If you are in business and you don’t have a mastermind group, GO GET ONE. Immediately. Without delay.
When I first heard this advice, I was a bit skeptical. The concept offended my lone wolf, DIY sensibilities. You might be thinking, like I did, “I can do it myself. Everything I need is online.” Sure, you can find just about anything you need to know online (or off), but hearing that info from a group of like-minded people makes it real and, more importantly, actionable.
5 More Good reasons to form a Mastermind group:
1) When you are overwhelmed and secretly worried that you suck beyond all belief, your mastermind group will talk you down and remind you that you do not belong on the bottom of a shoe. One caveat: you will be expected to return the favor.
2) Your mastermind group understands your industry and business model. The caveat here, of course, is to choose people who are in your business world but not direct competitors. Feedback from your peers is invaluable. The feedback I get from my family includes such gems as “Thats great sweetie, but I don’t understand that twit thing.” Or my perennial favorite, “Wow honey, you know stuff.” My mastermind group on the other hand, lives in my world. And yes, they understand that twit thing.
3) When you have an issue, such as owing a bucket of money, or a nasty looking legal notice, they will brainstorm with you to solve the problem. If you choose carefully, your mastermind group will have more experience. Stuff that’s scaring you, will be “been there, done that” for your group. Again, this goes both ways. You should be offering suggestions and looking for ways to help them.
4) Your group will create accountability. Accountability has gotten a bad rap from the woo-woo crowd. In some circles it seems to translate to “There, there, dear. Its ok that you watched a Top Chef marathon instead of creating your product. Maybe next week.” I’m not talking about support here. Accountability is what keeps you from whinging on about what your going to do someday. When your truly being held accountable by your group you should be too embarrassed to admit you watched everything on your Netflix queue without ever getting to what you said you would do. Talking about someday is wasting the group’s time. Don’t do that.
5) Your group is a great source of referrals. They can help you find clients and vendors. And once again, its not a one way street. You have to give these things too.
Don’t be the lone wolf. Going it alone WILL hold you back. Creating a mastermind group will help you to get more done. They will also cut your freak out time in half. And if they’re local, they might even raise a glass with you.
