What a difference a year makes

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
Kayleen's Posts - Kayleen's Blog

A little over a year ago, I was starting a full-time career as a writer after spending 15 years juggling writing, a family and full-time job. Over 1,500 of my articles had been published, as well as several stories in books like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Now I planned to write full-time and live my dream.

However, after a few months, discouragement set in. Working alone made it a challenge to stay excited and focused.

One night, while attending a monthly writing workshop led by local author Shirley Jump at Barnes and Noble at Jefferson Point, I met Laurie Gray and Tammy VanBaalen. Both women had similar aspirations of jump-starting their careers.

Tammy VanBaalen was a licensed clinical social worker. She wanted to market and grow her therapy practice as well as pursue opportunities in life coaching and consulting. She also wanted to receive training in neurofeedback and write articles about her vocation to help people.

Laurie Gray was a part-time deputy prosecuting attorney in Fort Wayne.

She wanted to find publishers for her Socratic parenting book, a young adult novel and a picture book. As a part-time deputy prosecutor, she worked with drug addicts and juvenile sex offenders, so another goal was to find tools to help those people successfully complete treatment and stay out of the criminal justice system.

Each of us had read Jack Canfield's book, Principles of Success, in which he discusses Master Mind groups (Canfield is co-founder of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books). None of us had been in a Master Mind group, but we decided to form our own "dream team". In January 2007 the three of us met together for the first Master Mind group.

The basic philosophy of a Master Mind group, according to Canfield in his book, is that "more can be achieved in less time when people work together. The point is to meet regularly with two or more individuals who are willing to share ideas, thoughts, information, feedback, and resources."

When Tammy, Laurie, and I began meeting monthly, we spent time getting to know each other. Tammy found Master Mind forms with questions about goals online and emailed them to everyone in the group. We filled them out and read them to each other at our first meeting.

At our meetings we brought news of accomplishments and progress from the previous month and often asked for input about upcoming projects. Our meetings usually lasted 1.5 hours. The fact that we were all in separate careers was helpful as we brought separate bits of information and networking skills to our group. At another meeting we watched The Secret DVD together and talked about it.

Outside of the group sessions, we individually studied books and other materials that related to the subject of success: Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, Ernest Holmes' The Science of Mind and Wallace Wattle's The Science of Getting Rich: Financial Success through Creative Thought.

After meeting for a year, we are each pleased with our individual and group progress. Over the past few months, Tammy has seen her therapy practice flourish. She also created and trademarked a time-out blanket that she plans to market nationally (http://www.tammy-vanbaalen.com/).

The writing and neurofeedback training goals are on hold, but she is not disappointed. "For me 2008 is already shaping up as a year of opportunity and growth as I have worked to establish priorities that include the growth of my therapy practice," she says.

Laurie's goals have changed somewhat over the past year, too. "I have changed my focus from getting published to learning, growing, and writing. I still hold the vision of my published books as a positive intention, but I focus my energy on what I can accomplish each day towards that result, rather than the end itself."

As a result of her involvement in the Master Mind group, in February 2007 Laurie created the Token of Change(TM), a coin and affirmation magnet set designed to help people focus their thoughts, and create and maintain positive change in their lives. She found a business partner who helped her develop the idea and produce a final product that is now available online at www.TokenofChange.com and in a handful of retail locations. She also wrote My Token of Change: A Coin and Book for Children Ages 3-103.

She adds that a value of belonging to a Master Mind group for her has been the opportunity to hear new viewpoints. "As an attorney, married to an attorney, with lots of attorney friends and colleagues, it has been extremely helpful to me to have a professional free-lance writer and a licensed counselor and life coach as part of my Master Mind group," she says. "Their experience and expertise have fueled my own desire to write and help others in ways my own circles of friends and colleagues could not."

Tammy had read about Mastermind Groups and knew they often met through e-mail or teleconferencing. She has appreciated that our Master Mind group chose to meet in person. "Our group has started small, but is diverse. This has enhanced our ability to get to know each other. I believe all of these things have contributed to the success of our group and that we will continue to provide mutual encouragement and support to each other," she says.

In 2007, the encouragement from my Master Mind group induced me to expand my writing to newer and bigger markets. A year ago, the thought of writing a book was overwhelming. However, as we talked about it, Laurie and Tammy helped me think of it as several magazine articles put together. That made it seem manageable. I'm currently awaiting the publication of my first children's book and am assigned to do three more children's biographies for the same publisher this summer. My goal is to write more books yet this year.

An unexpected bonus came when I wrote about the Master Mind group on my blog (http://kayleenr.blogspot.com/). International entrepreneur and small business specialist Evan Carmichael read it and asked me to blog about Master Mind groups at his website. That monthly column about the value of belonging to a Master Mind group has been published for over a year at this site: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/labels/kayleen%20reusser.html.

Tammy perhaps sums up our experiences in the Master Mind group best. "We have found that a Mastermind Group is a great way to meet positive people who are motivated. Whether you are wanting to make changes, grow personally and/or professionally, it is a good way to get support and to establish and stay focused on goals."

For more details about masterminding, read The Success Principles or go to http://www.jackcanfield.com.