Ready to level up your business … and your mind?
Hey there, JP here. I recently attended a Mastermind with some close friends and colleagues and wanted to share some thoughts.
I’m in a couple of these groups that meet at various times throughout the year, and I gotta tell you, I’m excited as a porcupine meeting a pineapple because I always return from these things with a better, sharper plan of action and a brain full of ideas.
Are you in a Mastermind group of your own?
Let me just say… you need to be.
Trust me on this.
Start one yourself if you have to, but make it a priority to no longer run your business in a vacuum… but instead surround yourself with people who’ll ask you the tough questions, challenge you, share ideas freely and allow you to do the same.
There’s just nothing else like it.
Allow me to paint the picture for you…
What the heck is a “Mastermind” anyway?
The “Mastermind” is a principle that comes originally from Napoleon Hill’s famously awesome Think and Grow Rich. (BTW — Read. This. Book.)
Essentially a mastermind is a secret cabal of evildoers out to take over the world.
Ha, I kid, I kid.
A Mastermind group is simply an alliance of 2 or more individuals dedicating themselves to a specific goal.
So, in situation where one person (you) doesn’t have all the answers, a collective group of people could feed off each other’s wisdom and form a “master mind” that can come up with innovative ideas and solutions you can’t brainstorm all by your lonesome.
It could be an outside-the-box solution or a new perspective. Or even a challenge to the original concept you’re wrestling with in the first place.
What goes down at my Masterminds?
Shenanigans and tomfoolery, of course.
Kidding again. (OK, half kidding on that one.)
For real though, they’ll all be a little different in approach and flavor, but here’s pretty much how they work…
We get together a couple of times a year just to sharpen each other in business and in life. In the evenings we horse around and have tons of fun together. But during the days, we lock ourselves in a conference room together, sit ‘round a big ole round table, and focus intently on:
- Sharing what’s working in life and business — celebrating some wins, successes together.
- Sharing what’s not working so well — where stuff’s not quite humming along or maybe flat-out broken, and we need some help fixing/refining.
…and then we each take turns basically pouring the group “Mastermind” into one person at a time, challenging, sharpening and idea-generating… and pushing each other to greater levels of awesome.
The basic rules are:
- Show up — Your commitment to be there and be “present” is crucial and never taken lightly.
- Give and take — Be ready to both give and receive… energy actively flowing both ways.
- Don’t hold back — Open and honest, caring and sharing, always and forever, amen and amen.
- Take your lumps — The ability to give/take it on the chin if need be is a non-negotiable.
- Confidentiality — An environment like this demands that we all respect each other’s privacy, always.
So, what do you think? Sound kind of cool? It is!
Big takeaway — Masterminds work and can be ridiculously powerful when done well. I can confidently say these 2 masterminds I’ve been involved in over the years added tens of thousands of extra dollars to my bottom line… and helped make my business and life clearer and more potent than ever.
So do this…
- Find a solid Mastermind you can be a part of.
- If you can’t find a Mastermind that works for you, create one from scratch… make sure you’re a part of something like this.
- Become more successful and generally awesomer.
Oh, and pick up “Think and Grow Rich” and devour it if you haven’t already. It’s really good.
Here’s to hoping I rattled your cage at least a little. 🙂