This past weekend, at our annual retreat on Bainbridge Island, there was a strong consensus among my Brain Trust that I had to make a significant shift in my business model. Places in how I ran Heart of Business where I was struggling, unsure, or feeling lost came into focus, at the expense of my comfort.
When an uncomfortable truth comes in, for me time seems to go into slow-motion, my stomach feels queasy, and I sometimes cry. The last five years I cried, but this year I didn’t. Instead I just felt overwhelmed and slightly nauseous.
I don’t know when I first got the idea of having a mastermind group. The first one I started myself. Then, when that dissolved, I joined up with these beautiful people in their Brain Trust.
These five people to the left here are among the brightest lights in my life, and have patiently and compassionately helped me walk ever more deeply through my core pattern.
Because that’s what has become clear to all of us: that we each have our own core pattern which just keeps showing up in different ways. Witnessing, acceptance, and gentle nudging (and, where appropriate, rear-kicking) is what gets us moving forward.
Note to self: don’t despair if the same problem keeps coming up. And up. And up. It’s supposed to.
It’s great to have a coach and it’s great to take courses, but a mastermind is different. A mastermind is peer-led. A mastermind doesn’t cost anything. And because of those two things, a mastermind can go on for years, until all of you in the group know each other so well, have so much trust and love, that you can help each other make HUGE changes.
It takes patience to go this deep with people, just as it takes patience to build a truly sustainable business. But it is so worth it.
My mastermind held me lovingly, but wouldn’t let me waver. When I became overwhelmed and my mind blanked out, they just kept bringing me back to focus on what’s true. They didn’t force me down any path, but they helped me open my eyes to the path that is waiting for me.
I can’t share details because it’s all too nascent, and I still have to sit in prayer to get true clarity after the input and the processing. But I do know that now, for the issues we were focused on, I feel hope, creativity and aliveness, where before I felt sad and stuck.
Here are my Brain Trustees, the people who know me, warts, failures, bruises, fears and all. And still love and support me.
- Jennifer Louden
- Michael Bungay-Stanier from http://www.boxofcrayons.biz
- Michele Lisenbury-Christensen from http://www.lovingwithpower.com
- Molly Gordon from http://www.shaboominc.com
- Eric Klein from http://www.wisdomheart.org/
If you’re ready to get going, may I suggest that you don’t do it alone? Get a mastermind group together.
Do you have a mastermind group? Or, if you don’t have anything so formal, do you have friends and community that support you in your journey in business. Leave a comment on the blog.
Here are a few related articles and other resources to check out:
- Why Your Business Needs a Peer-Led Mastermind Group
- Help From A Drinking Buddy
- How to Call in Happy Helpers
- Mastermind from the Heart is a workbook and audio class that comes as a business with Unveiling the Heart of Your Business.
- The Heart of Business Alumni Community is a great place to find like-hearted mastermind buddies.
p.s. Needing some hands-on help?
Sometimes a course or group program just isn’t quite the right thing. Sometimes you want something very custom, with the focus totally on you and your business, on your timeline, on your agenda, you.
Yollana Shore and Jason Stein have years of experience as healers and coaches, and have chalked up tremendous successes with their clients. And they are official Heart of Business practitioners, steeped in our approach. To learn more about working with one of them, visit:
Organic Business Development Program
17 Responses
Dear Mark, I am not currently in a mastermind. I have an online support group that is a bit wobbly & otherwise I am taking classes. I keep reading (from coaches) that if you are not putting “skin in the game” (meaning paying) to be in a mastermind, then it is not as valuable. Your experience sounds very worthwhile, but I wonder how do-able it is to get a group together that really has the commitment to show up & participate. Any thoughts?
@Christine – I totally disagree with the “skin in the game” comment as regards to money. You do need to have skin in the game, but love, caring and friendship are good enough for me.
It’s totally doable, and it may take some persistence and dedication to find one.
Thanks, Mark. I am curious as to whether you would be willing to share how your brain trust works. Do you meet in person more than once a year? Do you follow a set format in communication online and how often do you all connect?
Thanks for this post–I find it very encouraging and inspiring!
Hi Christine- we have an online forum where we check in nearly daily, or at least several times a week, regarding what we’re up to. We have twice-monthly group calls, and we call on each other 1-1 for individual support/coaching calls. Then once a year we have a two day in-person retreat.
Thanks for sharing that! It’s great to have an idea of how to set up a format for the mastermind.
You are so welcome, Christine.
Your mastermind group sounds like a wonderful thing.
Out here (countryside Australia), things are a bit different. It’s you on your own and that’s it. You have to get used to it or forget about it.
All the best,
Ines
I agree with Paul, Ines. None of my mastermind buddies lives near me, the closest are a three-hour drive away. Two of them require plane flights to get to them.
Really appreciate your sharing Mark. And while I’ve had wonderful paid coaches – both in group and individual settings – there’s something quite magic about my almost 4 year relationship with my Mastermind Buddy (Sejual Shah).
Inez, I wasn’t able to find anyone in my local area that I felt highly aligned with. So I went with alignment over location – I live in New Mexico, USA and Sejual lives near London. We meet weekly via Skype and have gotten together twice now in person over the 4 years. So I wouldn’t let location get in the way if you’re feeling drawn to this …
Thanks for your honest sharing Mark!
So glad, Paul, that you’ve got a mastermind buddy!
It was an amazing weekend – as always.
We not only love each other warts and all. We love the radiance and genius as well. What looks and feels like a wart to the individual who is stuck – typically looks and feels like the rising sun to the rest of us.
@Eric- yeah, well, that’s always true, isn’t it? 🙂
The title of this post is what got me to click as I spent almost 10 years in Seattle. I wasn’t expecting to be introduced to the concept of a mastermind group. This is a very cool idea. Thank you for sharing – oh, liked the “Help from a Drinking Buddy” post as well.
@John – how funny- glad it got you to come through. And yes, that’s a fun post, too.
I still hold out hope that one day I will find a group of people as who are dedicated to the possibilities and growth that happen in a mastermind group such as what you’ve described in your brain trust.
I am very happy that all of you have found each other.
I’ve been on a couple online forums – many for over a year – and asked at various times and using language showing what I’m looking for as well as being curious of course about what someone else is looking for.
At one point, you had a handout from one of your courses that I took about how to form a mastermind group. I followed that along with some materials from parker palmer that more clearly delineated what i wanted to share.
It has not happened. . . . yet. And I also believe everything is possible. Maybe someone will see this and email me to talk about it further.
And I’ll keep looking. My email is ch**@************ep.com if you think you might be interested.
Thanks Mark – the picture was especially beautiful.
@Char – It can sure take persistence to find the right people.
What perfect timing (as usual). Thank you, Mark.
My nascent mastermind group has been quiet the last couple of weeks. I’m hoping your piece will land in the rest of us as it has with me. I see/feel just how powerful this kind of support is and am eager to persist in the development of this group. And if this group I’m in now dissolves, I’ll keep looking.
Love and light!