Why a Mastermind Group Can Accelerate Your Success (And How to Form One)

·         by Corey Ferreira

What if I told you that you can put yourself in a better position to succeed by simply sharing your time, either once a week or once a month, with other like-minded and motivated individuals?

Successful individuals such as Benjamin Franklin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, all met with groups of like-minded people on a regular basis, to help one another achieve common goals and grow. Today, this is called a “mastermind”, first coined by Napoleon Hill in 1925. In this article, I'm going to go over what a mastermind group is, how it can benefit you and your business, and how to form one, step-by-step.

 

Thomas Edison (left) and Henry Ford (right)

What Is a Mastermind?

A mastermind is a peer-mentoring group of individuals who meet on a regular

 basis (in-person or virtually) to push each other to work to their highest potential 

and hold each other accountable. Many successful entrepreneurs today, from

 Bill Gates to Pat Flynn, use masterminds to help grow their business and work

 on their personal development.

Jim Rohn, author and motivational speaker, tells us that we are the average of 

the five people we spend the most time with. Are the people you spend the most 

time with helping you with your personal development and business’ growth? 

This is where participating in and being a part of a mastermind group can

 improve that.

Why Join a Mastermind?

Accountability: The first reason I recommend any entrepreneur join a 

mastermind group is because the people in that group will keep you accountable.

Every week, in my mastermind group, we ask each member how their business 

is progressing and if they followed through on what they planned to do last week.

I never want to let the individuals in my group down, so when I say to the 

members in my group that I am going to do something, you can bet I wind up 

doing it to tell them about it the next time we meet.

Feedback: A mastermind group will give you feedback from people who are 

trying to build a business just like you. They have a special insight and mindset 

that is hard to find. Other like-minded entrepreneurs will tell you what’s wrong or

 right about your ideas with no bias. They are not your customers and they are

 not your competitors.

The people in your group can be your best source of advice at times when you’re

 unsure where to turn to. The members in my group have a very unique yet 

relevant perspective. This makes for some amazing feedback that has helped 

me tremendously when it comes to what direction to go in and what next steps 

to take for my business.

Collaboration: Not only does your mastermind group allow you collaborate on 

ideas but you can help people or get people in your group to help you with

 projects or tasks. While this isn’t the main function of a peer-mentoring group, 

as a result of meeting with other talented entrepreneurs on a regular basis, you 

might find opportunities to work with other members in your group.

There’s also an opportunity for you to cross-promote with other members in your 

group. Everyone in your group will likely be using social media and maybe even 

have a blog. In my mastermind, I’ve promoted their content on my Twitter account

 in exchange for being featured and interviewed on their blog.

Network: This is also a great way to network. You might connect with people, 

who know other people, that might be able to help you out or that you might be 

able to help out. The more you expand your network, the more doors open up

 for you.

Having connections and knowing people who might know people in various 

industries can come in handy when you least expect it.

Resourceful: The members in your group will likely be very diversified with 

many different specialties and areas of knowledge. Maybe you’re someone 

with a lot of knowledge in marketing but you need help with design. If there’s 

another member in your group that has a design background, you can help 

them with marketing while they help you with design.

The blending of different backgrounds, skills and knowledge creates a fantastic 

environment for you to learn, play off of your strengths and correct your 

weaknesses. I’ve learned a lot from the members of my mastermind group 

about topics I previously had no knowledge about. There will always be something

 unique that you can bring to your mastermind group and that others will bring

 that will be of value to you and the rest of the group.

Support: Besides being a support group to encourage you and keep you going 

when you encounter hard times in your business, your mastermind can be a 

place where members can get their questions answered and solutions to their 

problems.

Every week in my mastermind, someone is blown away by the quality of help and 

solutions they receive to their problems. It never ceases to amaze me how 

creative we can get, as a group, to tackle someone’s issues in that meeting.

What a Typical Mastermind Might Look Like

To give you an idea of what a mastermind looks like, here’s what mine looks like:

Every Tuesday night, I meet with three other online entrepreneurs. We meet using 

Google Hangouts, which is a free video call/chat software that is easy to use.

Once we all get on, we begin with a round-table style discussion. Each person has

 the chance to give everyone else an update on their business, their challenges

 and wins since the last meeting.

After everyone gets the opportunity to update the group, we usually feature or

 “hot seat” someone every meeting. This person gets the opportunity to go deeper

 with their challenges, and they also get a chance to get feedback from the group. 

Every meeting, the featured person changes. Sometimes, someone is featured 

simply because they might need the most help at that time. Most of the time 

however, everyone has a shot to be in the hot seat.

Sometimes the mastermind meeting will be more informal than this, and we just 

discuss our businesses as a group. Some of my best takeaways came when our 

sessions were informal and didn’t follow a structure.

These sessions usually don’t go on for more than an hour and they are extremely

 beneficial and a great investment of my time, every meeting.

How to Find or Form a Mastermind

The first thing you need to do is go where people like yourself congregate. If 

you’re an ecommerce entrepreneur, you don’t need to strictly look for other 

ecommerce entrepreneurs, instead look for other motivated entrepreneurs in 

any industry.

I recommend first starting with Meetup.com if you’re interested in meeting up with 

other entrepreneurs in person. Meetup.com has many groups of local 

entrepreneurs looking to connect that you can easily join for free. If you can’t find

 one, consider starting your own.

If you’re more interested in an online mastermind, I would recommend going to

 forums and Facebook groups for online entrepreneurs and ecommerce 

entrepreneurs.

You will probably have to take the initiative in these groups and ask if anyone else

 is interested in forming a mastermind with you. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out 

there.

As long as you don’t make it all about you and you are genuine in wanting to 

create a peer-mentoring group where entrepreneurs can help one another and 

grow together, people will be interested. Here’s a script similar to what I used 

when I was looking for other people to form a mastermind with me.

Hey everyone,

My name is Corey, I’m an entrepreneur and CEO of X. I’m interested in 

starting a mastermind, aka peer-mentoring group, with a few other motivated 

and ambitious entrepreneurs. You don’t need to be extremely knowledgeable or

 very successful. I’m just looking to meet with other entrepreneurs on a weekly

 basis, on Google Hangouts, where we can help one another and grow together.

 If you’re a positive person and serious about your business, I’d love to have you

 be a part of my mastermind group.

[a section talking about what you bring to the table, your specialities, skills and

 experience.]

If you’re interested, give me a little background on yourself, what you’d like to 

get out of this mastermind group, and what you think you can contribute and I’ll 

contact you!

From here, you will want to contact the interested individuals you think you would 

get along with and make a good fit for your group. It’s a good idea to vet everyone 

that is interested to first, ensure that they’re serious about joining the group, and 

second, to see if their goals and values align with yours and the rest of the group’s.

Once you get everyone’s emails, send out a spreadsheet, using Google Docs, to 

quickly determine everyone’s availability. Use this spreadsheet template to help you 

see what everyone’s availability is. You ideally want to have a weekly or monthly 

meeting at the same time and day every week to make it easy for everyone.

Once you see an alignment and a date and time that works for everyone, it’s time 

to contact all your members and schedule the first mastermind session.

Running Your First Mastermind

You should let your new group know what the structure will be like for the very 

first meeting. You’re all strangers and there might be some members who are 

nervous, so let them know what to expect to ease their anxiety.

Make it clear that the first meeting will be very informal and casual. Everyone should 

get an opportunity to introduce themselves, talk about their business and what they 

hope to get out of this mastermind group.

Tips

1. In the beginning, at least for the first several meetings, follow a format or keep to 

a structure for the meetings until there’s a lot of chemistry in the group.

2. Use software like Google Hangouts. Skype and Zoom are good alternatives as 

well. It’s best to ask your group, when you first send out the scheduling 

spreadsheet, what software they use or prefer.

3. It’s a good idea to try and find someone who is experienced and has run or 

participated in masterminds before (or even is already in one) to make your 

sessions run smoother since they can take the lead for those first few meetings.

4. While there’s no ideal number of members for your group, try to keep it relatively small. In my experience, a group size of 4-6 people works best. With too many members, the meetings might be too long and there might not be enough time for people to get an equal opportunity to share and get value

Go out and Find a Mastermind

Now it’s your turn. You will need to take the initiative. You will need to put yourself 

out there and find the right people.

Recap From Our Last Event - Immigrants Success Life Skills

Speakers (successful immigrants) shared the following success strategy:

1. Always focus on your strength. You can't sell yourself based on your weakness.

2. You are your own BRAND. Even if you are an employee, you are branding yourself in the company and in the market.

3. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable every single day. For instance one of the participant shared "I did salsa dance for a year, though I couldn't move well enough for months, was shy to dance with ladies." He was uncomfortable every single time he practiced salsa dance. In a year with continuous practice, he mastered it.

4. Understanding what vision you have and willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Obstacles will come and stop your way, now what can you do? Self-Discipline, Determination and Perseverance will be your best friend to move through obstacles.

5.  Last one is to be LASER focused on your goal/aspirations. Cut away all the distraction that your surrounding says or does. When you want something with emotion and total clarity, Universe stand with you to contribute to your SUCCESS.

Note: For more info on events, please follow a link on the right side of the page.

Sub-Conscious Mind - It's Mastery can create unlimited SUCCESS.

Why should immigrants know about the subconscious mind and how can they use it for their benefit?

What is subconscious mind?

It’s referred to a part of the mind that stores all that we practice over and over again; something that becomes second nature to us. Many of us don’t know about the subconscious mind. I believe your subconscious mind can help you integrate into a new culture. After immigrants move to a new country to live, for some people, subconsciously they still live in their countries of origin. In other words, all immigrants possess habits and attitude that they learned while living in their country so what happens is when they come to their new country, they still have those habits and attitude that worked for them while they were in their countries of origin. Those habits and attitude may or may not work while you are in a new country. I know people who had their habits and attitude from their countries of origin and within six months they were happily living here. They learned the new approach to adding to their performance and effectiveness, but their old habits and attitude didn’t become the blockage to their success. I also met people whose habits were a problem for them to get settled here. I have also met people whose attitude don’t support them to live here in a foreign country, and they keep struggling. These are the people usually face challenges getting a job and life that they want in a new country. Unless and until we redesign our habits and attitudes, we can’t get the success that we desire. When we know how our subconscious mind works and learn to let go of old habits and modify our attitude, we can excel in the path we choose to. A simple example would be as follows:

Example: I met this Doctor on Vancouver Island at a retreat. He came to Canada from South America. He was a doctor in South America. When he arrived in Canada, he was asked to give an exam again to become a Doctor in Canada. He was the person who never gives up. He was in his 40's. He studied and within three years passed the exam and got a residency in Canada. This doctor showed an attitude of "Never Give UP." It's impressive. Are you going to do whatever it takes to get what you want?

It’s our attitude that makes all the difference. When we spend too much time on complaining, we lose our focus on preparing for what we want. When we are complaining, people don’t like to stay around us. Watch your habits and attitude! He came to Canada and he had a clear intention without doubt, he would pursue his profession and will not give up. He got what he strived for.

Complaining usually happens when we have cultivated a habit of complaining in our past. It's second nature to our mind when a problem arises, we complain. This process of complaining is stored in our subconscious mind. We need to learn to re-frame and redesign what we learned before. We will find out more how our subconscious mind works and how we can assist ourselves modifying our habits and attitudes. Different immigrants have different challenges. Some people have a tendency to complain, some have a habit of coming late to work, some are unmotivated to take challenges that the new country gives, and some live in the past rather than living in the present and so on.

How Does Your Subconscious Mind Work?

The subconscious is the largest part of our mind. It contains all the messages we've received throughout our lives. It holds millions and millions of thoughts grouped into clusters that form beliefs, mindsets, and character traits. The relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds is like an iceberg. The conscious mind is represented by the visible tip of the iceberg, while the subconscious is represented by the huge lower portion of the iceberg hidden from view. You can't see the unconscious in action, but it certainly has a significant impact on your life.

The subconscious is the place where all of your learned behaviors reside. Once you learn to walk, you don't need to consider how to lift and place each foot to take the next step, do you? Of course not! Your subconscious mind automatically controls your next step or journey of your life. Similarly, when we first start riding a bicycle, we fall and learn. We practice so many times before we start riding our bike on a traffic road. Our subconscious mind makes a note of how to ride a bicycle. The more we practice, the more fearless we become in riding a bike. In the back of our mind, we register skills of riding a bike and it becomes second nature to us.

Your subconscious learns behavior through repetition and practice. Just as it learned to control your footsteps when you learned to walk, As your subconscious mind have precise information on how to walk without letting you think twice how to walk, it also can assist you to create your life’s journey based on what you’ve reinforced throughout your life. Living in a foreign country could be challenging. Our old habits and previous life experience may not support our survival in a new country. It’s important to learn new habits and gain new experience to ace your life in a foreign country.

[The mind is powerful, and you have more control than you think.” 

~ Scott D. Lewis]

Our subconscious mind is awake and aware all the time, and it takes information in real time. If any information is conveyed to our subconscious mind, it doesn't make a difference if it was in the past or future. It treats any information as it is happening now and stores it. That's very powerful. We can feed any positive statement to it, and it would make it happen. I know an acquaintance who is a psychiatrist. She said she had a bad habit of procrastination. Whenever she makes a plan, she delays it by procrastinating. She said, "I started writing ‘to do list' for a day and make sure I do those ‘to do list' every day." Now, it's been six months, she hardly procrastinates. 

The good news is you can reprogram your subconscious mind by inputting and reinforcing new thoughts and actions! There are several different techniques you can use to tap into the subconscious mind and reprogram it to work the way you want to work. One technique is through hypnosis. You can do hypnosis through two methods. One is you can hire a professional to put you into a trance and put the message that you want your subconscious mind to hear (habits or practice that you want to cultivate or habits that you want to get rid of). The other way is to prepare an audio file in your voice or your friend’s voice about affirmations and scripts about habits and practice that you want to have and listen to it when you go to sleep. At sleep, our conscious mind rests and subconscious mind still working. Subconscious mind is awake at all times and listens to everything that`s going around us and especially at night it`s super active. 

...

Success story

This gentleman named Tony (name changed for privacy) was having a hard time getting a job. He had everything that’s needed like education, personality, good English, etc. to get a job in his profession. He had the right knowledge in his field. He always had the interviews and never got a job. His problem of failing to get a job was not his credentials but himself. He had the tendency to think negative all the time. He saw himself as not getting a job. Five senses run our human mind: hear, see, smell, feel and taste. Tony was running his past failure in interviews in his mind.  He was interviewed few times, and he found himself not getting a job. Following his interviews, he had built the habit of running the video of how he was interviewed one after another job and couldn’t pass any interviews. After hearing from the Hypnotherapist of how he was blocking his own success, he planned to do Hypnosis. He practiced one of the hypnosis exercises called "Theatre of a mind." The "theater of mind" definition was introduced by Rene A. Bastarache, director and founder of the American school of Hypnosis. The "Theatre of mind" is a very powerful tool to get your goals. He practiced it for less than a month, and it worked. Following is the explanation of "Theatre of mind." 

Rene A. Bastarache, explains as follows: The Theater of the mind is an incredible self-hypnosis technique that utilizes imagination training. While sitting in your comfortable, relaxed spot, imagine a movie screen directly in front of you with yourself on it as the leading actor. It is important to realize that this technique will work better if you imagine the movie screen outside your head little away from you rather than inside your head.

Tony took the help of hypnosis to eradicate his negative talks about getting a job. He sat down comfortably every morning, in a room where there are no noise. He closed his eyes and visualized in front of him getting a job in the companies he wanted to work. He made a movie of how every day to day work would look like. He is getting up early in the morning, taking a bus to work, stepping into his workplace, working with people confidently, getting the job done and getting a recognition. In his visualization, he also, used all our five senses. He felt amazing, tasted his morning coffee, hearing people working around him, smelling his morning coffee and seeing his computer. He practiced his visualization exercise every day. He did for three months and later within four months he found a job he wanted. He later said, “it’s a miracle.” At the beginning he was having a trouble believing it and later on he started forming a belief that he can very well pass an interview and get a job. His belief got stronger as each day passes by.

Hypnosis alone don’t do a magic. That’s a morning exercise and you need to take action every day to achieve your goal. Tony did his morning exercise and rest of the day he took massive action. He found the company’s name where he wanted to work. He applied for a job online and also walked into the company and did an informational interview telling the employer why he liked the company. He took the action one after another on a regular basis that created the result. Hypnosis creates absolute certainty in your mind that you can achieve and your action creates a reality and make it happen.

- Immigrant's Secret To Success by Manny Daid.