One of the most important actions you can take to create change, transformation and success in your life is to build and participate in a “Mastermind.”
What is a Mastermind?
A Mastermind is a group of people who have common interests and aspirations, who get together on a regular basis to support each other in growth and development toward realising those interests and goals. It’s a dedicated group of people who share similar values, perspectives and aspirations. Importantly they understand that the power of the “group mind” is exponentially more powerful than the sum of the individual minds from which the group is composed.
The first person that explicitly described the concept in detail is Napoleon Hill in his book “Think And Grow Rich”. Hill said that no individual can achieve great power with out a Mastermind. My experience (and the experience of the most successful people I have met) confirms this idea.
To me, one of the greatest powers of the Mastemind is that it affects you on a subconscious level. As humans we are programmed by everything that happens around us. We tend to be most programmed by what we see, hear, and experience others doing. Not what we read, not what we think, not what we feel. We’re influenced by the others around us. We literally become those that we surround ourselves with.
If you want to know how much a person earns in a year? Find their five closest friends and average their incomes. That’s the answer.
If you want to know how healthy a person is? Find their five closest friends and average their health.
And so it goes on……
So how does one create a successful Mastermind group.
Here are a few tips, based on my experience:
- Make sure most of the people in the Mastermind are beyond you. At least 3-5 years down the road you’re trying to travel. 5-10 years is even better. You’re in this to grow.
- If you do allow others who are behind you on the road to success in your chosen area, make sure that they have massive potential.
- Meet regularly in person. If you are located in different geographic locations, it’s fine to meet by phone or Skype often. However get together live, in-person regularly. The group I run is called Millionaire Mastermind we meet every 3 months in a private room of a restaurant combining masterminding with excellent food.
- It’s great to have a few different Mastermind groups for different parts of your life. A fitness based Mastermind can be just as valuable to you personally as a business Mastermind.
- Make sure that the people you invite to the Mastermind can add massive value to the other members. Remember, you’re inviting people who are beyond you. They’re going to get a lot more value from the group and the other members than they are from you.
