The benefits of a mastermind group are endless. Having a mastermind group is like having that team on deck regularly. You don’t have to piece the team together when you need something. This is your life team, ready to support your success, the moment you say the word. When you’re on a team, you don’t have to everything—you just have to do your part. And when I succeed, you succeed and vice versa.

I know there is all this rhetoric about “self-made millionaires” blah blah blah, but it’s not true. If you ask any of them if they did it by themselves they will say no. There were mentors, colleagues, friends, parents, investors, professors, and unexpected people who helped them along the way.

The benefits of a mastermind group tend to come in 3 ways–the group’s specific goal for each member based on the purpose, each member’s specific goals for themselves, and then the general benefits of being on a team and having a space to work on your business and life versus in them. Here are some of the general benefits of a mastermind group membership:

1. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Team

You are not alone. Now you have a team of people who want to see you succeed and understand you. While friends and family may care deeply about you, they know the old you and have ideas about what’s right or wrong for you. Your mastermind group only cares about helping you get what you desire at this moment in your life. They give you the freedom to be who you truly are without any attachment to the past. In the group you can be honest and open about what’s really blocking you so that we can address the problem at the root. This locker room speech by Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday captures the essence of what it means to be on a team to me.

2. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Accountability

It’s almost impossible to hold yourself accountable. If I tell you do as many pushups as you possible can, you will stop yourself at some point. But then if I tell you to give me 3 more, all of sudden out of nowhere, you’ll pump out 3 more. How did that happen? It happened simply because someone else was present. We have a weird psychology about ourselves where we are more comfortable disappointing ourselves than we are other people. So rather than see that as a negative thing, we just need to get other people involved in our goals. That’s what a mastermind group inherently does. Nobody wants to show up at the next meeting not having made progress.

3. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Perspective

It is extremely hard to be yourself and see yourself at the same time. Firstly, a mastermind group creates the space for you to step outside of your business or life and work on it rather than in it. Secondly, the diverse perspectives in the room will help you see opportunities where you may have had a blind spot. You will leave the group with new ideas and strategies for your business and life.

4. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Experience

In any group, you can now access the collective wisdom. If there are 5 seasoned professional in a group, you have access to almost 100 years of experience. Where else can you get 100 years of experience that fast? Nowhere. These people come with diverse skill and subject mastery that you can tap into usually for free (and sometimes for fee). That’s why it is important for a leader to choose the right mastermind group members and for each member to choose the right mastermind group.

5. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Inspiration

See people around you grow is contagious. When you see your peers grow meeting after meeting, it will inspire your growth. When you were alone, seeing others grow may have made you jealous or insecure. But since these are you teammates, you know that they will share how they got that breakthrough with you and help you get yours.

6. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Wisdom

In kindergarten we were taught to share. And then we got into K-12 and it was all about being better than the person sitting next to you. That carried on through college and into our careers. And life got harder because we were taught to do everything on our own. Master 6 subjects by yourself. In a mastermind group, Person A masters Subject A, Person B masters Subject B, and you master what you master. And because we are a team, we come together as one and share our learnings. It’s so much easier than trying to do it all by yourself.

7. Benefit of a Mastermind’s Relationships

Every person has 4 forms of their capital—their personal, intellectual, social, and financial capital. When you form a genuine mutual relationship with someone, you get access to all of their capital. Social capital is the multiplier and your mastermind group has already vetting hard working committed people like yourself and now you get to benefit from those relationship as a giver and receiver.