The Power of a Mastermind Group

Napoleon Hill, in his book "Think and Grow Rich", discussed how important it is to create a support group known as a Mastermind Group, to hold you accountable for moving forward towards the achievement of your goals. As well as having your mastermind group keep you on track, perhaps more importantly, you are there to support your colleagues in fulfilling their own dreams and desires.

The group follows a structured agenda that ensures everyone gets and gives value to the collective whole; sharing insights, resources, challenges and successes. The whole process provides the members with an opportunity to brainstorm ideas and learn from each other.

I've been involved in several groups now and continue to get such tremendous inspiration from my fellow mastermind group members. Whether every thing in the garden is rosy or at those times when things are not going so well, every time we speak I am always inspired and motivated to move on after we've had our regular call or meeting.

I am also priviliged and honoured to be involved in Jack Canfield's "Platinum Inner Circle" mastermind group which is a collection of people from across the world with such a wide and diverse set of experiences that you cannot help but feel totally in awe of what is possible when the group gets together.

It is said that great minds think alike. The power of the mastermind group is that members are like minded in respect of their commitment to each other to create great things, yet their sometimes very very different experiences and knowledge brings so much added value to the table of the others.

As well as being involved as a member of my own mastermind groups, it is also a delight to be facilitating groups through our Step Up to Success coaching and mastermind programme. We see massive shifts in the results members experience as they enjoy the support and interaction of their respective groups, many being part of a mastermind group for the first time.

Napoleon Hill was spot on when he introduced the concept of mastermind groups in his book and it is certainly my intention to be part of a group for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't want to be without the support I get and I appreciate my friends in my groups so much for their unwavering commitment to me and the rest of the team. It also brings me so much personal joy and satisfaction to know that in some small way I can be part of something that literally can help to transform people's lives.

If you don't have your own mastermind group then you can form one yourself by simply inviting some like minded friends or business colleagues to get together. Alternatively, if you want to know more about our Step Up to Success coaching and mastermind programme then call us on +44 (0)28 9048 8673 or make an enquiry at www.simonsmithcoaching.com and we'll be happy to chat and find out more about how we can support you to achieve your own goals, dreams and desires.

I'm not participating!

Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI and member of Jack Canfield's "Transformational Leadership Council" encouraged his members last week in his newsletter to state "I'm not participating in a recession!" Quite right too!

We all have a choice about how we feel and I encourage people I work with to observe their own language and change it when they find themselves using negative language or having thoughts that are focused on what may go wrong. Some will criticise this approach and say that one needs to be realistic. So I ask you "what is realistic?"

If realism is allowing oneself to be negatively affected by circumstances outside of them, or by comments someone else makes, then give me the alternative every time.

In their book "The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent" Esther and Jerry Hicks, or more accurately, the "collective consciousness" called Abraham, asks "why would you want to accept or "face a reality" that is not pleasing when you can create a reality that IS pleasing?"

My view is simply this: if you know that you do have a choice about how you feel, then wouldn't it serve you better to choose a feeling of empowerment and positive energy rather than allow yourself to be drawn into a place of negativity? So, by keeping an eye on the language we use, we can create the positive energy we would prefer, just by changing what we say and the thoughts we think.

So no, I am not participating in a recession and I invite you to make the same choice!

Visualise your Success, be clear about it!

All of the great teachers talk about visualising your success using a variety of different methods, tools and techniques.

Some talk about simply setting goals, on the basis that if you don’t know where you want to go, how can you possibly expect to get there?

We hear about SMART goals, that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound. Others will invite you to feel how you would when the goal is achieved - sense the emotions; the buzz, excitement, confidence, laughter, celebration and so on. You might imagine the sounds around you, the people and the environment you are in.

We are told that what we resist persists, so focus on what you want, not what you don’t want, as what you focus on you create. It is said you can’t think about what you don’t want to think about, without thinking about it. So you shouldn’t think about not being in debt, you should think about being financially free. You should think about having a wonderful time seeing your relatives after you have landed, not the turbulent air and the storm outside the plane while you’re in the air.

Some teachers invite you to create vision boards or goals books, computer wallpaper backgrounds of your dream home or holiday destination, powerpoint slides and iPod photo albums. Others will have you visualising what you want, in meditation or just quiet reflection. Some will ask you to release on your attachment to a goal or a dream once you have decided it, others will have you list them and read them every day.

Many teachers will have you do a combination of all these things and a variety of others as well.

I’ve used all of these and many others at one time or another and what I am certain about is that you must be absolutely clear on what it is you do want. Where there is doubt or lack of clarity, there is lack of focus. Where there is lack of focus there is a lack of action. Where there is lack of action, there are “unexpected outcomes”.

We cannot predict exactly how our results pan out, but we can predict exactly what actions we will take in the anticipation of certain results. It is far easier to plan the action when we are clear about what we see as being the result. To have that clarity we must visualise our success and be clear about what it is that we want.

I was reminded of the need for clarity earlier this week when creating my goals for the following day. I visualised booking after booking coming through electronically for an event we are promoting just now (see below). We had just implemented the next stage of the marketing plan and I saw in my mind’s eye all these bookings popping up on the screen.

Imagine how great I felt first thing the next morning when I just watched the screen fill up with new booking after new booking. I knew that we had created a great plan, we had implemented it as we had expected and I had visualised the next day’s goals being achieved. What a feeling!

Unfortunately, I had missed a key ingredient in the process – visualising exactly what those bookings looked like. I hadn’t considered who the delegates might be, or where they had come from, how we could give them great value, what they needed from the seminar and so on.

So what was the actual result? ....my web design people TESTING a development we had asked for. Booking after booking saying test, test, test!!

My SUCCESS TIP this week therefore is just this:

VISUALISE YOUR SUCCESS, and BE CLEAR about what you want, otherwise don’t be surprised when you get an unexpected outcome!



If you want to know more about how leadership coaching and training can help you improve your results in business contact us here.

Do your planning and development now and stay ahead of the competition

It always interests me when I hear people in business say that it isn't possible to do anything during the summer because everyone is away on holiday. It seems that because we take a week or two for a break some time during July and August that the entire country comes to a stop!

Is this true? Well of course not. In fact, my experience is that typically most business owners I know work through the vast array of bank holidays we have to endure as they can get so much more completed on these days. Furthermore, they are at their office enjoying the peace and quiet in the belief that everyone else has taken the day off.

If we applied similar thinking during the entire summer what would our business look like? Just because our staff, customers and suppliers take a summer break does not mean that everything stops entirely for two months. In fact, this is exactly the time when we could, and should, complete our planning and development so that we hit the ground running in the autumn and get a head start on the competition.

This is the perfect time, it seems to me, to review the business and it's strategies, assess goals, certainly plan and possibly deliver training, look for the new opportunities and get everything in place for the busy period between September and Christmas.

The alternative is to sit back and wait and then do all these things in the autumn by which time you are so busy that you don't have time to review and plan. The result is then, in all likelihood, that it gets put off until after the new year and suddenly six months have passed and you are wondering why you are left behind from your competitors. Why would you do that?

So, take my tip - have your break in the summer, certainly, and then use the other six weeks to review where the business is right now, plan your strategies, develop new marketing methods, identify training needs (and if possible deliver what is required), and then start September with everything in place already. If you do this you will almost certainly be ahead of your competition and will be much better placed to optimise the opportunity when others are still trying to catch up.

Like any review process, it is wise to enrol support from those who will help you look at the business without your "rose tinted glasses". With this in mind now is the perfect time to talk to a business coach and explore how they can help you "get all your ducks in a row" over the next few months.

If you would like to speak to us about the support available to you right now that will help you put your plans in place and stay ahead of the competition, give us a call on +44 (0)28 9048 8673 or visit www.simonsmithcoaching.com and we'll arrange to have a conversation with no obligation to you.

Don't fall into the "we can't do anything in the summer" trap. Call us now and take the opportunity to see how you can make the most of your business when others around you are asleep.

Wishing you success!