One of the most powerful tools ever used by successful people is the mastermind group. Napoleon Hill first talked about mastermind groups in his classic book Think and Grow Rich. And it’s the one concept people most reference when they credit any one thing with helping them become a millionaire.
Here is my story about my mastermind and a few tips for how to create your own.
What is a Mastermind Group?
A mastermind group is a group of people who meet regularly to push themselves towards their goals, hold each other accountable and tackle challenges together. They’ve been used by some of the most successful people throughout history.
Andrew Carnegie had a mastermind group. So did Henry Ford. In fact, Ford would mastermind with brilliant thinkers like Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and others in a group they held at their winter mansions in Coral Gables, Florida.
You might be asking, why start a mastermind group?
Hill, Carnegie, Ford, and Edison all knew, as millions of others have discovered since, that a mastermind group can focus special energy on your effort—in the form of knowledge, resources and spiritual energy, too.
While you must always do the work of becoming a great success, a mastermind group can harness and maximize the spiritual focus behind your success.
A mastermind group can harness & maximize the focus behind your success. @JackCanfield (Click to Tweet!)
It’s this spiritual aspect that Napoleon Hill wrote about extensively. In fact, he said that if we are in tune with THE Mastermind—that is, God, the Universal Power or whatever term you use for the all-powerful life force, we have significantly more positive energy available to us—power that can be focused on our success.
How Does A Mastermind Group Work?
What’s an example of how this works?
You’ve probably seen bumper cars at a local theme park or carnival. This life force is similar to the web of overhead cables that link those bumper cars to their energy source. While you may be a single bumper car, you have a cable going up that connects you to that greater source of energy which provides the power you need to move forward.
In the same way, “mastermind” is both that power coming to us from above, but also that power which comes to us from each other. Together, we know more and can focus more energy than any one of us can alone.
The Importance of a Networking & Mastermind Groups
The more time I have spent consciously building and nurturing my business network of advisers, colleagues, clients, students and fans, the more successful I have become.
Businesses and careers are built on relationships. Relationships form when people meet and interact with each other in an authentic and caring way.
Developing genuine relationships takes work.
How to Create a Mastermind Group
Assembling a mastermind group is easy. Choose people who are already where you’d like to be in your life—or who are at least a level above you. If your goal is to become a millionaire, you won’t get much help if everyone in your mastermind group is making $60,000 a year.
Of course, approaching successful people can be scary. In fact, you might be thinking, “Why would anyone want to be in a mastermind group with me if I’m only making $60,000 a year?”
The answer is that many people at a higher level will want to become involved simply because they then get to play at a game they might never organize for themselves. The other people you’re going to invite are people they would like to be around, too. But you won’t know until you ask.
Start by making a list and working your way down. I’ve created a How to Create a Mastermind Group PDF that you can download here, create your list of phone numbers, learn to run a mastermind group, and plan goals. Maybe you’ll end up with a local columnist instead of the publisher — someone who might be a lot more helpful to you in the long-run.
Of course, the ideal mastermind group brings together people from different professional arenas — people that are “above” you and who can introduce you to a network of people you normally wouldn’t have access to.
Questions to Ask in a Mastermind Group
Ideally, a mastermind should be conducted weekly or every other week. Try to keep each meeting to a specific format to make sure everyone stays involved. There are plenty of discussion topics you can ask in a mastermind group. The questions you will ask will ultimately depend on what your group focuses on. Here are some basic questions and discussion topics to get your mastermind group talking:
- Ask for spiritual guidance or help with a problem. Ask for assistance and what you plan to get out of the meeting.
- Share what’s new and what good things have happened since your previous mastermind.
- Negotiate the time you need. If you need more time to solve your problem, or solve someone else’s, ask for it.
- Listen to others and brainstorm solutions. Ask questions after the person is finished.
- Commit to something that you wouldn’t normally do if it weren’t for the group. Ask yourself what goal would really push you and help you get the most out of the mastermind group.
- Show others gratitude. Express gratitude to others, ask others how to improve.
Take Action!
While the benefits of a mastermind group with people outside your field may not seem obvious now, the truth is we all tend to get “stuck” in our own field of expertise, doing things the same way everyone else in our industry does.
But, when you assemble people from different industries and professions, you get lots of different perspectives on the same subject. The ideal size of a mastermind group is five-six people. If it’s smaller, it loses its dynamics.
If it’s bigger, it gets unwieldy—meetings take longer, some needs go unmet and personal sharing is minimized.
Going through the process of participating in a mastermind group, you, too, might find yourself in a whole new role as a teacher or advocate or coach of sorts – leading people in the group to resources, ideas and new thoughts that can help them. That’s what professional trainers do every day like those in my Train the Trainer Program.
Use the steps I’ve outlined for you to think about how you can benefit from a mastermind. I’ve created a FREE Mastermind Guide that details how to start a mastermind and run your own.
As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre—and watched it grow to a billion dollar market. As the driving force behind the development and delivery of over 100 million books sold through the Chicken Soup for the Soul® franchise, Jack Canfield is uniquely qualified to talk about success. Jack is America’s #1 Success Coach and wrote the life-changing book The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and Jack speaks around the world on this subject. Check out his newest book The 30-Day Sobriety Solution: How to Cut Back or Quit Drinking in the Privacy of Your Own Home. Follow Jack at www.jackcanfield.com and sign up for his free resources today!
Image courtesy of StartupStockPhotos.
