Pioneer nation is a small, intimate gathering of people running their own businesses or having an idea of something they want to start. It’s about bettering ourselves, our business and making the world a more awesome place. It’s about having conversations and making connections.

I’m now part of the tribe that says, “Chris G picks my friends.” Chris Guillebeau tends to bring the best and most interesting people together in one place. I’m happy to have these people as my tribe, the place I belong. Thank you Chris for all that you do! And thank you to everyone on the team that makes WDS and Pioneer Nation happen. You rock!

Some of my biggest takeaways from Pioneer Nation are in the “slogans” I heard.

Here are some of my favorites and what it means:

You are not alone. — Stop doing it all. Ask for help. We aren’t good at everything and you can’t succeed on your own. You can try but I’m pretty sure it’s impossible. I mean, really, do you want to be your own plumber, cook, gardner, mechanic, accountant, lawyer, business partner? Need I go on? I think you get the point. We all specialize and we all need other services that people specialize in.

Your heart is your compass. — If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. If you don’t want to finish the movie or book you started because you don’t like it, you don’t have to. Find something else you like better and do that. If something feels good, do it…all within reason of course. You don’t need to drink the whole bottle of wine or drive like a race car driver on the highway. Be kind to others. Come from a place of kindness but also with intention.

Take those crazy bets! — Crazy bets are the ones that pay off the most. If given an opportunity, take it! What’s the worst that will happen?

A shot of Fernet can lead to a lot. — You’re sitting next to someone in a bar. Maybe you should talk to them. Maybe you should buy them a drink. You never know where it can lead unless you start that conversation. Maybe they become your best friend or your business partner but you’ll never know unless you approach people as potential friends. Don’t be nervous. We’re all in this together. We all belong. We all offer value of some kind.

Hurry up and fail. Fail more often. — Successful people have failed a lot. You just don’t know that about them. They’re known for their success and you can be known for that as well. So, the faster you fail, the faster you can succeed. Make it. Ship it. Fail. Try again until you succeed.

Power pose it up! — If you don’t know what this is check this out. It really works! Try it every morning. You can also check out Cold Shower Therapy. Great for getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. Nick offers daily wisdom to help you along the way. Things to think about in life and in business to make you better. Who knew you could get this from the shower?

Mostly I just rip off other people’s stuff. — It’s all been done before but you are what makes you and your offerings unique. Give your business your own personal style. Make it yours. Give your business a personality. Your personal brand. If you need help, call me. Ok, well I’m not really going to give out my phone number to everyone on the web but you get the idea. I’m here for you. If not me, find another designer that likes what you are doing.

I have nothing to lose. — What’s the worst case scenario? You fail? We’ve already covered that above. So, you’ll try again or they say no. Ask someone else. Refine it and try again. You only lose if you never enter the race.

Fail the fu*k out of life! — Again, fail. Fail faster. Fail a lot. If you don’t fail, you’ll probably never succeed.

Think big, talk small. — You may have grandiose dreams for yourself and your business but if you don’t talk to the people that are actually using your services (or products), you’ll never know what you’re doing right or wrong.

Do no harm. Use your powers for good. — As stated above, you don’t need to harm others to do good in the world. There’s room for all of us to succeed. In fact, your mentors will probably help you if you ask.

Say yes!! Say no! — Kind of another way to say some of the above. Say yes to the things that excite you or that feel good. Say no to the things that bore you. You only have one life (I know this is debatable), make it a good one. Make every day count!

Don’t survive, THRIVE! — Don’t just sit back and survive or be a passenger in life. Go out and do things, take action, create things and live your dreams. If you aren’t living outside your comfort zone, you aren’t really living, you’re surviving.

Whew! I think that’s a wrap. For now.

So thankful for all my new wisdom and all my new friends. #pdxpioneer for life!

Some live tweeting from PN

For more tweets and awesome adventures follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter @rouxroamer!

For more about WDS 2012 and 2013.