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Today I wanted to finally sit down and recap with you what happened at my mastermind last week. I know probably a bunch of you saw, if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you saw that I was with a bunch of my clients last week and I thought I would give you guys a little advice about some of the things that are really beneficial when you take time out of your business, out of your normal everyday plan.
Twice a year I rent a beautiful co-working space in Hartford, which is right at the capital of Connecticut and it’s on the 17th floor and the space is amazing. First of all, because it’s got a great view and every single desk is a whiteboard, and all the walls are whiteboards. So the very place just sort of emanates creativity and emanates that feeling of possibility.
So I bring everybody to Connecticut and we spend an entire week in this room together, masterminding, hot seating, co-working, collaborating, training, teaching. And some of the things that are really cool that I want to share with you that maybe will help you in your own business.
The first thing is a week is a long time. And I know that a lot of people would be like, “Oh my gosh, taking a week to do that seems like it’s impossible.” But there’s something that happens when you give yourself the space to work, to think, to brainstorm, you come up with ideas that you wouldn’t come up with in any other situation. And I know in my life and in my calendar when I’m trying to block out time to be creative, I sometimes completely underestimate, or overestimate, I can’t remember which one it would be for this, how much time it’s going to take my brain to just get into a creative zone.
So one of the things about creativity, especially when you’re brainstorming ideas, is that it could take 18 hours of thinking, and talking, and exploring to come up with an hour of work that’s creative. And that’s not wrong or bad or abnormal. So when you’re in a mastermind setting, you’ve really dedicated that time to sort of allow that space to really help percolate new ideas.
The other thing that really helps with creativity in a mastermind is when you hear from other people. And it’s, you know, the old saying is, “The shoe maker’s kids don’t have shoes.” That’s based on this old idea that what we can do for others sometimes becomes very difficult for ourselves.
I know this is true in my own business and in my life, that I can give great advice and strategy for other people, and then when it comes to myself I can’t see the forest through the trees. And it’s frustrating. You think, “Oh my gosh, I’m so good at this for others, but why can’t I do it for myself?”
My friend and partner, Kathy Olson, who I run Funnel Gorgeous with her, she actually has, she’s a designer and she has an entire course on designing for yourself because of the unique challenges that come when you try to do something for yourself that you normally could do really well for others.
In a mastermind setting when you’re with other people, your brain is able to process ideas differently because you’re watching other people go on the hot seat. You’re watching other people’s problems be solved and ideas be sort of massaged. So without that weird extra mind set issues that happen when it’s our own stuff, we can see things very clearly for others. And the mastermind arena gives you the opportunity to let your brain imagine that possibility and then it sometimes becomes easier to incorporate into your own business.
But you need time. You need time and space and obviously for all of us who work from our laptops, a week without work there’s not necessarily a paycheck waiting if you don’t work. So when we rent the co-working space we specifically do that so people can go in and out for meetings for work time, so they can actually get work done. So a lot of my clients left with new ideas, new relationships, new collaborations, but also work done as well.
And if you’re not part of a mastermind, I highly recommend that you join one. But even for those of you guys listening who are just living your laptop life, I would highly recommend that you find people in your life that are also doing that and dedicate at least twice a year, a week where you go into a different location, a location that’s conducive to creativity. Even if you don’t spend the entire time collaborating, even just co-working side by side, you’re going to find amazing things happen in your brain. You’re going to come up with stuff that you couldn’t come up with before.
Now when I do the mastermind, it’s a pretty intense week for me because unlike everybody else who can just kind of go in and out and work and take breaks when they need to take a break, because I’m facilitating the mastermind I’m literally in my seat in concentration mode from the moment we start until the moment we end. So it becomes pretty much five days of 8 hours a day of concentration. That is exercise for my brain that really, really stretches me. So I often times forget. I think, “Oh I’m just giving, giving, giving.” But what was happening even in that moment is I was receiving some really interesting insight, and things that started to shift and change in me.
So if you host a mastermind, you might think that you’re doing all the giving, but you’ll be surprised to see what comes back to you in return.
Another thing that I am really passionate about is going to sound super funny. I’m really passionate about eating with people. I know that sounds so funny. But again if you are living a laptop life and you tend to be isolated, you work from home, eating with people bonds you with them in a different way.
The people in my mastermind joke that I’m very serious, I’m a very serious foodie. And I really, really just love good food. So at my masterminds I make sure that we have lots of meals together and we eat good food together. And it just creates friendship. And it also gives you a chance to talk about things that maybe aren’t super business related or business specific, but still the soft issues that circle around business. Like work life balance, relationships, you know the things that we fear or worry about.
So anyway, that is how I structure my mastermind. And whether you join a formal one, or you find a couple of friends and you sort of do it organically. If there’s one thing that I can recommend you do for your business, it’s this. That you take that time out and find a place that’s conducive for creativity, gather with people who are like minded, give yourself the space to become creative, to sort of brainstorm and problem solve. Have other people there so that you can see what’s happening in their business and let it sort of indirectly impact yours since sometimes it’s hard when we’re so zoomed in on ourselves. And share meals together.
That’s my advice for you. And I can’t, I already am looking forward to the next one, six months from now, because I know just how powerful they are. So I hope you have an amazing day. Thanks again for listening and subscribing and sharing my content, I really appreciate it. I appreciate you all, and I will see you next time.
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