It is a common joke around the Filipino community here in the UAE calling a person a “seminarista” if s/he attends a lot of seminars most especially related to financial education, whether it is paid or for free. I for one am proud to call myself a seminarista.
It all started when I attended my first seminar with Investhusiasts. It was all about debt management. They had invited a lawyer, a debt collector, and a banker to talk about how to manage debts and how to deal with it legally. It was an eye-opener for me in the sense that I realized that this is what we lack most as an individual:
Our school teaches us to be excellent employees but never taught us how to manage our finances and be financially free!
From then on, I have been actively attending seminars, from free events to paid events. I have been so “addicted” to learn more about financial education that I ended my 15-year chemical engineering career and switched to being a personal financial consultant and coach.
I have found my passion: The passion to learn, the passion to grow, and the passion to help others. An in order for me to be able to learn more, I have made it a mission to continue my growth by learning from experts and coaches by attending their seminars and workshops. So, if you are also a seminarista like me, here are some tips which might help you in your journey.
1. You will always learn something new. No matter how many times you listen to the same topic, you will be amazed that you will still learn something different.
2. Sales pitches are normal. There will be a lot of seminars which will have sales pitches, and even some of them are too pushy. You just have to be strong enough not to be lured in unless of course, you are very interested in the product/service they are providing.
3. Free learning plus free food! How good is that? Some real estate companies, networking businesses, investment companies provide free seminars with free snacks/dinner to come with it. Although the seminars are geared towards their products, there will always be tons of information that you can use along the way.
4. Value for Money. There are paid events that are all worth it yet there are also paid events that are overpriced. Be sure to check their reviews first before signing up.
Stock Market Trading Seminar with Investhusiasts
5. Huwag mag pa “budol-budol”. A lot of (international) speakers will use this strategy: They will entice you with a free seminar then they will pitch in their upcoming workshops/sessions with jacked up prices but if you sign up within the day, the price drops, for example, from 50K AED to 5K AED. You will be excited with how much savings you can get, but you don’t want to lose the offer since it is only given “today”, so you end swiping your credit card. However, please remember that it was they who set the price initially that high (e.g. 50K) and they can just price it as much as they want. What they are trying to do is to subconsciously program you that the workshop fee is cheap compared to the 50K AED. Of course, there are really speakers who are worth that much but just be careful with this. Trust me, I’ve been there and have done that (#hugot lang? LOL). I once paid 5K AED for a 2-day Forex workshop which the speaker mostly sends the attendees to affiliate links to sign up and deposit for an account with which he gets a commission. For the so-called 2-Day Workshop, he only discussed just half a day about Forex. Talking about value for money. 
6. Go international. If you want to be world-class, then attend seminars which are conducted by world-class speakers. This indeed requires investment especially if the events are conducted outside the country but it is all worth it. I have attended Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within in London early this year and will be attending one again next year.
7. Attend webinars. There are a lot of online seminars that you can attend. Some of them are even live. I even know friends who attend live real estate webinars. These are a lot of cheaper alternatives compared to going to a physical venue. Currently, I am training online with T Harv Eker’s team for Wealth Coaching and Trainer’s Training.
8. Checkout event sites. There are a lot of (free) events you can explore. Visit sites like eventbrite.com, www.thedubuaievents.ae, or search “Dubai events” in google, and it will show tons of events you can choose from.
9. Self-Development vs. Shelf Development. Apply immediately what you have learned and don’t put in the shelf to rot. You should execute and take massive action immediately. As Tony Robbins say,
“Knowledge is not power. It is potential power. Action is.”
What we learn will never get us to where we want to be unless we use it. Do the 24-hour rule. If you have an idea or need to act on something, do it within 24-hours. Otherwise, it will end up on the backburner and will likely not happen or be implemented at all.
Me at Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within Workshop in London, 2018.
Lastly, I believe, all of us are all seminaristas. We may not attend formal training and workshops but we all learn from our own individual and unique experiences. It is indeed the greatest teacher.
