The people you spend most of your time with and who you surround yourself with has a profound effect on your thinking, your business, and collectively, your life in general. In my many years of doing business, I’ve experienced the power of joining amazing masterminds and this has helped me, changed me and moved me tremendously in my business. So in today’s episode, I’m going to give you an overview of what a mastermind is, the power of joining one, the benefits, how it works, and how you can find a business mastermind you can join today. If you want to take your business to the next level, this is definitely one episode you won’t want to miss.
Important Links Mentioned in the Show:
Action Takers with Angela Henderson
Angela Henderson Consulting Instagram
Women in Business Retreat 2020
Angela Henderson Active Business Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Facebook Business Page
Prefer to read Mastermind: The Power of Joining a Business Mastermind? Here’s the transcript:
ANGELA:
You’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Episode 83.
Hey there, you’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. My name is Angela Henderson and on this show, we talk about improving your business, life or both, by having amazing and rich conversations with brilliant guests who will inspire you and who will give you tips and tricks to help you grow both in life and in business
Well, hey there and welcome back to another awesome episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. I am your host, Anj, from Angela Henderson Consulting where I am a Business Consultant and Coach who’s helped hundreds of amazing women business owners get all the pieces in place to have consistent five-figure months and then on to six-figure years without burning out in the process.
Over, let’s just say, gosh, I’m getting old; almost a decade I’ve been in business now. And I’ve heard this quote that I’m about to tell you many, many times. I’m sure many of you have probably also heard it. The quote that I’m referring to is, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Let’s just repeat that, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
You see, the quality of the people you surround yourself with will have a profound, and I mean absolutely profound effect on your thinking, your business, and collectively, your life in general. Let’s just giggle and do a little exercise. If I ask you to write down, or if you’re driving, please don’t write down; just think in your head about the five people that you hang out with most on a daily basis, monthly basis; just whatever. Can you hand on your heart say that these individuals are moving you forward in your life and forward in your business? Do they get you, do they lift you up, do they understand what it’s like to be in business?
Now, if you’re 100% being honest with yourself, I would say that you’re probably going to say no to most of this. Just like I did myself because trust me, I get this shit. In fact, it was freaking a reality check that I had never had before when I realized that I had to make some big changes because I was stuck.
Because you see, the average of the five people that I was hanging out with were, let’s just say, toxic; really, really toxic. I mean, besides Finley, Chloe and the hubby, but, you know, the others; man, it was bad. It was really, really, really bad, and I knew I had to change something. I was already going to local meet-ups. I was going to conferences here in Australia trying to really connect with new people, vibe with people, people who are going to get me.
And it was when I was at a conference, Problogger, by a friend of mine, Darren Rowse, a few years ago that I was told about this mastermind concept. And that there was a guy over in the Philippines; in Cebu, Philippines to be exact by the name of Chris Ducker who’s going to be running one in March the following year.
So curiosity got the best of me, and I looked up this mastermind; like at that stage, I don’t even know what the hell a mastermind was. And let’s just say, after reading the description of what was about to take place in Cebu, I only had one word to say: MAGICAL. It sounded absolutely magical. Five days, hanging out with 50 other amazing entrepreneurs and getting taught and guided by nine of the top world’s entrepreneurs. I was like, “Holy shit, Batman. This is absolutely epic. This is absolutely magical.”
And I knew I needed this. Every bone in my body knew I needed this. Because you see, one of the hard parts of being an entrepreneur, small business owner; whatever you want to call it is the weight of being the key decision-maker. Every decision of every single day depending on us. Figuring out how to optimize your time, to stay accountable, and make everything work without losing your mind.
Let’s just say, it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge for some of you right now, just as was, it was a challenge for me back when I first heard about this whole magical world of masterminds. And again, I don’t say this lightly, but not having people to talk to and bounce ideas around with can be one of the hardest parts of having your own business. The loneliness of being an entrepreneur is real.
So as I said earlier, I knew I needed this. But here was the catch; the cost. I didn’t have an extra $13,000 sitting around in my bank account to throw at this mastermind. That’s right; $13,000. I’ve never spent that much on one my own family vacation, let alone go and spend it on a mastermind.
Yes, I had invested in conferences here that might have been like $200 of $300 or little bits and bobs. But $13,000, holy shit, again, Batman, what was I going to do? Because as I said, there’s this physiological feeling that had come over my body when I was reading what this was going to have to take place in the Philippines. And like I said before, I knew I needed it.
So you probably know what I’m about to say. I said, “Fuck it.” I back myself, I back the event. One thing though is that I didn’t have all the cash up front, so I actually reached out to Chris and his wife and asked if he’d be willing to allow me payment plans and he said, “Yes,” and I will forever be grateful for that. And from there, I worked my ass off to come up with the monthly payments. And I can honestly say it was the best and most pivotal changing decision I’ve ever made in my business.
Now, I’ll share with you the benefits of this shortly. From this experience back in March 2016, I’ve been to the Maldives twice this year and last year for a week-long mastermind on a super yacht; it was pretty amazing. I was also in another 12-month mastermind with a US-based entrepreneur, again, pretty amazing. And it’s through these masterminds that I’ve changed and continued to change me and move me bigger and bigger in my business. There’s no more playing small because that, my friends, is not an option.
So in today’s episode, I want to chat with you about the power of joining a mastermind, explain to you exactly what is a mastermind, what are the benefits from a mastermind, how does a mastermind actually work, and how you can find a business mastermind to join today.
But before we hop straight into this amazing episode, I’d like to remind you that if you do enjoy this episode, I would love for you to share your key takeaway, a fun fact, or anything you’d love to share about the podcast over on your Instagram stories and by tagging me with the @angelahendersonconsulting. I would absolutely love it. It would put a smile on my face.
Now let’s get into this awesome, awesome episode.
Success in business relies on us being able to lead ourselves and become the leader of our business. In order to do that, we need to master being more focused and stop the entrepreneurial ADD activities that plague many business owners and then channel ideas and then turn them into action. Because after all, action is the key to success. Let me repeat that, action is the key to success.
Now, enter the concept of a business mastermind. The concept of business mastermind groups was first presented by Napoleon Hill, actually. And most of you might be thinking, “Oh, that must be quite recently.” But actually, this happened in 1937. In his book, Assume and Grow Rich, he described mastermind as a group of at least two individuals who come together with a goal of resolving troubles.
To take it a bit further, mastermind groups offer a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability and support in group settings to sharpen your business and personal skills. A mastermind helps you and your mastermind group members achieve success, reach success. Members challenge each other to set strong goals, and more importantly, again, to take action and accomplish them.
Mastermind group facilitators start and run the groups. They help the group to dive deeply into discussions and work with members to create success, as each member defines it. That is really, really important because the mastermind is still about, even though you’re coming together as a group collectively, meeting individual needs. Masterminds, my friends, as I’ve said before, is where the magic happens.
As I said earlier, I’ve been in four masterminds since 2016 and each of them have helped me in so many ways that I could talk for hours and hours and hours about the benefits of joining a business mastermind. But I’m going to restrict myself to the top five benefits you’ll see when joining a business mastermind. So here we go.
Benefit Number 1: You will grow your business more quickly. You see, when you are in a business mastermind, you are likely to grow your business more quickly than otherwise. Being part of a team of like-minded people, sharing experience and resources is beyond powerful. You effectively get access to a collective mind of knowledge of experience, of wisdom, and of much larger business networks than what you already currently have. And ultimately, you have no choice but for your business to grow.
Benefit Number 2 when joining a business mastermind is the focus and clarity. I don’t know about you, but focus and clarity are two key components that are needed in order to grow a sustainable and profitable business. Yet, so many, so many, so many, and I say it again, so many business owners lack the focus and clarity they need. Some of you may be shaking your head in agreement with this. I mean, hey, who hasn’t heard of shiny object syndrome. Anyone? Raise your hands. Again, if you’re driving, don’t raise your hands. You can shake your head, but you know what I mean.
Well, business mastermind ensures you don’t get stuck with that whole shiny object syndrome. The business mastermind groups and the facilitator will make sure that you stay focused and accountable and that you’re constantly striving towards the goals that you’ve identified. And they also will help to remove any of those roadblocks when required and that’s helping you to gain really that focus and clarity you need. I can’t emphasize enough how much the business masterminds that I’ve been in myself have helped just so quickly get back on track with the focus and clarity that I need.
Benefit 3 that again, I, it’s to me, anything probably out of this is that of accountability. You see, rarely do you succeed when the only person you have to answer to is yourself. And so many of us are solopreneurs when we’re starting out and we’re answering to our self, we’re talking to our self. There is power in speaking your dreams and goals out loud to a group of people who believe in you and want to see you grow. It’s like a new level of drive; bubbles up inside of you.
When you have to face this group also at your next kind of catch-up meetings or your hot seats or whatever that looks like, and give an update on how much closer you are towards your goal, trust me, you’d better believe you’re going to knock down every freaking door until you’ve done everything that you need to do.
Accountability alone is worth the investment of joining a mastermind business group. Seriously, hands down; people keeping me on track has been; like, obviously, we are responsible for everything we do in our business and our life. But just knowing that there’s other people there just to push me that little bit further, checking on me, keep me accountable, it really is that driving force.
Benefit Number 4: Connection and community. If you’ve listened to my podcast or followed me for any amount of time, you will know that I’m all about connection and community, and this is a massive, massive, massive benefit when you join a mastermind. You’ll create deep and lasting relationships with incredible women that will last long past the mastermind.
It’s these connections that will surround you and be, how would I say it? Like your personal cheerleaders. They’re going to motivate you, they’re going to assist you to looking on the bright side, encourage you, and they’ll also be there if you get frustrated and help support you through this.
Connection and community. But it’s also these connections and community that will help you to grow your business. Then they refer work your way, tag you on a Facebook group when someone needs your skillset, do a giveaway with you, collaborate with you, and so many other amazing, rich opportunities can come through connection and community.
Again, it would be a whole another podcast I would have to do about everything that has come from the connections and community members I’ve made in the four masterminds that I’ve joined. Connection and community truly, truly are imperative for business growth.
Now, Benefit Number 5: Specialized knowledge. We cannot know everything in business, especially when we’re first starting out. And we have to try to know how to juggle and get a website, what’s our messaging, what’s our branding, what’s our offer, what’s our sales funnel, what’s our email sequence? We just; we can’t know everything.
And that’s just at the beginning of your business, so when you start to grow these other things that you need to know, like growing your team. However, a business mastermind group can help you benefit from the knowledge and expertise of others. You bring your own knowledge to the group and share it while receiving what others can offer.
It’s a good way to learn more about the subject you are unsure of, whether, like I said, it’s getting your sales funnel up, launching your course, starting a podcast, or anything in between. Specialized knowledge of being able to tap into those other members who already have it is so, so, so valuable.
And as the saying goes, if you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room. You’ll know you’re on the right mastermind group when you have something to learn as well as teach. So open your mind to take it all in your skills your team members can give you.
As I said earlier on in this episode, I could go on and on and on about the benefits I’ve personally received from joining not one, but four different masterminds over the years. But it would take me hours and hours.
But in addition to the five key benefits that I’ve just talked about, which was; Benefit 1: You will grow your business more quickly. Benefit Number 2: That you will gain the focus and clarity you need. Benefit Number 3: Getting that accountability you need. Benefit 4: The connection and community. And Benefit 5: Being able to tap into that specialized knowledge from all the other members and the facilitator.
But I mean, I’d also just like to briefly mention; I won’t go into depth. But it’s also going to help increasing your self-esteem, increasing your confidence, strengthening your mindset, getting you to think bigger, play bigger to gain new perspectives, boosting your mental health, and so on, and so on. Again, I could go on and on about this for days.
So how does a mastermind work? You’re probably thinking, you’re like, “Great. Now I know what a mastermind is. I understand the benefits of a mastermind. Anj, how does it actually work?” And listen, each mastermind is different. As I’ve been on week-long masterminds in Maldives, I’ve been on 12-month masterminds, I’ve been on five-day masterminds; I’ve been on a variety of them. But ultimately, collectively, again, it’s about bringing people together.
Personally, my mastermind, Action Takers with Angela Henderson, I would prefer to do six months. And I also like to do it so that we’re doing one-on-one support, but we’re also bringing on that mastermind support. I found that there’s just something really powerful when you’re able to bring that group together, but also allowing individuals to have space that have some one-on-one time.
So in my mastermind, for example, I do a one-hour strategy session, map out your yearly, quarterly, monthly goals, and to talk about anything in between. We also have monthly hot seat sessions where you can come and just really get some laser-focused coaching on whatever needs to be done.
We also have monthly office hours. So I set aside three hours, two times a month, for a total of six hours for people to pop in, and through that, we can all just really get the help that we need. And obviously, that’s great because it allows you the opportunity to work on when that’s going to look like for your own calendar.
And then I also have one live event in my six-monthly mastermind, because I think again, it’s really great to have that peer support online and that ongoing support. But there’s this something even better when you can give those people a hug, have a mojito with them, go for a walk on the beach. And so, I also incorporate a live event.
As I said, and if you haven’t picked up on my enthusiasm here, I have been sold on mastermind groups since I participate in my first one back in 2016. And as I’ve mentioned, they have been an intrical part of my business success and will be moving forward.
But as well, I am excited to be launching Action Takers Mastermind with Angela Henderson for 20 ambitious women who are sick and tired of trying to do it all themselves and who want to surround themselves with a group of other inspiring women and collaborate their way to success to take action. Because as I said earlier, action is equals success.
25% of spots of my Action Taker Mastermind have already been filled. We will be starting the week of February 2020 and we’ll be going through the end of July 2020. But if you’re still listening to this and this date has gone and passed, be sure that you can still head to angelahenderson.com.au and join the waitlist for the next round.
Now, if you’d like to join me and some other awesome women in business, then run, not walk to your computer and apply to be part of the Action Takers Mastermind with me, Angela Henderson. You can apply simply by heading to bit.ly/actiontakersmastermind. Again, that link is bit.ly/actiontakersmastermind. And I’ll also have this link in the show notes where you can find at angelahenderson.com.au and then just under the podcast.
Remember, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And with me as your facilitator for the mastermind and 20 other amazing women in business, you’re going to grow so much, both personally and in business like you have never seen before. And I would love to be able to support you in 2020 or whenever you’re choosing to listen to this and you join the waitlist to help you reach your goals in business. Again, you can apply for the Action Takers Mastermind by heading to bit.ly/actiontakersmastermind.
And before we sign off, please remember, my team and I will also be putting together the whole transcription for this episode at angelahenderson.com.au. Have a fabulous day and I look forward to you joining me in the mastermind, but also, again, next week for another amazing episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast.
Thanks so much, everyone. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, The Power of joining a business mastermind. www.angelahenderson.com.au
