I had the honor of speaking to the IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) yesterday. I spoke about the importance of having a very strong support network. Every successful person has a huge massive support team around them – you may not see them, but they’re there. Not only am I lucky enough to have a fabulous group at Bramble Berry, I also have my Mastermind Group. Here’s a photo my Mastermind Group, comprised of women business owners in Bellingham, Washington.
What is a Mastermind Group? The concept of a Mastermind Group was introduced to the world in a formal manner by Napolean Hill, the author of “Think and Grow Rich” in the 1900’s. He defined the Mastermind Principle as, “”The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony. No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”
My Bellingham Mastermind Group meets once a month. We have homework, book reports and a long update process that involves talking about our business (and personal!) goals and our progress on those goals. We rarely talk about problems but instead focus on getting more success out of our lives.
I felt honored (and humbled) to speak to the group of (mostly) woman professionals about starting their very own support network to help them reach their goals and potential.
From the Get Rich Slowly Blog: “Without goals, you are living reactively, letting life push you around. With goals, you can live a proactive life, steering toward a destination. When you have an end in mind, it’s easier to see when you’ve made a wrong turn. You know where your path is supposed to lead.” And with a Mastermind Group around you, helping you and supporting you down that path, it’s a lot easier to get on and stay on the path to your personal bliss
You are the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with. Do the people you hang out with lift you up? Inspire you to reach your highest potential and urge you to shoot for the stars?
If you’re interested in learning more about this concept, here are some resources that you can draw from to start your own support network.
Mastermind Resources
Books:
by Napoleon Hill
by Jack Canfield
Mastermind Group Resources Blog
http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/
The Masterminding Maven
http://www.makeadifference.com/
(online courses, books, movies)
How to Start a Mastermind Group (in a nutshell):
- Decide what the focus of the group will be
- Decide the criteria for membership
- Look around; find members
- Determine a meeting structure & time schedule
- Agree on the “spirit” of the meetings (judgment free, proactive)
- Decide on a Leader
- Start Masterminding your way to success
Evan, thanks for the compliment and for visiting the blog. I would love to guest blog on your site. Thank you for the invite. =)
Thanks for the suggestions Anne-Marie! We launched a Mastermind Group Resources Blog to give entrepreneurs strategies to get the most from their Mastermind Groups and I was pleased to see it listed in your post! If you are interested in being a guest blogger on our blog to discuss Mastermind Groups, just email me!
Keep up the great work!
Evan.
This is very helpful as I’m in the process of getting my own business going.
Your motivation is very inspiring to me!
While I’m not really in business yet, I think these words of wisdom apply to life in general. Very inspirational – thank you!
Thank you for this information. It was definitely needed.