I’m on a flight from Monterrey back to Austin.

The past three days, I’ve been in Mexico with my EO forum. Twice per year, the seven of us go on a retreat together.

Yesterday I gave a presentation to the group, talking about my history with money, current net worth, and my financial plans for the future.

This proved to be a valuable exercise on both the front-end and back-end.

Preparing this presentation forced me to sit down and really contemplate how I got to where I am, and more importantly, where I want to end up.

When Gary and I started our business 19 years ago, we didn’t have an exit strategy. While we had fun figuring things out as we went, that lack of clarity was a weakness.

For my next venture, I’ll be starting out with the end in mind. I have a specific number and timespan to make it happen.

In addition, the presentation prompted discussions around my plans. Now the people who have been with me through the past six years have a vision for what I want my next chapter of entrepreneurship to look like.

I concluded by asking everyone to keep in mind the three things I want from them right now:

• High Expectations
• Honesty
• Help

My presentation was a small piece of our retreat. Certainly meaningful, but it only took an hour and it didn’t need to happen during a retreat.

The true purpose of our forum retreats is to strengthen our group’s connection through shared experiences.

The bond we’ve created on our retreats reinforces the work we do and the vulnerability we bring during our monthly meetings.