Lady Luck Can Take a Hike

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


I was in a group meeting lately when the leader said, "When luck strikes, you better be ready!"

As a result of the reading I've done in the past year on preparing one's self for goals and dreams, I realized that what he had said was not true and I quickly spoke up. "Ready for what?" I asked. "What does luck have to do with the good things that happen to us in life? I believe luck has nothing to do with them. Instead, luck is something that occurs with little or no effort on the part of the person to whom it happens."

My viewpoint may differ from other people in that I would not count winning the lottery as one of the "luckier" things that would happen to me in life (I have never bought lottery tickets as I consider it a waste of money and never will). Rather, it has been the blessing of having a supportive husband and family, spending time with close family and friends and knowing my purpose in life as a Christian that I count as the best things that have ever happened to me. But those things occurred because I was willing to better myself by learning to get along with people and study to improve myself and discover Truth in life.

I believe a person who has taken the time to prepare herself for opportunities to promote her skills, such as by joining Toastmasters and Master Mind groups, will be ready for nearly every "surprise" that should happen.

However, those of us who think positively and feel capable of taking on new experiences because we've prepared ourselves will not be too surprised, after all, when the experiences come our way. It is usually when we are asked to be on a TV guest panel, help write a book, or get hired for a job, that someone has recommended us. Or our own efforts at self-promotion have paid off.

Just today, I passed on a freelance travel writing assignment to a friend, Cathy Shouse (www.cathyshouse.com). She has time in her schedule now and will do a fine job for the editor. I would not have risked my own reputation with the editor with whom I have already been published and have more assignments in the hopper by giving her a recommendation of someone I did not believe would do as good as a job as I would.

So based on Cathy's past performance as a writer and her friendship with me, I gave her the details for a paying job.

On Cathy's end, she recently asked for ideas for an article she was writing about how to get teens involved with volunteering. I gave her some ideas and she quoted me in this prestigious parenting magazine article. I've never been quoted before, having always been on the other end of the interview!

My Master Mind group is the same way. When we get together, I always come away with more ideas and encouragement than I started out the meeting with. But if I was not willing to put forth the effort to get together and work at self-improvement, it would not happen.

Master Mind groups are all about working together to come up with ideas to better ourselves and our society. Luck can just take a hike.

Starting A Master Mind Group

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


Since starting a Master Mind group, I've learned to appreciate how things work together to accelerate one's career and life. For instance, I first learned about Master Mind groups last fall when I attended a Toastmasters (public speaking) meeting of which I'm a member. I joined Toastmasters because I want to promote myself as a speaker in order to tell more people about my writing career and perhaps to teach people about writing.

At the meeting, I listened to another member give a speech about the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.

I had heard of the book, but didn't know much about it. The Toastmaster giving the speech was articulate, used visuals, and showed enthusiasm for what the book, written 80 years ago, had done for his life and career.

At the end of the speech, I wanted to read the book and start utilizing its concepts in my own life.

After reading that book, I began to think of starting a Master Mind group. I knew of none in my area and didn’t know how to find one. So I decided to form my own group.

A couple of people in my writing support group came to mind. They were interested once they heard what it was about, and the three of us put the group together in January 2007.

Already, through the encouragement of the members of my Master Mind, I've felt compelled to work on my goals as a freelance writer and set steps of progress in my life that has put me miles ahead of where I was last year.

For example, one of my goals from meeting with my Master Mind group is to send a tithe, or tenth, of my writing income to a children's home in that my church has supported for years. We know the parents in the home are doing an excellent job. The children there are approaching college age.

Having graduated from college and worked in a college for several years, I would like to encourage these students to attend college and reach for careers they could never have otherwise. They just don't have the funds to do so.

In his Laws of Success series Napoleon Hill encourages giving it others without thinking of receipt. I'm following up on this concept and loving it!

In order to send the amount I've privately pledged, I will have to work harder than ever to earn enough dollars from my writing. The motivation of giving to the children's home is paying off with me sending pitches to editors of major magazines for articles, which I’ve never done before, and then receiving the go-aheads from them. The pay is much more than I was earning writing for my local newspapers.

This is exciting and something that is possible for me at this stage of my development as a writer because I’ve got the experience and the skills. I just never felt challenged to use them.

The Master Mind group is challenging me to stretch. That's a good feeling. Last week I made my first payment to the Mexican children's home. I can't wait to make the next one even bigger and to think about what could be around the corner with future meetings of my Master Mind.

Mastermind Group For Writers

Kayleen Reusser is a writer and keeps a regular blog to discuss her business and thoughts. She recently uploaded a post on Mastermind Groups that caught my eye.

After hearing about Mastermind Groups from a Toastmaster member who discussed Napoleon Hill's famous book "Think and Grow Rich", Kayleen picked up a copy and immediately set up her own group.

Getting together with people like that on a regular basis to share dreams and work towards them together, offering encouragement and advice, should help your goals be reached, according to Mr. Hill. Plus, the group will hold us to be accountable to striving toward our goals.

She founded a group with a few members of a local writer's workshop she attended.

We're meeting about once a week for a few weeks to share notes and information we've found about goal-setting, then we'll settle into a monthly meeting.

She's looking to build the group to a maximum of 8 people (also the maximum we use for our groups).

I would encourage new Mastermind Group founders like Kayleen to put some structure behind the groups. What is the weekly / monthly agenda? How long are the meetings? What is expected from each member? Who will facilitate the meetings?

Making sure you have a set structure in place will keep the group on track and allow it to keep going once the novelty of the idea has worn off.