Taking A Detour

Guest Contributor: Kelly Smith
Kelly's Posts - Kelly's Blog


Not too long ago, I took a detour along the roadside not knowing it would lead me to the destination I wanted to follow. Does that even make sense? Because sometimes things don't. At least, while you're doing them anyways. "The tree came out of no where," you sometimes hear people say. But we all know it was there all along, the person just wasn't paying attention to the fact it was larger than life and in plain view.

Whenever I am offered a detour, I stop and think where would I be if I didn't take all of the other roads less taken in my life? When I met my husband I was on my way to California instead I ended up in beautiful Calgary, Canada with two incredible children. What if fear had stopped me to take that risk?

The point is, we don't always see what's in front of us, but just follow our inner instincts and not what we see outwardly. Being part of a mastermind group is helpful in this respect when you have your 'ah ha" moments because a member of your group talks about his/her path hits a chord with you that finally helps you to understand where you are going.

You see, when you are in the process of making decisions on your own, in particularly decisions that may involve risk and might scare you, you tend to analyze them to death resulting in paralyzing fear. The end result? Nothing. Nada. No move because the fear overcomes you and stops you dead in your tracks.

Belonging to a mastermind group can offer you a different end result and allow you to be open and secure enough to take the risk, take the detour. Because in the end, you will find the detour was actually the track you were supposed to be on in the first place.

Joining / Starting A Mastermind Group

Guest Contributor: Doug Emerson
Doug's Posts - Doug's Blog


Looking through "Think and Grow Rich" last year about this time, I reread the section about Mastermind groups. Like a lot of people, my copy of "Think and Grow Rich" is quite worn and is filled with inked in arrows, circles and notes highlighting the passages of importance. Napoleon Hill's section on mastermind groups always intrigued me when I read it, but Fear had always stopped me from forming my own mastermind group.

• I was afraid of my invitation to join being rejected by potential group members; worse yet, a declination to join might also be taken as personal rejection.
• I was afraid that some members would not provide the right kind of support and input to the group and the messy process of rejecting them from the group would be controversial and painful.
• I was fearful that the project would die a slow death of apathetic neglect as enthusiasm dwindled by group members.

I wish my imagination for success was more powerful than my imagination for disaster all of the time, but at that moment about a year ago, my thoughts for the success of forming a mastermind group overpowered all fears of failure.

With the help of another member, we talked about and invited two others to be members of a mastermind group that met on a conference call weekly. We knew each other; not all of us had known each other for the same amount of time.

One year of masterminding weekly has provided these results:

• Accountability to members who understand me and my business objectives.
• A forum to whine a little and then be positively directed to move on.
• Education about others' business problems which are common to all businesses.
• Quick observations and suggestions from members in a spirit of helpfulness and camaraderie with no strings attached.

If you are thinking of joining or starting a mastermind group to help you in your business, the only thing you need to be fearful of is waiting another day.

Doug Emerson writes a blog about making money in the horse business.