A MasterMind Group is sometimes known as a peer group mentoring forum or a Boardroom forum.

These groups simulate the many different roles that it takes to run a successful business and giving a business owner independent advice from people with no hidden agenda.

I often get asked, “Why would anyone want to join a mentoring group with people who know nothing about each other’s businesses?”

There are three excellent answers to this:

1) The product or service a business delivers may be different but the process of running and growing a business has many generic activities. Almost everyone who starts a business has had experience of other businesses and brings many skills and lots of expertise to a group.

2) The process used in the most successful MasterMind Groups produces a situation where solutions are created from the combined efforts of the group members and do not rely on one person’s pre-existing knowledge.

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3) One of the major benefits of a well run MasterMind Group is accountability. The members commit to certain actions and keep each other on track.

If people have heard of MasterMind Groups its usually in relation to Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich”.

Hill established that many of the successful people he interviewed in the 1930s attributed part of their success to meeting with a peer group on a regular basis to discuss ideas and create new solutions to problems.  He describes the process as  ” When two people come together to discuss ideas it is a s though a third person appears with ideas that the others would not have thought of on their own.”

What do a potter, a metalworker, a doctor an engineer and a preacher have in common?

There are many wonderful examples of MasterMind Groups working to create success for their members but for me, one of the most powerful examples occurred long before Napoleon Hill wrote his famous book.

When the potter is Josiah Wedgewood, the metalworker is Matthew Boulton, the doctor is Erasmus Darwin, the engineer is James Watt and the preacher is Joseph Priestly the ideas produced quite literally changed the world.

Steam trains, electricity, canals, mass manufacturing, the discovery of new gases, processes and materials accompanied dramatic social and educational reforms in the middle of the 18th Century that brought about the Industrial Revolution and great wealth but for the original group of friends the support they gave each other was crucial.

Known as the Lunar Society because they met when the moon was full to aid their journeys, these men worked together to break down physical, social and educational barriers.

The internet has brought down even more of these barriers and made it easy to collaborate, to produce great ideas and to take the idea of MasterMinds to new levels.

When Napoleon Hill wrote “Think and Grow Rich” he meant think as in develop the ability to think, to process ideas and solve problems. By rich he meant not just monetary wealth but knowledge, discipline and fulfilment of potential.

All of this is achieved by mastery of the mind.

A Master Mind Group is exactly that: an opportunity for you to develop mastery of your mind, to think and grow rich with the support of a peer group.

If you would like to join us or have questions about how to get involved, just give me a call on 07711 705038.

In the 1920′s and 30′s,  a young journalist  called Napoleon Hill, interviewed 500 of the most successful people in America. He found that people who create success have many things in common. These are some of them as described in his best-selling book, “Think and Grow Rich”

1. Decide what you want. Desire is the starting point of all achievement. Desire is a crazy mad emotion that you absolutely have to satisfy, not a rational reasoned argument for doing something.

2. Believe that you can get what you want. Self doubt will prevent you from taking action. No-one is born with a sense of what they can’t do. Limiting beliefs are learned and they can and must be unlearned. It is usually easier to overcome other people’s judgements than our own.

3. You don’t have to do it all yourself. As Mother Teresa famously told Bob Geldof, “I can’t do what you do and you can’t do what I do but together we can change the world.” Surround yourself with people who can do what you can’t and who respect you for what you can do. Start or join a  MasterMind Group with like minded people.

4. Make practical use your imagination. Work out how to turn your dreams into reality. Everything, everything, starts out as an idea. Ideas are the beginning point of all achievement but they need to be harnessed into practical action.

5. Create a plan, organise your ideas and take continuous action. Most people put more effort into planning a holiday than planning their life. Successful people don’t just react to things that happen to them, they question whether something will take them closer to their goal before acting on it or rejecting it.

6. Avoid procrastination and make decisions. The ability to make decisions comes back to understanding exactly what it is that you want, to the burning desire and definite purpose that underpins all achievement. Successful people in all walks of life decide quickly and firmly and the world has a habit of making room for the person who knows where they are going and why.

7. Persist. Things will go wrong, people will let you down. If your desire is strong enough you will find a way through all difficulties to achieve your desire. Don’t keep doing the same things and expecting different results. Find different ways to achieve your goals. Paulo Coelho was committed to a mental asylum by his parents three times and subjected to electro-convulsive therapy because they thought he must be mad to want to become a writer instead of a lawyer. He persisted and his book, The Alchemist, sold over 40 million copies.

8. Aquire power and learn how to use it. The ability to lead others in a spirit of harmony to achieve a definite objective is a major source of success but successful people say that personal power and self mastery are most important.

9. Understand that sex is the most powerful of human desires. When this desire is harnessed into a creative process it can be the source of genius. It can also be a huge temptation and has destroyed many great people.  Successful people say that they are able to transmute its power into a creative force that helps them to produce and action ideas that in many instances makes their fortunes.

10. Learn to use the power of the subconscious mind. Everything we have ever experienced is kept in the vast storehouse of our sub-conscious. It can work for or against us but when we learn how to harness this power it makes us unstoppable. What we think of the world and ourselves makes us not only who we are but who we can be.

11. Develop and learn to trust the ‘sixth sense’. Intuition can help us to avoid dangers and grasp opportunities. Intuition is part of our nature and many successful people admit that intuition is a big part of their success including Donald Trump, Oprah, Richard Branson and even Bill Gates. Einstein and Edison described their creative process as having original ideas that didn’t come from the rational foundation of the mind. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, says, ‘The intuitive mind tells the logical mind where to look next.’

12. Deal with fear, the major obstacle to achievement. Almost every feeling of fear we experience is as the result of an IMAGINED situation, not a real one. In almost every case, the imagined situation that we most fear never happens. When a situation that we had feared actually materialised, most of us deal with it without any real consequences. The only thing holding most people back is their own imagination!

Is it ever too late to do the things you once dreamed of doing?

Mary Wesley, best-selling author, took up writing at 70

Charles Darwin’s first book wasn’t published until he was in his 50’s

Colonel Sanders was in this 60’s when he franchised Kentucky Fried Chicken

Ray Kroc was in his 50’s when he launched McDonalds

Agatha Christie was 62 when she wrote The Mousetrap

Julia Child was 50 before she took up cooking professionally

Benjamin Franklin was 78 when he invented bifocals.

Life expectancy has doubled in the last 100 years. There is no longer an official retirement age. If you go to college at 40 and qualify at 45 you could still have half your life left to work at what you love. It’s never too late to become an achiever instead of a dreamer!

Creativity test by Paul Lane http://designsavvy.co.uk

To be unique in business you just need a good idea!

Where do good ideas come from?

Some people are creative and some people aren’t, right?

Look, we can prove it:

Put your palms together, interlace your fingers, note which thumb is on top.

If your left thumb is on top of the right one you are very creative.

If the right one is on top you aren’t. Do you believe that?

The exercise above is a complete lie. It’s just made up.

Everyone is born equally creative but the older we get and the more schooling we have, the more we believe we are either academic or creative but rarely both.

This isn’t a fault with us. It’s a fault with the system of education in most western cultures. The system is still based on the 19th Century requirement for factory fodder which needed people to do as they are told, start and end work in response to a whistle or bell, not talk to each other or collaborate and accept a judgement on their aptitudes and abilities based on a very narrow set of tests.

How do you think a child feels when they are told at school that they’re not very good at drawing, or singing or playing an instrument? Mostly they believe it. They often believe it for the rest of their lives.

Creativity is most often associated with the arts but scientists and engineers are amongst the most creative and innovative people in the world and yet most education systems segregate the arts from the sciences so that students have to choose to be one or the other.

The work of Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and Mozart all display a mix of art and science and are designated ‘genius’.

“Most great achievers are practical dreamers” said Napoleon Hill in 1937 after interviewing 500 amazingly successful people. So why do we tell our children and our staff to stop daydreaming and get on with what they are ‘told’ to do? Do you believe that you are creative? Or do you believe that you aren’t? To paraphrase Henry Ford, whatever you believe, you’re probably right.

Lots of things could be open to you that you believe might not be.

What does this mean for you if you are running a business?

Good ideas by Paul Lane http://designsavvy.co.uk

Everyone wants their business to stand out from the crowd, to be noticed, to attract customers but how do you do this if your business is basically the same as your competitors?

Telling everyone about your great customer service doesn’t work. It’s what they expect.
Telling them you are passionate about what you do doesn’t work. Who cares except you?
Your products, your packaging or your pricing could be unique for a while but if they’re any good they’ll be copied.
Being unique is more than having a USP.

There are some great examples of people who have used their own unique style to stand out from the crowd:

The Wine Critic

Gary Vaynerchuck increased the turnover of his family business by several million dollars by recording wine reviews on YouTube. His brash, straight talking style was so different to the elite mystique of the wine world that he stood out a mile just by being himself.

The Chef

In a world of bullying, egotistical chefs braying about ‘classical training’, young Jamie Oliver, an Essex lad to the core, scruffy, almost inarticulate and severely dyslexic made good, uncomplicated cooking available to millions of people. His vulnerability, curiosity and ability to connect to people through a shared delight in food has revealed a young man of exceptional values, who has grown into a great role and a powerful campaigner for social change.

The Accountant

Accountancy isn’t usually associated with fun but if you were to meet Kelly Anstee, a beautiful young woman who likes to party and who also happens to be an accountant, you might take another view of this world. Kelly connects with people on Facebook and Twitter by talking about music, parties and social gatherings as well as her work. The warmth of her personality shines and the referrals come tumbling in. Her employers at Tyrrell and Company in Cambridge are savvy enough to encourage her to just be herself and don’t try and make her fit the mould of traditional accountant and so everybody wins.

Ayd Instone by Paul Lane http://designsavvy.co.uk

The Professional Speaker

The presentation that inspired this article was given by profession speaker, Ayd Instone. There are many thousands of motivational speakers in the world with slick PowerPoint presentations, a holier than thou attitude and a slew of improving proverbs but Ayd’s performance is unique because he doesn’t preach, he sings. He doesn’t borrow tired aphorisms, he writes his own thought provoking songs. Most importantly, he teaches creativity by being creative and does it all with a light touch that brings laughter and fun to his audience.

Innovation and creativity are often thought to be the result of a ‘eureka’ moment but they can also be the result of a ‘slow hunch’ that takes time and the right circumstances to develop. Finding the right people with whom to collaborate, regularly seeking ways to be inspired, being open to new ideas, taking time out for ‘re-creation’ are all proven ways of  increasing creativity.

Making ‘space’ for creativity is important

This is increasingly being recognised as so important that a number of innovative ideas are growing to accommodate it, one of which is called a ‘jelly’. It’s an informal gathering of people who usually work alone who come together with no agenda, just to see who they meet and what’s going on. There is no obligation to talk to anyone or share anything but just being in a collaborative space can be very inspiring. There’s a great example of this at CamJelly at Ideas Space in Cambridge. Contact Alistair Paterson for more information

Ayd Instone asks these questions:

• How can YOU be more innovative and imaginative to create a better future?
• What untapped resources do you have, linked to your own uniqueness?
• What great ideas are lurking just our of your conscious reach?

Share your thoughts with us, add to the discussion, be creative!

Bright Lights by Adam Hawkins http://anodizeproductions.com

We all know that sex sells almost everything and that PR and Marketing people are always talking about making messages sexy.

This can only work because sex is something most of us find interesting. If it wasn’t interesting, none of these sexy messages would work on us.

For many people sex has become a dirty word; a powerful and entirely natural human instinct has been exploited and used to make money and in the process has been degraded and made to appear shameful. This leads to a conflict. Sex is something we can’t help but be interested in and yet in most ‘polite’ societies it is not generally acknowledged as anything other than distasteful and certainly isn’t linked openly to success.

In the 1930s Napoleon Hill interviewed 500 of the most successful multi-millionaires in America. He found that people who create success have many things in common, one of which is a high sex drive, but the really interesting thing is how they described the extra edge this gave them.

Instead of using this most powerful of human drives simply as nature intended, these successful people all said that they were able to transmute its power into a creative force that helped them to produce and action ideas that in many instances made their fortunes.

While a high sex drive may or may not lead to determined action it is widely acknowledged that castration has the opposite effect in most species.

Controlling our urges

Most of us have heard the debates about whether sports coaches allow their stars to have sex before a game or a match, many believing that the energy and passion associated with having sex can be transmuted and give their subjects a winning edge. While there is no conclusive proof that this happens, what is interesting is the discipline associated with not simply giving in to passions but in channelling thoughts and actions to a desired outcome.

Napoleon Hill cites George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Burns, Thomas Jefferson, Oscar Wilde, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson and Enrico Caruso as examples of people with a high sex drive who used it to great creative effect if not always in the disciplined way the subjects of his study describe.

The attitudes we have to sex in today’s media frenetic society may explain why not many high achievers in the modern world are keen to attribute their success to the same source but it is easy to find examples where the same drive that leads to great creativity is also used in a destructive fashion and families, businesses, fortunes and even countries have been destroyed as a result.

Sexy by Adam hawkins http://anodizeproductions.com

Women’s sexuality

Hill’s observation that the way women use their sex drive primarily to influence men is very controversial in the 21st Century and there are lots of double standards and hypocrisy about women’s sexuality. There are more examples of high achieving women now than when Napoleon Hill interviewed the subjects of his study but still no where the same number as high achieving men. Most studies suggest that this is more likely to be a result of social, political and economic factors than anything to do with sex drive or ambition.

Despite the fact that the media seems intent on reporting that high achieving women have miserable relationships and disappointing sex lives, these reports are not supported by any real evidence. One recent piece of research that proves just the opposite is a study of 500 couples that found that the highest levels of sexual satisfaction were among couples who both worked and experienced high rewards from their jobs.

If success is intricately linked to transmuting a high sex drive into taking action to bring creative ideas into being, how can it be used by a wide range of people? Given that sex is the most powerful driver in most human beings and most of the time is controlled rather than given free rein, we must all be transmuting our sex drive in some way. Perhaps the fascination with celebrity sex lives and soap operas is simply a voyeuristic way of indulging what we deny ourselves.

Sex and Creativity

Play by Adam Hawkins AnodizeProductions.com

Creative expression takes many forms and is another way of transmuting this powerful force but whether it is in creating a garden, an empire or a fortune there is no doubt that it is there for us to use and the only difference is in scale and both talent and ambition are an essential part of this.

So, the key to using sex as part of our formula for success is, as in most other things, discipline. Unfortunately, this had become another dirty word to many and history is littered with stories of successful and creative people who destroyed themselves because they lost control and allowed sudden passions to overtake their better judgement. The successful people that Hill interviewed all knew how to control their thoughts and desires and they consistently used all of their resources to take them closer to their goals.

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. (Poem often attributed to Emerson but most likely to have been written by Bessie Stanley)

What do YOU think? Is the ability to use our sex drive creatively a major part of success in today’s world? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear some other opinions on this.