Should I be part of a Mastermind Group and what are they all about?

“I have never worked harder for anything in my life” is the saying I often hear from entrepreneurs, “yet I know there is no going back.” 

I hear that, and I echo that.  There are few things in life more worth doing than building your own future.  As with many things, this is a double edged sword.  We have the freedom AND the responsibility…one does not come without the other.  Once we get a taste of the sweetness, the sour seems not so bad though!

There is so much to know and so much to learn, and time is against us.  The skills of managing and growing a business on top of doing the work can feel like a heavy and immense challenge.

What if you learned to worked smarter and not harder? What if you were able to avoid mistakes that cost time and money, before you made them?  One great way to do that is through a mastermind group.

A mastermind is a peer advisory group designed to accelerate business growth and learning using dynamic and in depth discussions through consistent and recurring meetings.  These groups are around 4-10 people who meet on a monthly or bi-weekly basis.

It is important to note that when this learning is applied, quantum jumps can occur.  If learning through mistakes is the most common way, imagine being in a room of other like minded business leaders and hearing about the mistakes they made so you don’t make them yourself!

These endeavors are investments which take money and time.  Is it possible for someone to learn these skills elsewhere? Sure, it would take a really long time though- reading books and watching videos, then applying and testing the knowledge.  This could take years!

I remember when I invested in this type of group after hitting a growth plateau of my business…I knew I didn’t have the skills to uplevel my business and the year after I invested into this group, my business doubled and the growth continued.

Here are some of the benefits:

ISSUE PROCESSING: Entrepreneurs and team leaders often feel alone…like they are the only ones facing these issues and are expected to have the answers.  When the collective hive mind is brought to bear on an issue, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.  This is the chance to work on YOUR specific issues.

GUIDED DISCUSSIONS: Getting perspective from our peers on market trends and what is emerging in our ever changing world provides tremendous value.  By seeing this world and applying our collective knowledge through multiple sets of eyes (and brains!), we all get a clearer picture.

FOCUSED LEARNING: Working on relevant challenges and opportunities helps us to leverage our strengths and assets, maximizing our potential as leaders and unleashing our full force to bear.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Most of us will do for others more than what we would do for ourselves.  Having someone else to answer to holds us to our established standards and pushes us outside our comfort zone, often creating breakthrough results.

UNDERSTANDING: Imagine being in a room of your peers, who really get what you are going through and are engaged in supporting you.

Whether you choose to engage in a group like this or not, my only request is that I beg you to NOT go it alone.  Our minds and perspectives are limited to our own so getting added perspective and out of our own way is critical to success.  Some are not ready for this type of commitment and choose simply an accountability partner instead.  Whatever works for you is what is best.  Remember that if some arrangement is not serving you that you also have the power to change it.