My First Mastermind Experience

This months article is called Mentors and Masterminds so I wanted to share my own first mastermind experience.

I met Ann Etheridge at a seminar I delivered back in January 2006.  We felt an immediate connection and had coffee soon afterward.  In conversation, we found that we were both seeking support to grow our businesses.  She mentioned another friend, Meri Raffetto, who was also interested in this and suggested we all meet to see if there was synergy between us.  There was!  We all decided to hold weekly meetings at each others homes.  We came to each meeting prepared with our agenda of what we wanted to talk about, get feedback on, brainstorm around and more.   For us that included new business ideas, marketing ideas, support as we navigated the rollercoaster of being business owners.

We also committed to connecting between meetings by e-mail and phone if we had something pressing to discuss or review.  That experience lasted nearly a year and was an integral part of my early success as a new business owner.  It gave me the camaraderie and collegiality I was missing since I left my position at the university and went out on my own.  Today I continue to have mastermind partnerships with different people and in different ways based on my needs as by business evolves.

My Commitment Step

Some of you may have seen my first video on Facebook last week.  It was only 30 seconds but it was my commitment step to a video series I am planning. 

Commitment steps are something I often talk about in my seminars and with my clients.  To me, they represent the one small step you take that catapults you on your path toward the realization of a goal. 

For me, putting that 30 second clip on Facebook announced to the public what I am up to.  It solidified my goal of creating a video series for now that it is “out there” it inspires me to keep going.  It also aligns with one of my values “doing what I say I will do” so not doing it is not an option any longer for me.   This commitment step took me out of the planning/thinking about it stage and into the doing it stage!

What is something you have been waiting for the “right” moment to do?  Something you have been thinking about for a while but not yet catapulted to action? 

What could be your commitment step toward the realization of your goal?

Tranquility at the lake

My husband and I spent a tranquil and relaxing few days at this wonderful boathouse in Lake Norman.  The owners, Brenda and Rusty Covington have created a wonderful space for couples to experience peace and quiet – they even made us breakfast, brought right to our door!

 

For me, letting go of my need-to-do list is not easy.  But the moment I brought that float onto the lake, all of my to-do’s vanished from my thoughts. 

When not floating on the lake, we cooked some delicious dinners, explored a bit and I spent some time capturing the scenery with my watercolor pencils.

What a wonderful experience!