would be no trick or tactic - no "one simple thing" - I would have, like my buddy, missed the point entirely.

There was no short-term ROI.

"Fuck that," I would have thought, "I'll stay home and work. I'm not spending the money to fly to Hawaii just to talk."

Now I think, "Holy Shit! Here's an opportunity to hang out with six other people for four days and share ideas about how to get to the place we want to be in five or ten years."

Count me in.

Never mind that I won't come back with any new tools, no fancy new website, or any new subscriptions - there's nothing to buy while I'm there.

Nor will I be changing the entire structure of my businesses, hiring new employees, or opening another location.

There won't even be anything to point at and say, "Oh, he learned that in Hawaii!"

But what will happen is that the vision for the life I'm building will get clearer, and I'll see even more opportunities, previously hidden, for how to get there.

I'll have "ah hah!" moments.

I will learn, I will absorb, and I will advance one step further down the path to the life I want to have and the legacy I want to leave for my children.

And as a bonus, since I'll be in Hawaii, I'll be having a shitload of fun while I'm doing it.