At the main keynote session given at yesterday’s Agent Summit in Las Vegas, celebrity musician and motivational speaker Mike Rayburn entertained the attendees, but also imparted a bit of wisdom that was repeated throughout the rest of the sessions. It was a simple question: What if?

Rayburn challenged attendees to break themselves out of their self-imposed mental boxes by asking that simple question. It doesn’t matter if it’s impossible, the challenge is to ask the question. What if we could build our ultimate F&I product? What would it look like? What would it do? As an agent, what if you could create the ultimate perfect portfolio? What would you want it to have? What if you could quadruple your sales? How would you do it? What if?

That idea was echoed the rest of the day, as speakers one after the other deviated from their planned talks to ask that same question. They challenged the packed rooms again and again to go beyond where they are today – even if where they are is profitable right now. The trick that Rayburn proposed, and others agreed with was simple – if you start off by imposing limits on yourself or your organization, then you are setting yourself up to be stuck in that same place. But by stepping outside of the comfort zone and forcing yourself, your team or your entire organization to dream big, then you have the start of real growth and innovation.

Rayburn took that concept one further, and challenged everyone to not just ask the question, but to come up with a goal that, right now, seems impossible. Set the bar so high, everyone you tell about it thinks that you’re a little crazy. Then ask – how would I get there? And start trying to achieve it. You might not reach it, and the odds are good it will change as you move forward, but, he again stressed, if you aren’t aiming high, then you won't reach your full potential.

It was a powerful keynote that resonated with many in the crowd, and left a lasting impression. And it was just one of the many great sessions the show has had to offer so far. We’ll have more information in the coming issues, including a lot of great information from the speakers themselves on the topics they covered, but for now, I leave you with the thought that has inspired many in attendance in Las Vegas this week: What if?