What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Stacking Slabs.

This is your hobby content alternative. I'm your host, Brett. How are you doing? It's a flagship episode, a flagship episode that is coming at a different time than it normally does. I'll give you a programming note upfront.

We are dropping Stacking Slabs flagship today. You're still gonna get Passion to Profession brought to you by my good friends at eBay. Really exciting conversation ahead with the founders at arena club.

You're not gonna wanna miss that conversation. Doing things a little bit differently this week, but that's okay. We gotta adjust on the fly. It's the national week. You all pumped?

You all excited? I know I am. A lot is on my mind, and we're gonna talk about it. I'm gonna talk about that topic. But as I was preparing for this, I was organizing. Look at all the episodes. This is episode 700 of Stacking Slabs.

What a awesome milestone to hit at the national, the week of the national. We're at 700. What a ride. What a journey. I have just I'm so overwhelmed by that many episodes, and what we've been doing.

And I'm telling you what, I'm more hungry now than ever before. I believe in what we're doing here at Stacking Slabs, the Stacking Slabs network. We're creating collector focused content.

We're creating specific category content for you, the collector, and I'm fired up to continue to bring it to you each and every day, whether it's me or whether it's my friends helping me put this together.

I wanna thank all of you, the listeners of Stacking Slabs. Without you tuning in each and every week, this wouldn't be possible. I wanna thank all the sponsors of Stacking Slabs.

So many great companies that I get a chance to work with each and every day, and I do not take that for granted. All the guests that have been on the show taking time out of their day to talk about cards with me, it's been a trip.

I say this a lot. I think education in this hobby is underserved. It's underrated, and it's needed, especially as we're growing, especially as we wanna continue to expand, prices going up, new people entering.

And I want stacking slabs to be a space that collectors can go to to learn, and I don't know everything.

I probably know less than you, but I spend so much time each week researching, trying to understand not only what's happening with cards, but what's happening in the minds of collectors like you.

I believe stories are powerful. I believe we need space in this hobby to talk about cards from a detailed perspective, from a historical lens.

We need to be digging in. We need to be exploring. We need to be sharing these stories, and stacking slabs is a space for that.

And it it'll never stop. It's only gonna continue to go. It's only gonna continue to grow. I am putting everything I have into making sure that this platform is built and designed for you, the listener, of Stacking Slabs.

And I think over 700 episodes, I think I've proven that, and I'm only ready to do that even more and at an even larger scale. We're just getting started, baby.

Thank you so much for supporting Stacking Slabs, whether it's, telling a damn friend, joining the Patreon group, following me on Instagram, sharing episodes with friends, all the things that you all do regularly.

It is it is essential for me, and it is essential for this brand, and I just I can't thank you enough.

Alright. 700. We got an episode here. Okay? So what I wanna do here in this episode of the flagship, I wanna present something maybe a little bit different.

And there has been so much conversation about the national, what's happening. There's been a lot of conversation here on Stacking Slabs, other creators.

It is the Super Bowl of sports cards. It is the showcase of the sports cards immortals. It is where you're gonna see friends, where you're gonna trade cards, where you're gonna buy a bunch of stuff.

You're gonna probably be away from your families for a while. It is a lot. And I've had a great time trying to, like, reset, try to get my mind in a space where I'm entering this mania for a few days.

And there's been a lot going on in my my head when it comes to that. Now I'll I'll say this upfront. This national is going to look very different for me this year than it has in years past, mostly because I'll be working.

I am prioritizing work above, collecting. Not saying I'm not going to be buying, trading, selling, and making deals. Like, that'll happen.

But my primary focus is building the brand, and it is working. And I've got a lot of obligations that, will take up a ton of my time, and it it's it's it's needed. It's required. It's next evolution of stacking slabs and what I'm doing.

And so as I'm kinda getting in this mode of resetting my focus when it comes to this show and resetting my priorities when it comes to this show, I have been just mentally trying to contemplate everything that's happening.

And as I'm thinking through that, it's been overwhelming.

It's been overwhelming to think about, executing at the level that I want. It has been overwhelming to think about all of the conversations I'm about to have, all of the connections, everything.

And it's a lot. And I think back to my first national in, whatever year, 2020, 2021 in Rosemont, same venue. And I remember I just recently started stacking slabs and feeling a sense of overwhelm walking into that convention center.

It is it is stimulation overload. It is a lot of thinking, considering, planning, and it is one of those events, especially when you're there, where your mind can begin to play tricks on you.

And I wanna address that in this chat. I wanna be real for a minute. I wanna talk about the fact that it's okay to be anxious, and you're not alone. Okay? You're not alone. It is a massive event.

There's a ton of pressure even when you're excited. I want you all to know that in this episode, I just am gonna talk through maybe building a mental game plan that serves for you to have as good of an experience as possible.

I'll say this. I'm waiting as I record, as I'm recording this in advance.

I'm awaiting kinda to finalize my schedule at the national, but the best place probably for you to find me, and I'd love to have as many conversations as possible, will probably be at the Card ladder booth, Booth 2323.

I have, some all day recordings that are happening live at the card letter booth.

I am going to be there probably quite a bit, so that'll probably be the best way to cross paths, and would love to have as many conversations as possible, with you.

Alright. Let's get into the crowds, the chaos, collectors everywhere. The sensory overload is rule real.

There's booths on top of booths, endless slabs, nonstop movement. I think because there is so much going on, it is really hard to get your mindset right on your approach. I've gotten lost in the convention center.

I'm terrible with directions. I struggle with finding my footing. There is people everywhere. And I think understanding that you're entering, especially if this is the first time you're doing this, you're entering the sea of madness.

I think one of the big things is to understand is you're not gonna be able to get through everything and accomplish everything in an afternoon, likely in a whole day, maybe even during your whole trip.

So I think it's good to create micro goals for yourself each day, Whether that's walking in and saying, hey. Today, I just wanna walk the floor and not worry about making deals.

You're just trying to gather the the lay of the land. There's so many cards. There's they all look good to you at that time. You don't wanna buy something that you regret.

You gotta understand that you're not up against anything. I think one of the things that is really good is to especially if you're more of a homebody is making sure you're you're building in time alone.

It's okay to leave the floor. It's okay to take a breath. It's okay to grab a water, like, take a break. Accepting that you won't see everything is really important, and you gotta be okay with that.

I remember when I went to my first show, I just I felt like I needed to see and talk to everybody, and it became so overwhelming because I wasn't used to having that many in person conversations.

And as I look at it now, it's just it's good to kinda take some steps back.

And however you're wired and however you feel, like, begin to create some sort of goals for yourself. And you don't need to over manufacture it, but I think it's good to set some expectations before you're getting in.

One of the big things I think is that no one talks about, but this is real, and we're trying to be as real as possible on this flagship episode.

Episode number 700 of stacking slabs is meeting hobby friends in real life. There is social anxiety that comes with this.

I mean, you're there are people that literally you've been communicating with for years that you've never met in per person, but you're going to be meeting those people in person for the first time.

It's it's okay to have some anxiety around that. Right? It's it can be overwhelming. The hobby lives online, and now at the national, it becomes very real.

And I think that's both exciting, and it can be nerve wracking. I think it's important to remember you don't need to be on all the time. If you're an introvert, it's okay.

Make sure you take space. Find time for yourself. Let natural conversations happen. You don't need to feel pressured to meet everyone. And I think one of the good rules that I like to go by is go deep, not wide.

One connection and having a conversation that lasts several hours and maybe end up walking the floor with that person is a lot better than 10 surface level intros.

I think it's funny. I've had this conversation with a lot of people. A lot of people feel like their card buddies are better they're better friends with their card buddies than their real buddies. There's commonality.

There's connection. There's, there's common ground. Like, cards are important. We're busy. We've got kids. We've got jobs. We've got our families, and we've got this small sliver of time during each and every one of our days.

And, typically, that involves conversation around cards with friends. And this happens over a long period of time. This is how friendships are born, and they're built over time.

And there are plenty of people that I have a ton of interactions with. And I every year I do the national or another show, I plan on meeting and talking with them, but stuff gets too busy. There's other priorities.

It's, the hall's monstrous, and those don't happen. But there's always next year, and I think that's good to have that mindset. I think one of the points of anxiety can come from deals and just, like, doubt and decision fatigue.

I think there's pressure to make the perfect pickup. It's very real. And I just wanna say, the perfect pickup, it's really hard to execute.

And unless you are having conversations in advance and you're setting up deals in advance, what seems like a perfect pickup in the moment might not be a perfect pickup down the road.

Like, we need time to be wired to be comfortable with a lot of these cards we're buying, especially if we're spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on those cards.

And I'm not saying don't get excited and, like, you're not going to find a card that you weren't expecting pop up and you immediately know that it's the card you need, but it's it you'd it doesn't like, you don't try to overprescribe it.

You don't have to do everything either that the national offers. It's almost impossible to hit every event.

It's impossible to kinda hit every table, and there might be a card that you needed, but someone talked about it and then it was SoulLayer. It's part of it. I think it's I keep saying this, but it's like focus on that one goal.

Are you looking to make one special pickup? Are you hoping to move inventory and build liquidity? Are you wanting to just absorb and learn? Just focus on that one goal.

If you focus on a bunch of goals, especially on a specific day, the likelihood of you coming out in a good state of mind after that is probably really low. Like, I'm not trying to to scare. I'm not trying to create anxiety.

I'm just trying to give you some mindset and mentality from an individual who's not regularly going to shows, but have what have I I've experienced in the past. I think there's always some practical tips.

Right? You can make a flexible plan before the show. I would just get organized. Try to get organized. Make sure you know what cards you wanna take if you're taking cards. You've got your list of cards that you're looking for.

You've got your schedule of activities. It's really important too, and you've heard this probably on every podcast, but just know your prices and know what you're willing to pay and what you're willing to walk away from.

You know? I don't know. The Internet, I I hope it works, but it might not. So you might not be able to use card ladders. So I think it's just having some sort of, idea on, how the monetary side of things.

And if you have some control or you get organized around that, the likelihood of your nerves or your anxiety, going down is really good. Also, I think it's like, have a few if this, then that rules to stay grounded.

Right? It's like, if if you don't find your number one grail, then you've got this money, and what are you going to spend it on then? And I or are you not gonna spend it at all? I just think setting these rules in place are really good.

You're not buying anything, not buying anything is a valid outcome if you're playing long term. Like, I'm going into this show. I made a couple really big purchases right before the show.

I, of course, like, I would love to find a card that I absolutely need, but there's a part of it right now that I'm just, like, I feel at ease because I did some damage before national on a bunch of cards that I really wanted.

So if I don't walk away with cards at the show, it's okay. There's an internal voice that says always you're not doing enough. It's part of life.

It's part of human behavior and psychology. Comparison. Remember everybody, comparison is a thief of joy. It's a good little little, nugget to have in the back of your mind. You know, fear of missing out, productivity, guilt.

There's all these things. I think everyone you're gonna see after day one in the national, whether you're there in Rosemont or you're at home, you're gonna see people start posting their pickups, their trades, their big deals.

It can feel like you're missing out. A reminder a key reminder is you don't see everything behind those posts. You gotta focus on your path. You are not there to prove anything to anyone.

You're there to enjoy the hobby in person, which is very rare, and it's very special. You gotta create some mental framing. Right? Success at the national equals what to you? Feeling like your goals were honored, not someone else's.

That's one I'm always thinking about. It's not it won't help you out at all. It won't help your mental state by looking at what other people are doing and thinking that you have to replicate it.

That's not practical. We're in this mode at the national that's way outside of many of our comfort zone. Right? We're leaving our routines. We're leaving our family. I'm I'm a very routine oriented human being.

You probably realize that by the consistency of content that you get on your feed. My entire week is episode way in advance because, I'm gonna be out with my family before the national, and then there's the national.

So I'm, like, feeling a little anxious and a little uncomfortable because I'm breaking my own mold. And those molds will be broken even more, especially when we're at the national and we're off our schedule.

I Think being away from your family and normal rhythm can mess with your emotional state. It's important to give yourself grace. It's okay to miss home and still enjoy this time.

Build in routine when you can. I'm gonna be doing this. My I just I literally, just sent out invites for content I'm going to be doing, and I looked at it, and it was the entire day at the national.

Entire day. So in order to make myself feel, at ease, even though I'm gonna be entering this foreign territory of talking live back to back to back to back to people, It's like, I know I'm gonna get in a a run-in the morning.

I'm gonna make sure I take care of myself. I'm gonna make sure I can find quiet time.

I'm gonna make sure I can stay connected to my purpose and why behind it. This sounds kinda like I don't know. I do it's it I do this, but it's like send some photos to your family, your during the national.

It's a small touch point, but it could help you get grounded. Let them in on your experience. The national's awesome. I'm fired up. I'm so excited to meet so many of you, but it's it's just I'm just being real.

It's overwhelming. And if you have some anxiety right now, it's completely normal. You don't need to have the biggest pickup or negotiation story. The win is showing up for me with intention.

You want this trip where you grow as a collector and a a purpose. So I don't know. I I needed a chat like this, especially the first time I went, and I wanna end with maybe just some encouragement for everyone.

If you're feeling nervous walking around the convention center, just know that you're not the only one, but you're ready.

I am excited to be there. I'm excited for you all to, enjoy the show much like I am. If you're at the show or not at the show, there's always time for stacking slabs content.

We're not gonna stop. We'll continue to put out episodes through the national because that's the only that's that's my comfort zone, and that puts my mind at ease.

Appreciate everyone for being along for the ride. Episode 700. It's been a wild, wild, and crazy trip building this thing out, but appreciate your support. Happy national. Talk to you soon.