The Mastermind Within

Guest Contributor: Janet Napora
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Your mastermind group is a wonderful place to advance your skills, help others and take advantage of the positive power that surrounds the group. It's a place to focus your energy and attain common goals. Different group have different meeting schedules whether it's once a month or once a week each meeting is important.

Actively participating in discussions is very important. It doesn't matter if you're new to the group or are just starting out on your path to your goals. Everyone has something to offer. Each individual is an integral part of the group.

What happens the other days, in between the meetings? Are you applying everything you've learned? Your road, whatever it is must be an ongoing process. Life throws many challenges our way. The difference between success and failure is based on how we handle those challenges. When you are faced with a situation that seems disastrous, with no solution in sight, you need to look to the mastermind within you.

Your mastermind group is with you even when you are alone. When you're involved in a mastermind group you get to know these people intimately. You know how they think, how they face their challenges. Reach into your mind, think about everything you've learned and discussed. You will find exactly the answer you've been looking for or at least a place to start.

Your mastermind might be about marketing, photography, business building or any kind of training. One common thread should be personal development. We are all changing and growing every day. Work on your personal development every day. It can be as simple as spending a little time reading a good book or listening to an audio. It's not only the people around you but the confidence you have in yourself that will help you conquer all the challenges you face.

Your Master Mind Personal Life

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
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It's funny how a Master Mind group can carry over into personal life.

A good friend in my Master Mind group is a prosecuting attorney. This came in handy lately when I heard my college-bound daughter say she has an interest in law that takes place in a courtroom. In other words, she doesn't want to practice Elder Law or other types that are less confrontational.

(I'd like to take a minute to credit our local Teen Court group for instilling this interest in my daughter. It is a group of high school from different school systems who meet regularly to act as a jury of peers and mock court room for students who have gotten into trouble with the law. A student, for instance, who has a DUI will be judged by his peers as to his guilt and if he should be punished. The punishment is also set down by the jury of peers. It can include anything from 20 hours of community service to counseling with parents to paying back a shop owner for shoplifting good.

The teen standing trial agrees to go along with the punishment set up by the teen court system. The teens taking part in the court agrees to keep all of the information from the trial, including names of students involved, confidential. The court is presided over by a local attorney who volunteers his or her time to the proceedings.

My daughter has been a part of this group for several years and has assumed various positions in the courtroom, including prosecutor. She has never revealed anything about this process of a personal nature to her family.)

I wanted to encourage my daughter to think about pursuing law an an avenue of career. Since I am not a lawyer, nor have a member of the family that is, I looked to my Master Mind friend for help.

"Could I bring my daughter to meet you so you can give her some idea of what it's like to be a prosecutor?" I asked her recently by email.

She immediately wrote back that she would be interested in talking with my daughter and suggested some meeting times. We will be meeting with her soon.

My Master Mind friend is very focused on her career and family and yet, she feels the need to share that knowledge and positive view of life with others. Her one goal developed during our Master Mind meetings is taking physical form and may be available soon for an announcement.

Hopefully, I can help her in some way in the future.

Personal friendships are a great result of Master Mind groups.

3 Reasons NOT to join a Mastermind Group

Guest Contributor: Phil Gerbyshak
Phil's Posts - Phil's Blog


There are some very good reasons to not join a mastermind group. I'll share my 3 favorites with you.

1) You want to always be right - If you're only looking for validation that your ideas are good ones, then a mastermind group isn't for you. Expect that others will disagree with you about your ideas, in a constructive way. But if you need to ALWAYS be right, stay away from a mastermind group.

2) You're afraid to succeed - If success is something that scares you, then don't join a mastermind group. You're going to succeed in a mastermind group if you put the work into it to give status updates, to pick a group that supports your mission, and a group that has strengths different from yours.

3) You don't want to help others - If you're into being the "lone ranger" and don't want to help anyone else grow, then don't join a mastermind group.

Are any of these 3 going to keep me from joining a mastermind group? Absolutely not! In fact, I realize that I am wrong often, I look for success, and I love to help others.

So I'm still on the lookout for 1 good reason to prevent me from joining a mastermind group. Until I find it, I'll continue to be part of an amazing group of people that give me FAR MORE than they get.

[Phil Gerbyshak loves to achieve more and to dream more, and being part of a mastermind group helps him be more than he ever thought possible.]