Don't overlook the most basic of all master mind groups. Your most important, most powerful master mind resource might be right in front of you. Well, maybe.
If you have a family - you have an "organic master mind group." A master mind group in simplicity is a group of 2 or more people having a common goal. I know that many families do not live as if they have a common goal, but that might change with the realization of how much more powerful one could become in attracting success by making peace with one's family.
I realize that this can be a challenge, but imagine with me. If a married couple could realize that they have greater potential in all that they do either together or individually if they would intentionally endeavor to have a harmonious relationship. Then imagine, if this couple would practice harmony with each other as they raise their children, the master mind group would grow in power in proportion to the harmony cultivated as the children grew. It's funny how children mimic what their parents do.
I know that might sound like a "perfect world," but we would move closer to that perfect world if we would view our most basic relationships as the powerful master mind group they are. Men, women and children are more effective moving out into the world from a place of harmony.
The energy increase brought into your life by cultivating a harmonious family will increase every other master mind group that you contribute to. Begin to cultivate harmony in your organic master mind.
We are evaluating and creatively destroying our business at the moment - designing a 2008 business model that will allow us to create "more profit in less time" personally - instead of just for our clients!
As part of that process we have decided to considerably expand the number and scope of our Mastermind Groups next year.
By expand - I mean from one group of 18 clients - to 7 groups of 15 clients around the UK - now that's expand!
By scope - I mean that the existing one-day format will be increased to a day and half - feedback from the 2007 members is that they want more time and are prepared to pay for it.
So here is the sales copy we have developed for our 2008 Mastermind Groups - this will be going out to our database in the next few days. It is an extract from a much larger document that outlines all of our products and services, from team training days and practice visits, through Mastermind Groups, to individual tailor-made coaching.
Constructive feedback is welcome - and please also feel free to use any of our language and ideas with your own niche market - every market except UK dentists please!
Mastermind groups
Are you:
Good at dentistry and pretty good at running a business - BUT feel as if you are at a plateau in your development?
Enjoying the clinical work BUT slowly becoming overwhelmed with the demands and complexity of spinning all the business plates?
Running out of time to get everything done? Has time become just a scarce quantity in your life as opposed to a valued quality?
Looking for a realistic plan that will move you forward so that you can believe that your life is going to be better 10 years from now?
Feeling professionally isolated, unable to share your ideas with like-minded principals and get their feedback and suggestions?
Tired of having to continually develop tools, systems and processes all by yourself?
Looking for strategies and tactics that will help you to develop a superb support team?
Would you like to:
Work with the UK's top two dental business coaches on designing tailor-made solutions that will move your practice forward to the next level?
Develop a crystal clear vision of the next 10 years and the steps towards your success?
Sit down on a regular basis with 14 other practice owners who think they have a bigger future
Stay in touch with your coaches and peer group on a regular basis to share your ideas and benefit from their wisdom of experience
Help others to grow their practices by sharing your own successes and failures?
Enjoy access to the very best ideas, tools, systems, templates, brand standards and systems that are making the UK's top privately-owned practices the best in the business?
In the Mastermind Groups (MMG's) you will be challenged by your mentor coaches, Simon Hocken, Chris Barrow and the rest of this energetic community to create goals, strategies and tactics, brainstorm ideas, and act as catalysts, devil's advocates and supportive friends and colleagues.
As a member of a Dental Mastermind Group, you will:
Join a one year Mentoring Programme which is restricted to 15 Dental Principals (and their partners if they work in the business) per location
Meet four times a year on Monday lunchtime for two days of intensive training and coaching, including a working dinner and overnight stay. The meetings will be led jointly by Simon Hocken and Chris Barrow
Meet in one of 7 venues around the UK
Have one on one access to Simon and Chris by email and by phone to coach you during the year.
Have the opportunity to report in every week emailing your Mastermind Group Weekly Workout Log
Be in easy communication with the rest of the group by on-line forum for brainstorming ideas/problems/solutions etc
Enjoy full access to all of the content we develop throughout the new company - tools, templates, systems and innovative ideas
Be able to send your team members to our training days and enjoy a 20% discount on the day delegate rate
Your Investment
The investment to be a member of the Mastermind Group is £8,000 plus VAT or £752.00 per month plus VAT.
Do you know the type of people who always manage to find faults in everyone or every situation? The type that always sees the glass as half-empty? Whatever conversation you engage with them, they would turn it into a "Who's Got It Worse" competition, and, they are determined to win. They are eager to tell you that they are "just not as lucky" or "not as good (smart, pretty)" as others. Every conversation almost always turns into a "Poor Me" whining session.
Got the picture? These are negative people, and I'm sure you've come across (or even lived with) at least a couple of them.
As if it's not bad enough that they are negative and insecure about themselves, I think the worst part is, they never hesitate to tell you that dreams don't come true (especially yours).
If you have experienced interacting with such negative people, you know how morale-deflating, emotionally draining, and migraine-inducing it is to talk with them. Over the years, I have learned that, negative (or "toxic") people and the negative energy they bring are detrimental to both physical and emotional well-being. If you are chronically surrounded by such negative energy from toxic relationships, it could literally make you ill. The stress from dealing with negative people can cause many physical and emotional problems, and increase your risks of getting major diseases such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, to name a few. That is why I set an intention to consciously avoid or minimize negative relationships in my personal and professional life.
I've always stressed the importance of choosing who you share your dreams and goals with, and building your own success team. It's extremely important to choose only those who believe in you and will support you in your endeavors. Joining a mastermind group (or starting one) is a great way to build your support network that will cheer you on, offer resources and sound advice when you most need it.
It seems obvious that you wouldn't want any negative people in your mastermind group, because it would totally defeat the purpose. If you are starting a new mastermind group, make sure you pay special attention when you interview potential candidates. Be wary of people who speak negatively about others and/or about themselves, and people who generally complain a lot. That's a red flag.
When you join an existing mastermind group, you might not be able to choose who belong to the group, but after a while you can definitely pick out the whiners and the toxic people in the group. A couple years ago I belonged to a mastermind group of business owners and a good part of us were new start-ups then. At every meeting we shared our progress and challenges in our businesses, and asked the group to hold us accountable for what we would commit to do before our next meeting. Every month some of us had great news to share, while others might have had a challenging month, which is completely normal.
However, there was one member who seemed to be very insecure about herself and her business. Since we are both professional coaches, we became friendly with each other. Sometimes after the meeting we'd chat, and she would say with envy about how everyone was doing so great, and she felt like she was the only one who fell behind. Then she would proceed to blame it on her lack of education compared to others (which is not true), and that it's simply impossible to make a living as a professional coach (not true, either). I ended up having to coach her right on the spot and trying to boost up her self-confidence. When I shared with her my new project ideas, she often said it sounded great but it probably wouldn't work. Let me tell you, it was extremely draining and depressing talking with her. Being a new coach and new business owner myself, her negative attitude and comments were simply more than I could take. After a few more interactions like that, I learned my lesson and stayed away from her. Eventually she left the group on her own, which was a relief for all of us.
I refer to the kind of conversations I had with this coach as "Deadly Conversations". No, they do not kill you (at least not right away), but they can easily kill your spirit, hopes and dreams. What are we without our hopes and dreams? That's why I think toxic conversations and toxic people are deadly. If you cannot avoid such people completely, try to avoid engaging them in conversations whenever possible. Better yet, make a conscious effort to build a sound support network or a mastermind group that truly believes and supports you in achieving your dreams.
You have your mastermind, like minded members working towards similar goals. Plans are put in place and input from different people is encouraged. Even when a group of people have similar goals, opinions can always differ. We all have different perspectives. We've all had different experiences which shape our thought process.
Frequently we look at things from our own perspective. We are by nature a sum of our parts, our own experiences and lessons learned. Sometimes we try to look at things from someone else's perspective but still manage to color our thinking with our own experiences.
Often times we do this sub-consciously. It isn't that we're unable to understand or are trying to be difficult. Sometimes we just can't help it, especially if it's something we're passionate about. So how does this affect the Mastermind? It can create disharmony or sometimes chaos. Disharmony and chaos are best dealt with before it starts.
Every Mastermind should have some kind of structure or guidelines. Handling disagreements should be dealt with from the beginning. No matter how proficient the Mastermind group, not all situations may be resolved easily. Have a system to handle these delicate situations before it has a chance to permeate the group with negative energy.
We've all heard the saying "walk a mile in someone else's shoes". The problem is we sometimes have difficult imagining what "that" must have been like ("that" can be any experience you haven't gone through). That experience could be business related or personal. Both kinds of experiences shape who we are.
Ultimately the best situation would be for everyone to listen not only with their head but also with their hearts. Some people do this more easily than others. If you're in a Mastermind group you're already one step ahead.
We've found two key things about entrepreneurs and goal setting. 1) When you commit to someone else (ie your Mastermind Group) you are more likely to follow through and 2) When you have clearly written goals you are more likely to understand where you want to take your company and will actually go out and achieve it.
In my Mastermind Groups everyone has two set of written goals. The first is one main annual goal. Each entrepreneur takes the most important goal for them for the year. Come December 31st what does your company look like? It has to be a goal that is numeric and can be measured. It can't be something qualitative like "I want to feel better about my company." Most of my members choose a revenue goal but sometimes they have a goal that is more meaningful than revenue. For example, my December 31st goal is to be at 35,000 or under in Alexa rankings.
Each meeting the members update where they are with their goals and how they are making progress (or not). The key here is to have the other members help hold you accountable for doing what you said you were going to do and help you achieve your goals.
The second set of goals we write down are the plans of action for the next month. We meet on a monthly basis so at each session the members discuss their plans and write down the three most important things they are going to work on over the next month. Throughout the month they are partnered with another member who will check up on them to make sure they are following through. Then at the next meeting each member updates how they have done and checks the items from their list.
By writing down your goals and sharing them with the Mastermind Group members you gain greater clarity on where you want to take your company and have someone to help hold you accountable for accomplishing what you said you were going to do.
In my post last month I talked about monthly agreements and the language of each promise. I've been asked several times to make the distinction between promises and to-do lists.
Here's one way to look at the difference. When setting your sights on a goal you wish to reach in the future, you will typically lay out an action plan that includes the steps you will take to get from here to there, right? In other words, what you will do to arrive at your destination. Each step will have a result. While it might initially start out as a promise, you might find yourself slipping into creating a to-do list.
One of your goals might be to systematize your business so that you're working more efficiently. Your steps might include:
1. Evaluating current programs and continuing to upgrade where needed
2. Calling web person to revamp your website
3. Scheduling time to declutter and organizing your office
4. Ordering new office equipment
5. Updating your marketing material
6. Outsourcing work
7. Registering for a new course or training
I make this distinction because getting caught up in making lists rather than being accountable or in integrity to the promises being made will affect the value received from masterminding. The goal is not to show how busy you are doing stuff, rather to make agreements that have a built in intention that challenge you to s-t-r-e-t-c-h outside of your comfort zone (which is why you're in a mastermind group!).
The agreements you make are meant to nudge you forward and might create some discomfort so that you feeling slightly off balance. Being slightly off kilter offers opportunities to limitless possibilities that can lead to rich results. In fact, you might choose to add something in your promises that is deliberately uncomfortable with the intent of kicking things up a notch.
So be bold in challenging yourself to have what you desire. The possibilities are endless.
Because I am running a business from home I am not surrounded by a group of people on a day to day basis to converse with (unless you count my toddlers) whenever I am deciding on something. All home based entrepreneurs soon discover the fact that decision making is all on themselves.
Or is it?
One of the many benefits of belonging to a mastermind group is that you are never alone. You always have people you can bounce ideas off of or talk to when making serious decisions. Recently, I ran into a conundrum when a group of business partners were deciding on whether to market a particular company. I had been very involved in running conference calls, trainings and even putting their first convention together so when we ran into a morale dilemma I had some big decisions to make that would ultimately change the course of my whole business and how involved I would still be.
Fortunately, because I belong to a mastermind group I can hash things out not only in my mind but with other mastermind members who have experienced the same issues.
One of the best pieces of advice I received from a fellow member? "Take the emotions out of your decision making and think only as a business person." Believe me, it's much harder than it sounds but it was both feet on the ground advice in an industry that can sometimes take you on a fast ride when all you can do is hold on tight and sit back.
These are the times though, when you can really use a piece of advice from someone who is in more of a neutral state or an "outside opinion". Because our particular mastermind group is based on home based business members we can all learn from each others' mistakes and this can be so invaluable. Many decisions are minor but some could have a significant effect on catapulting your business to new levels, so doesn't it make business sense to have other entrepreneurs to confer with?
So what kinds of decisions are you making in your business right now? Are you trying to decide the best ways to advertise or how to make sales calls? Or are you just trying to decide what direction you want to go in with your home based business? These questions will pop up on a daily basis if they haven't already and why would you want to sit and attempt to do everything alone?
A true mastermind group is not going to tell you what you should do, but tell you what they learned along the way and how it turned out for them. A member may be able to give you honest and neutral advice that could make all the difference on what path you will take.
Recently I was asked by someone if I knew anyone who was looking for a mastermind group. I asked the woman exactly what she wanted from a mastermind group and she replied, "I don't know, I just keep hearing about it and I think I should have one."
I've been masterminding for over 15 years. I've participated in and led probably 12 groups over these 15 years, ranging from spiritually-influenced to self-run to high-end groups facilitated by someone else. Each of these mastermind groups served a particular purpose and it wasn't until I was really clear about what my needs and preferences were that my mastermind experiences began to truly align with success.
Here is an overview of some of the types of mastermind groups that exist and what purpose they serve.
Traditional Masterminds.
Influenced by the popular book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, traditional masterminds are typically formed by a group of like-minded people who want to tap into the power of a "third mind" that is bigger than anything any one member can access alone. Focused on achieving goals, these groups meet to support and affirm your ability to achieve these goals.
Benefits: Typically there is no cost, everyone in the group is considered equal and the group members agree to meet in person or on the phone regularly.
Downsides: Usually one member of the group will fall into the leader role and become the coach or facilitator out of necessity. This changes the dynamic greatly and takes away from the leaders own personal experience. These groups often lack any structure or system to run so unless the group is VERY motivated it will fall apart. If a few members get more successful than the rest, they will usually leave the group as they won't feel challenged.
Spiritual Masterminds.
Usually formed around a church or spiritual group, spiritual masterminds are formed around the power of prayer. Group members bring a challenge to the group and the group's role is to help them tap into a power greater than themselves to access new thinking, opportunities and possibilities to transform their situation.
Benefits: Spiritual connectedness is very powerful for these groups, many times there will be an appointed leader and a set time to meet (although many are run as traditional masterminds.) Many spiritual communities offer a mastermind guide to assist in the process of setting and tracking goals.
Downsides: As powerful as the spiritual connection is, these groups don't typically offer any kind of brainstorming or proven strategies so the person is left to uncover the path on their own.
Business Masterminds.
A business mastermind is hosted by a leader who facilitates a mastermind experience for their group. There are two key types of business masterminds: mastermind only and coaching masterminds. The mastermind only groups are the like a traditional mastermind but led by a neutral 3rd party. A coaching mastermind is hosted by a trained coaching expert who facilitates an experience where brainstorming, strategizing and support occurs.
Benefits: Business masterminds are usually by application only so it reinforces a certain standard or level of success in the group. The 3rd party facilitation ensures that regular meetings are set, accountability is in place, and that all participants are equals. If coaching is included, the participants will get valuable support to overcome stuck spots swiftly.
Downsides: These groups usually require an investment to play with other big players that you wouldn't typically have access to. Is that really a downside though? I think not, but I had to put something in this category.
One year ago, I started my adventure as a full-time freelance writer. I was nervous and excited, not sure what the future might hold. There were some tough weeks when no paychecks came in and we seemed to treading on thin ice financially. The job ads were looked at frequently, just in case we decided this would not work.
Then our second car went through a ditch in an ice storm and was out of commission for a while. This prevented me from finding another job as there was no transportation.
During that time, I kept plugging away at my writing, while starting a Master Mind group in January.
The group consisted of two other people I had met in a writing group. The three of us were interested in meeting regularly and holding each other accountable for our goals, while encouraging each other to reach far and dream big.
Over the past months, I realized it is hard to dream big when you're concerned about every dime that goes out and comes in. By meeting with my Master Mind group, I was able to get my mind off of myself and think about my friends who were also trying new projects and careers.
Now, each time we meet, we suggest ways to work smarter, not harder. I'm particularly interested in marketing and have tried to think of ways my friends could promote their products.
Since January, both members have started websites and developed new products to promote their beliefs and careers. It's hard to imagine I had much to do with their success, but they say it is true.
They are part of the reason for my ability to think big. New markets for my writing have opened up, such as Indianapolis Monthly, Farm & Ranch Living, Elks Magazine, and other national publications.
I've also desired to share my writing talents. Two charities have held auctions in which I donated one free 500-word written profile to the highest bidder of each. This is one way to give back to the people who have supported me through the years.
Then this week I made arrangements to begin teaching a small group of inner-city students at a Christian-based after-school program on the subject of writing. A year ago, that may not have been possible as my self-esteem and willingness to put myself out there was not as high as it is today. This is a big step for me as teaching has not been a part of my background.
But a year of self-growth and almost a year of meeting with my Master Mind group has made all the difference. It seems like the right thing to do in sharing my knowledge with those who are young enough to use it as a career. Other writing projects, including one with a medical group, have opened up, as well as copywriting for a tourism center.
I can't wait to see what the next year holds! One thing is certain: my Master Mind group will be part of it.
My last post was about my mastermind group starting an experiment to review and study a popular internet marketing manual we had all purchased previously.Another form of a study group, the plan is to cover a chapter a week to take advantage of the wisdom printed on the pages of our only slightly used and slightly dusty three ring binders chock full of just under 300 pages .The discipline of the weekly mastermind group meeting is the force designed to pull us through the pages.
Here is the update.
We've made it through the first two chapters and will be discussing chapter three in our meeting this week.I expected us to be further along in the manual at this point and I'm disappointed in our progress in fast forwarding through the manual and putting more of the material to work for our businesses.
So what we have we been doing in our weekly meetings?
Discussing cash flow crisis
Announcing member's new book release and publicity
Website makeover advice
Pros and cons of various shopping cart providers
The merits of starting a membership site
Taking summertime holidays
Regaining focus on the important things and ignoring the trivia
Analyzing blog and newsletter numbers and their importance in marketing
Speaking fees
How to organize workbooks to accompany workshops
While I'm disappointed that we haven't been able to cram more marketing information into our busy brains, a review of the list above reminds me of the value each of us is getting from our membership in the mastermind group.
At first glance it may seem we have distracted ourselves from our earlier "chapter a week" goal to review the marketing material.But, since the purpose of our mastermind group is to be able to freely bring up topics for input, guidance and how-to at our meetings, my thinking was naive to assume the normal business of our meetings would be kept on hold while we dedicated ourselves to massive marketing efforts.
Our experiment proved what has been proved many times before.There is no fast forward in business. Just like building a wall, businesses are best built one brick at a time.
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: Melody Campbell
