1 October, Las Vegas - The #VegasStrong Story As a part-time Las Vegas resident, I wanted to share with you how the 1 October tragedy last year personal impacted me and what life lesson I can share with you. Although I wasn't there at the time, I was personally impacted by the shooting because my girlfriend and her family live there and they knew some of the people that were shot and killed. So I felt connected in grief with those people and the city as a whole. Which leads me to this week's conversation... Shifting Perspective and Judgement In all my years going to Las Vegas (as a tourist and for work), I had developed a certain judgement about the city and the people...and it wasn't good. Up to that point it was either "party with no consequences" on the strip or being chased out of one of the worst neighborhoods I'd ever been in when I was doing my real estate appraising job. This led to the perception that the city was gross, shady and full of transients from everywhere else that just ended up there because they gambled away there plane ticket money and couldn't return home. Then, a couple of years ago, I met this girl who lives there...we hit it off...started dating...and I began to spend more time in a nicer suburban area of the city where she lives. But, even then, I didn't get a real good vibe from the city as a whole. Then, 1 October happened last year and that all radically changed. To this day it blows me away how much that entire town came together to grieve and to help and to heal. And I got a chance to see it first-hand, even to be a part of it. I seriously never thought a city of that size could feel so small...if you were there right after the shooting, there's no way you could not sense the complete shift in energy...the party mode was turned off...even on the strip. And it was at that moment that I realized I had been holding on to a judgment about Las Vegas and its people that wasn't at all accurate. It was at that moment that I felt more empowered than ever that it was ok to be open to change...it was ok to see things in a different perspective...I didn't have to hold onto a judgement that was not doing me any good in the first place. It was like taking this huge weight off my shoulders that I didn't realize was even there. And that's the lesson I want to share with you today... ...allowing yourself to be more open-minded is incredibly empowering and leads to greater confidence in yourself and your ability to change your mind, adapt and grow into an even better version of yourself. Let me know what you think or if you have a good story about a big perspective shift you went through (tony@javabud.com) Peace... Like always, you can listen to any of the previous 150+ podcasts here. You can also download my free mini-guide on 7 Phrases you need to know to immediately bring more fulfillment to your life...and... ...Or...you can now buy my book, "Surrounded by Idiots"