Accelerate Your Business with an Alliance of Minds

Being an entrepreneur can be a scary, lonely journey.

Yes, you may have the moral support of your friends and family which, believe me, you will definitely need to keep you strong. Their unconditional support has encouraged me to begin this journey in the first place.

But, as valuable as that support is, your friends and family are most likely not going through what you are going through, and will not understand many of the struggles and challenges you will face as an entrepreneur.

They’ll always be your cheerleaders and will tell you all the things you want to hear to feel good about yourself. But they probably can’t give you practical and brutally honest advice about how to run a successful business.

To get that type of support, you need to be part of a group of people who are on the same boat as you are. What you and your business need is a mastermind group.

So what exactly is a mastermind group?

The concept has been around for ages and many historical figures like King Arthur, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Andrew Carnegie, have applied it successfully. But it was first coined in the 1930s by Napoleon Hill in his book, Think and Grow Rich, where he defined it as

“…a friendly alliance of one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both in plan and purpose.”

So think of a Mastermind Group as a group of gym buddies who constantly hold you accountable for showing up to the gym and completing all of your exercises, while encouraging you and giving you constructive feedback. But instead of helping you succeed in the gym, a mastermind group helps you succeed in business and in life.

It is more than a support group.

What a Mastermind Group creates is a synergy of minds that allows each member to tap into the collective creativity, knowledge, experience, ideas, and insights of the entire group. This is an incredibly powerful tool you need as an entrepreneur because the mental power invested in your business is suddenly multiplied, and you just can’t get that anywhere else on a consistent basis.

For me, the Mastermind Group I am part of has been an invaluable resource and a catalyst for my entrepreneurial growth. I was very fortunate to find a couple of very driven and talented entrepreneurs and friends. They are Amin Lakhani, The Dating Coach on Wheels, and Chad Elliot, a master in Improvisation and Communication Skills.

The success of our group lies in the success of each of our members, and we face similar struggles and challenges which creates a strong sense of camaraderie and solidarity. We’re all in it to ensure each other’s success.

There are different structures and meeting formats for mastermind groups, but they generally consists of 2 to 5 members to allow each member to participate on a regular basis. My group has three members and we meet once a week.

At the start of every meeting, we each share our wins and challenges for the past week followed by our commitments and desired results for the following week. During the second half of our meetings, one member is put on the “hot seat” where they get to talk about their ideas and challenges in depth. During this part of the meeting, the group is entirely focused on addressing the challenges or providing feedback on the ideas of that member.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or aspire to become one, being part of a mastermind group will be instrumental in your success.

Some of the immediate benefits you will get out of it include:

1. Accountability
2. Brainstorming of ideas
3. Challenging you by raising the bar
4. Encouragement
5. Brutally honest but constructive criticism
6. Expanding your network
7. Cross-promotion

So get out there and find a group of entrepreneurs who are as equally as driven as you and put your minds together. If you cannot find a group you can join, create one. A great way to meet like-minded entrepreneurs is through MeetUp in your city.