Masterminds for the Win

Have you ever felt stuck? In a business decision or heck a life decision? Every solution you can think of has a problem. There is no solution in your mind. You ask your friend but you feel that he really doesn’t understand the question and is just trying to be a friend. Masterminds can help you get unstuck. This handy and powerful tool can help you in just about any goal-oriented event you face. Want to lose weight? I would recommend a mastermind. Want to start your own business? Start a mastermind. Want to replace the plumbing in your house? Call a plumber, because a mastermind can’t help you.

What is a mastermind

Napoleon Hill is the first person to really call a group of people getting together to better each other a Mastermind, So I would say his definition of a mastermind is the best.

The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.

In other words. It is two or more people determined to help each other out. This definition and how a mastermind works is illustrated in his book Think and Grown Rich In today’s world, a mastermind is a group of people who meet up either by phone or online and talk about the struggles they have with their goal. While also helping the other members with their problems. Most of the times people are stuck and need a little friendly help. There are times that you can’t see the forest for the trees. You have hears that saying right? It means one cant see the big picture because they are too involved. They are focused on the details. Here is a story that equates to this very thing. One time a city just finished spending millions of dollars on a new bridge. They were so proud of this bridge. There was opening day and they were about to let the highway that runs under the bridge access to the new road. The Mayor, the engineers, the Construction crew, and all of the people of the town were at the bridge to celebrate this bridge. So they open the road and traffic starts flowing under the bridge. Then the unthinkable happened. A truck got stuck under the bridge. They found out that the bridge was 2 inches shorter than it was supposed to be.

The concept of mastermind groups was officially coined by Napoleon Hill more than 80 years ago in his book Think And Grow Rich, but in reality humans have been masterminding for thousands of years.

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— Jaimie Sarah (@JaimieSarah) September 4, 2018

So everybody had a conundrum. How do you get this truck out from under this bridge without tearing up the truck or the bridge? The engineers were thinking of bringing in huge cranes and lifting the bridge up so that the truck can move on through. Then they can add 2-inch block to rais the bridge to the proper height. The mayor was against everything mentioned cause he neck was on the line cause this bridge had been a fight with the council. So he had to find a way to pay for these huge cranes and everything else. Then Little Jennifer walked up to this roiling mass of blame and asked a simple question. “What Happens if we let the air out of the tires?” The groups suddenly stopped and look at Jennifer, and decided to try it. Sure enough, after letting the air out of the tires it lowered the truck enough for it to roll under the bridge. Jennifer was able to see the solution because she wasn’t mired down by the details. She could see the solution. While the others were mired in the details. Your mastermind members can come up with solutions to different problems for several reasons. This often is because there is usually a person who has more experience in a field than you do. While you, in turn, have more experience than they do. For examples, Your mastermind may have someone who has been in business for 30 years he has seen it all. While you have been an online marketer for the past 5 years. So, you are able to help the businessman in afield he is not familiar with while he is able to help you in a field you are not familiar with. Each of your mastermind members brings something special to your mastermind group.

Why Join a Mastermind

Though I pretty much pointed out what I find important to why joining a mastermind is good. Stephanie Burns has a great post on Forbes as to why you want to join a mastermind.

This morning I discussed struggling aspects of my business with my mastermind group and @derekhalpern. My mind has been swimming since then. There's scary moves and a lot of work ahead, but I'm excited for the changes. We all need mentors and outside voices in order to grow.

— Tim Schmoyer (@timschmoyer) May 1, 2018

In the article, she lay out 7 reasons you want to be in a group. Thes cover the loneliness factor is gone because you are in a mastermind group. She also covers that you get invaluable advice from people who are experts in their field. New friendships are created. Stephanie also points out that big point and that is masterminds cause you to think bigger. Often we are limited by our fear. The thought of our business or whatever goal you are after going bigger than you could ever imagine. So getting a mastermind is the fertilizer to your plans.

Examples of masterminds through the ages

Though Neplian hill is credited for the name mastermind he isn’t the first person to actually have a mastermind. Masterminds have been used for centuries. Though they may not be called a mastermind. They did have all the perks of a mastermind. Firstly I want to point out that the bible talks about masterminds in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” or you learn from other people. Another example of a mastermind in the bible is Jesus and his disciples. They helped each other out. Became friends and worked off of each other. The Four Vagabonds was a mastermind group of some of the biggest names in the industry. You had Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, John Burroughs, and Henry Firestone. Each summer they would get together and go camping and exploring. Their trips started in the Everglades, then ventured to California, over to Virginia. They didn’t’ necessarily rough it because their expeditions often had up to 50 cars and vans in the procession. This included a kitchen truck with a stove and refrigerator. Talk about being a vagabond. Ben Franklin was known for getting smart people together so that he could learn off of them. His biggest mastermind group was the Junto Club. The Junto Club was devised by Franklin so that people could learn something new. but was also a business networking group. There were a set of Questions that were asked to get the conversation going. There were questions like

• What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or heard? of imprudence? of passion? or of any other vice or folly?
• Hath anybody attacked your reputation lately? and what can the Junto do towards securing it?
• Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise, and imitation? or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid?
• Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service?
• Do you see anything amiss in the present customs or proceedings of the Junto, which might be amended?

 

There were many more and you can read about them over at Ben Franklin History King Arther and his Knights of the Roundtable brings forth thoughts of great conquests and chivalry. The round Table could also be seen as a mastermind. Each knight there had the opportunity to add and help formulate plans. No man was at the head of the table so each person was equal. This is one of the keys to a good mastermind. Some of the most popular authors were a member of the Inklings There was JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Robert Havard. Hugo Dyson and  17 other men were part of this literary mastermind. The friendships created were legendary. The Tennis Cabinet was a huge group of experts that helped Teddy Roosevelt navigate his presidency. There really isn’t much about his tennis cabinet but he was able to rely on them to make sure he made the decisions that were best that he believed in.

Types of masterminds

There are 5 different types of masterminds that can be combined with each other to make that number huge. I wanted to quickly go through the basic types of mastermind groups.

Pay

If you want to have access to a well-known expert in a particular field so that you may get some deeper insight you may want to look at a paid mastermind group. There are a few advantages to shelling out some money each month to be a part of a particular group. The biggest is access. You get the insights and thought processes of an expert. The Expert also benefits in that he gets to know who is the audience is more. Then there is the fact that you are more interested in getting learning something from the group because you have paid. You will take the lessons and insights provided to heart more readily than if you get advice for free. You have some skin in the game. The expert also has skin in the game now because people have paid him. So he has to provide the best information he’s got. So it is a win-win for everybody.

Free Mastermind

The alternative is a free mastermind Group which is also good. You often forge deep bonding friendships. As you help your fellow mastermind members. Often these folks have a deeper vested interest in seeing you succeed. Because they are friends and have seen you grow along the way.

Virtual Mastermind

With the internet allowing people to meet all over the world. We are able to now have Virtual Masterminds. This allows your group to meet each and every time as long as they have an internet connection.

Traditional Mastermind

I am hesitant to call it this because a virtual mastermind also has an aspect of a traditional mastermind. Yet either way and traditional masterminds are where people physically get together in the same room for a set amount of time. Sometimes these can be once a week to once a year.  Either way, when they meet this group will often make it an event and it will last from a weekend so sometimes it is a week-long endeavor.

Meet up

This is a mash-up of the virtual and Traditional mastermind group. This is where a virtual mastermind meets up in person at least once a year.

Goal oriented

Though most mastermind groups are goal oriented sometimes there is a single focus on that goal. Weightloss masterminds are like that. Fitness masterminds where you get in shape for a marathon are also like this. Quit smoking masterminds are goal oriented masterminds. If everyone has a set goal this mastermind what you are getting into and can help you achieve your goal quicker. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Didn’t realize there were so many types of mastermind groups” quote=”Share what you have learned so far.” theme=”style5″]

Where you can find masterminds.

So are you interested in joining a mastermind? Awesome! There are several different ways you can join a mastermind. You can find people who might be interested in going to different civic organizations. Your local Chamber of Commerce can be one avenue, or you may look at Lions Club, Rotary Club, Kiowana’s, Elks Lodge, or perhaps the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo will do the trick.

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You can also find people of the same mindset in Facebook groups or forums. Or if you can’t find what you are looking for there then maybe you need to get some of your friends together and you all help each other out. Often if you can’t find one then it will do you good to start your own. Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income mentioned Internet Business Mastery and that is a good site to find a mastermind group centered around business along with Fizzle. Their community is also rich with people wanting to start a group Another way is to turn to Twitter you might be surprised as to what you find. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Hey, I’m looking for a mastermind group. Who has an opening?” quote=”Tell twitter you are looking for a mastermind group to Join.” theme=”style5″]

How to run a mastermind

Starting a Mastermind group is also an option as I said with joining your friends together. If you do make sure you have a clear set of objectives. You can do this by asking these 4 questions as recommended by Jonathan Mulligan.

1. Where do I want to go?
2. Where are my Ideal Members hanging out at?
3. How can the strengths of each member help the rest of the group?
4. What should we do along the way to help one another?

These questions help you direct your group so that they help everyone associated. So how often should you meet? How are you going to run the mastermind? Is it a free for all for discussions, or is it going to be ordered? each has their pluses and minuses. You do want to make sure you have the right people in your group. There is nothing that destroys a mastermind group faster than a person who doesn’t fit into the group. So know what you are wanting to achieve and when you have a new person wanting to join you might have them apply and then submit that application to the other members of the group so they can put their approval into the process. Make sure your partners know that what is said in the mastermind stays in the mastermind. You want to have them feel that what they talk about isn’t going to be blathered all around the internet. Often people will share personal or strategic information and they have to feel that everything is safe.

How I conduct my masterminds.

1. Everybody joins on skype.
2. We each share a win we had since last talking.
3. Each person also states whether they completed their stated goal.
4. Then it is one person turn on the hot seat. The talk about a problem or idea they have.
5. Once finished with their thought the other mastermind group members offer suggestions or ask questions to further the thought.
6. Once everybody is finished Each person on the call talks about what their goal is for the following week.

That is all there is to it. So that is masterminding in a nutshell. There are so many possibilities for growth and development that I believe everybody should be in a mastermind. I have a mastermind for smokers right now but I am in the process of having a couple of other masterminds in the near future. If you want to be in a mastermind please let me know what you are wanting to achieve in a mastermind. You may be the influencer I am needing.