I don't know about you - but there are some days when there is just too much to do and not enough time to do it?
Take the example of a typical morning:
1.My alarm is set for 5.00am - a 5-day a week habit because I love being an "early-bird";
2.As usual, the first 2 hours is rapid response to client emails - I pride myself on that customer service standard;
3.By 7.00am, my incoming is usually cleared and I can take a shower and enjoy some breakfast before the rest of the day, which can be:
a.Working in practice with clients;
b.Presenting as a trainer, consultant or coach;
c.Leading a corporate acquisitions team or
d.Just enjoying a "desk day" of preparation and thinking.
4.The first two of these activities create income, the third is designed to create wealth and the fifth is about staying organized and smart!
It all sounds very polished.
So why is it that, after waking at 5.00am this morning and clearing my incoming by 7.00am, by 9.30am I am sitting at my desk and feeling completely overwhelmed?
Because I just stopped what I was doing and decided to calculate just how much leadership, management, personal organization and preparation I have to do right now.
I made a list.
I time-evaluated the list.
You know what answer I came up with?
5 days.
I have 5 days of "desk" work on my desk as well as a very busy life in the first three categories mentioned.
Lucky me - its great to be busy and in demand.
BUT
1.I just had a call from a prospective client that I met at a trade show last September asking "where are you?"
2.I have my next desk day in a week from now;
3.I am averaging less than 1 desk day a week;
4.I have targets to meet in the first three categories.
So I'm in overwhelm - sitting here with glazed eyes and light chest pains before setting off on another 36 hours of business travel.
And, what (you may think) has all this got to do with Mastermind Groups?
Because that's where I am going to go next - for two reasons:
1.A good proportion of them will tell me that they feel exactly the same way - and that will make me feel much better (and not a failure) and
2.They will listen, add their experiences, share the solutions that have worked and the books, DVD's, on-line resources and coaches that have helped them and
3.They will make me accountable to put in place time-activated solutions.
You know what?
I know the answers.
1.More time (for thinking)
2.More people (for delegation) and
3.More money (for re-investment).
But my Mastermind Group will leave me with no hiding place.
Our group seems to be stabilized - working powerfully for each of us and expanding our mutual consciousness. We normally meet. on Tuesday nights, though because of Thanksgiving in two days, we decided to call it off this week, reconvening on December2. We are all thankful for this group and each day in our lives, regardless of individual circumstances.
Inside of a format that includes accomplishments and coaching requests and commitments, we are broadly looking in two related directions. One is that we are convinced and committed that there is something calling this group - as a group - to participate in something that will make a difference for the world -
And we continue to examine our own spirituality and how that occurs in the group. One of us is a very devoted born-again Christian; 4 others of us are Jewish. All of us have participated in programs given by Landmark Education. The God conversation arises frequently. Each of us has his own personification - from the Law of Attraction to Jesus. Regardless, we start with an invocation and close with a benediction. And who knows what next year will bring. Stay tuned.
Yes, I know you already belong to at least one mastermind group. (If you don't, join one today) Just because you already belong to a Mastermind Group or two doesn't mean you aren't always on the lookout elsewhere for great ideas and thoughts, right?? You have a perfect opportunity starting right now to leverage your time spent with family and friends over the holidays:
When you are entertaining, rather than having a "surface" discussion at the table (you know, the typical default pattern of non-substantive dribble that happens when you are with your relatives or whomever), try an experiment: Be specific and intentional about guiding the conversation into something meaningful. (avoid off-limit topics to keep people the peace. I am not talking about starting a debate that turns into hurt feelings and division.)
I am talking about becoming the question asker, trying on something like this for size: "Hey, guys, I was wondering......If you found out you were only going to live through 2009, what things would you do that you don't already have in your plans?" or "if you were 18 and starting over,knowing what you know now, what would you do for a living?" or "I was curious what our family bucket list would look like, so I started listing some things I've always wanted to do, who wants to add to it?" Pass around the paper and people will begin talking about their dreams, and usually adding to the list if you have a pen with it. can keep adding to it until everyone gets tired or can't think of anything else.
You can ask deep questions in the form of a "fantasy" when you are at someone else's house, too. That pre-empts boring conversations. "If you had to move to another city for your job, but it could be any city but here, which city would it be and why?" Doesn't that beat "Did you see Lindsay Lohan got flour thrown on her fur coat"? Give me a break.
Instead of letting holiday conversations become pablum, or worse yet, poop, promise yourself you will be the interesting question asker. You will get ideas, which will remind you of other things, and those ideas can lead you to another layer of questions. What you are basically doing is facilitating a mastermind group that doesn't know it is one.
One Thanksgiving, I set up a family teleconference since my family is all spread around the world, and couldn't be together. We talked about the most menaingfuo movies and books we had seen/read that year that made the biggest differences in our lives. What a great conversation that was!
Lastly, don't underestimate what children can contribute. Out of the mouths of babes come some of the best ideas ever. Why? Because they don't know all the limitations you do, and they don't firehose ideas like we do as adults.
Whether you a are playing facilitator to keep things lively during the holidays, or you are having a meaningful conversation, always remember, if you are bored, it's your own fault. Take personal responsibility for keeping dicussions meaningful and lively, whether you are a guest, or the host. Jim Rohn used to say, "To be interesting, you must be interested.". How true. Why not be the question asker this season, use you brain more, drink less, and grab onto a great idea or two to carry into the new year?!
I wish you many wonderful, idea-filled, interesting holiday conversations with your clan, whether your clan is easy or stressful to be around....May you turn your time together into a brilliant MasterMind!
In my current mastermind group, we're using Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" as a springboard for focusing each week's session. This week's chapter is 'Imagination: The Workshop of the Mind' (incidentally, the fifth of Hill's thirteen Steps Toward Riches). It's a great chapter, full of examples of individuals coming up with a single idea and running with it because they successfully engaged their own imaginations. Instead of seeing the problems and all the reasons why a thing can't be done, they sought to find solutions, ways round seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and thus brought their ideas into reality.
One of my favourite stories in the whole book is in this chapter, where a clergyman has a great idea to set up a new college that taught skills to young people via a 'learn by doing' approach rather than the academic norm, opening up education to all, not just those who liked textbooks. The project would cost 1 million dollars (in 1937- an enormous sum), but he had no idea how to get that amount of money, and so for two years he did nothing except think about it and say 'my idea is a good one, but I have cannot do anything with it because I do not have the necessary million dollars.' Then one day, he just had enough of thinking and he decided there and then that he would get the money he needed to do it within a week. And of course he gets it and he sets up the Armour Institute of Technology. (To find out how he raised the money, you'll have to get curious and read the book!)
The point is, what would you do with a million dollars right now? Or 10 million? Or 100 million?
Try asking this at your next Mastermind Group session and see where it goes. Do any of you have a million dollar idea? When I say a million, I don't mean the amount it will cost, or the amount it will earn, but in the 'million dollar' value (ie. beyond money value) that it will have to other people - the ones who will benefit as a result of this idea. Don't think business or start-ups or ROIs for a change. Start a lively debate, generate ideas together, play - have some fun with this one and truly engage your imaginations - let them fly.
Hill reminds us "Through the faculty of Creative Imagination, the finite human mind has direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.It is the faculty through which "hunches" and "inspirations" are received.It is by this faculty that all basic or new ideas are handed over to us. It is through this faculty that "thought vibrations" or "influences" from the minds of others are received.It is through this faculty that one individual may "tune in" or communicate with the subconscious minds of others."
By asking the Million Dollar question and taking 'real' money out of the equation, the session could lead in all sorts of directions, go anywhere - that's the amazing thing about Masterminding - it all depends on the sparks between you and the energy you can co-create.
The power of just what masterminding can do really came through with a recent comment from a member of my Career Transition Club.She's been out of work for several months and just joined this group of mid-level professionals looking for positive change in their work lives.She said during her introduction that she looks forward to coming to the meetings because before now, she was so isolated and cut off from anyone in the same situation that could really understand her predicament.Now she comes to the weekly meetings knowing she'll be surrounded by fellow job seekers who can relate to her, offer sound advice, and have her best interests at heart. Just knowing that others are cheering her on and want her to succeed makes all the difference to her.
Wow.When I formed this group, I knew that bringing people together to talk about the challenges of being unemployed, overqualified, and having to search for work in a tough job market would at least benefit by hearing what others are going through at the same time.What I continue to realize each week is that the benefits go even deeper than that. There's solace in being with people, perhaps strangers at first, who have a common bond of living with the same set of circumstances. There's a powerful camaraderie that comes from connecting with others outside of our usual circle of family and friends - objective outsiders looking in on us with fresh eyes seeing things we may not.
What I witness each week that far outweighs my original intention is the spirit of masterminding at its finest.A group of people otherwise feeling isolated and without resources while in the uncomfortable place of seeking work walk out of the meeting chatting, laughing, and sharing ideas with each other about what they might do next.I watch in quiet admiration at the evolution of these individuals as they develop into that supportive uplifting cohesive group that accomplishes so much together because they were drawn out of their isolation into a much better place.
Its hard to be unaffected by the spirit of hope and optimism Barak Obama has
brought to bear across the world recently, and with times getting leaner and meaner for many people, we all want to believe that change is possible and life as a result will improve in some way.
And, do you know, that if that happens in the wider political arena, we want to know that it will also impact in our personal lives and that we can sustain the change.
Some of my fellow masterminders have sought to support each other's efforts in decluttering their home and office environments and to have daily accounting for the tasks we had set ourselves.
Well, this wasn't just in order to create a better environmentto be in but to also achieve other even more profound changes in our lives be it in the area of relationship, career, money or business.
There was the general feeling that living with the degree of clutter most of us do, there was a definite block on our physical and emotional energies that prevented us achieving their wider goals.
That daily email connection gave us the spur to do what we had to do and kept up the motivation wonderfully because we were nudging and encouraging each other, challenging when someone wasn't checking in, inspiring each other with our efforts in doing the best we could, and adding the belief in ourselves that we could achieve what we set out to do.
Then life throws a spanner in the works – as it does some times. Some people got sick bugs and their efforts fell away. And in the words of one person, 'My mojo's gone'.
She needs the mastermind group to help bring new levels of enthusiasm and motivation to her efforts.
In fact she's done brilliantly. It may not sound like much but she can walk around her apartment now without having to move things out of her way. She's saving money because she can find paperwork relating to payments. She's systematizing her paperwork slowly and because its going to take her a long time – months I'm told –she needs the support of others who can assure her she can do it and keep the momentum going.
Can we do it? Yes, we can!That's what we're there for. And so can she. And why? Because as Napoleon Hill tells us in Think and Grow Rich, two or more minds working in harmony, produce a synergistic energy that create many more possibilities through our united vision and sense of purpose. And from the little acorns we plant now, change's gonna come as we help each other reach for our best.
One of the biggest problems I see with people working from home is lack of motivation. I have always had the extra edge of living and being married to my main business partner who keeps me on task like no one's business.
But I find when I am talking to other people in the same industry they get really excited in the beginning of a project. But once the actual rolling up the sleeves and getting down to the nitty gritty of the real work happens, their tune changes, their priorities change and they lose all focus.
I talk a great deal about drive and focus, and there is a reason for it. It keeps me always moving towards my goals and I believe if you don't have the drive, you will eventually run out of gas and give up on your dreams.
This is a where a mastermind group can really be in integral part of keeping the motivation and drive going in an individual and boost it to a higher level. People become part of something bigger when they join the mastermind, it becomes a commitment to others besides themselves.
Napolean Hill describes it in his well known book, "Think and Grow Rich" as, "The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony."
Once part of a group like this, we become dedicated to each other. When you wake up in the morning, you are not only pushing yourself out of bed for yourself, but for the group as a whole. You set goals, keep each other on tasks, have breakfast meetings and set out a plan of action on how to organize your day to optimize your business. You will find and realize that mastermind groups usually breeds success and on a much quicker level as you suddenly have the feeling of people behind you, cheering you on to cross that finish line so to speak.
Next time you meet someone who is successful financially, spiritually or personally, ask them, "Do you take part in a mastermind group?" Chances are most of them will say yes.
At our last Master Mind meeting, we met at the usual place and time that we have met for the past 2 years. At the beginning of the year we may change our spot, but I can't go there now as a civilian (in my non-Master Mind frame of mind) without thinking of my two good friends who have met with me regularly and encouraged me to achieve my dreams.
That helped when I came and shared that my husband's place of work would be closing in 2009 and he would be looking for another job. I will be looking for one too as soon as I get my resume updated. They both reminded me of the various avenues my husband and I could pursue. It helped to have input when I couldn't seem to get over the announcement of his employer's shutting down.
At the same meeting one member showed us her new tiny laptop. The rest of us were jealous! It could fit in a purse, is light as butter, and has a webcam and wifi capabilities. She plans to use it for her off-site consulting business. It is booming and she was beaming. It was a joy to think of how far she has come within the last couple of years as an independent businessperson.
My other friend is busily preparing for a national talk she will give within a few months. She also had a breakthrough on her children's book and is hoping to complete that soon.
Interspersed with all of the news was much laughter, which I badly needed. You may not think of your Master Mind associates as humorous, but the next time you meet, why not have a contest to see who can crack the funniest joke? Award the winner with something funny. Sometimes we need to laugh in these tough times. It can do a world of good. Take care.
Taking on new members for your Mastermind Group needs to happen in order to replace people who either aren't coming physically (they quit for whatever reason) or aren't coming mentally (not doing their homework, arriving late at meetings, not contributing). When you have a Mastermind Group, part of what makes it work is a close-knit environment where there is trust and mutual appreciation for eachothers' goals. It's difficult to bring new members into a fully formed, functioning group. It can upset the delicate balance that exists or bring up fears that normally stay hidden. For example, the last time we added members to one of my Mastermind Groups, one of the existing members started doubting their value ("But, I always liked being the youngest. If I'm not the youngest in the group any more, what's my shtick?"). Having a clearly defined process for adding new members eases both of these concerns.
I've been in one of my Mastermind Business Groups for seven years and have watched many members come and go. There are certain things that make the transition to adding new members easier:
Have clearly defined membership criteria - Every single group I am in has some sort of membership criteria. Not surprisingly, the group that has the squishiest, most vague criteria also has the hardest time admitting new members because well, almost everything goes! We've even invited people to join the group that didn't have a business when the Mastermind group's stated purpose revolved around business. Whoops! When you have clearly defined membership criteria, turning potential new members away doesn't need to be about them but about their qualifications to join the group. It's not personal - it's just that they don't fit your groups' desired membership demographics. And, if they do fit all the criteria, that's when you start working down the list below.
Have clearly defined expectations - One of my Mastermind business groups will literally kick you out if you miss two meetings in a year. Another one of them has fines for being late. Expectations don't need to be draconian attendance or late policies. I'm in one Mastermind Group that has no attendance or late fees but they do have required reading every month. It doesn't matter what your expectations are so much as that you can write them down and share them with potential new members so that they know what they are signing on for and what the group will expect from them.
Give every existing member veto power - Every so often, one of the existing members just has a bad feeling or takes an instant dislike to a potential new member. It may be irrational but discounting the existing member's concern is a surefire way to breed a poisonous resentment that will culminate in either the existing member leave or the new member washing out in a few months. Giving each and every member the power to approve or disapprove how their group is formed also ensures that everyone is accountable for their own Mastermind experience.
Have a three month trial period - Sometimes, it just doesn't work out. It's not that the new member is bad person. It's just a "fit" thing. They'll probably be very happy in another group, but your group isn't it. Having a probationary period helps make this decision less emotional and more of a procedural thing.
If there are other things that you've found to ease the transition of adding new members, I'd love to know about them. Since I'm in three Mastermind Groups, there is room to grow and improve the policies and procedures in all of them.
EvanCarmichael.com is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies. Evan also runs a series of successful Mastermind Groups in Toronto for entrepreneurs.
Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
