Surrounded By Success
Change Your Outer Circle Of Friends So You Can Change Your Inner Cycle Of Fear
How To Start A Mastermind Group
Jullien Gordon
Founder
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STEP 1. Download The Mastermind M.A.K.E.R. Starter Kit
The Mastermind Maker Group Starter Kit has everything you need to successfully launch an in-person or virtual mastermind group in 30 days or less.
It includes:
- Invitation Emails: After identifying your successful friends, simply copy and paste the email invitations and send them out to start your group.
- Meeting Scripts: Simply read the word-for-word meeting script which provides structure for your in-person or virtual meeting.
- Sign-In Sheets: Use the New Member Form and Meeting Tracker to keep your group organized from month-to-month.
Here is a sneak people of some of the tools inside...
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STEP 2. Create A Group Mission & Name
The mission of your group is critical. The name, meeting structure, and membership hinge on it. Think about a common one-year goal you have that like-minded people may also be aspiring toward. It could to start a company, write a book, run 10 marathons, buy real estate, advance your career, or find or deepen love. Whatever it is, it becomes your rallying call to attract others who want what you want too.
Steps to coming up with your mission and name:
- List Your Desires: List all of the things that you want to accomplish over the next year in the areas of health, wealth, and relationships.
- List Your Friends Desires: Do the same thing for your current friends.
- Find Commonalities & Choose: Circle the ones that are on both lists and then choose which one inspires you the most that you know will be easier and more fun to pursue with others.
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STEP 3. Pick Your Team Of Successful Friends
Creating a mastermind group is an opportunity for you choose new friends and pick a team of people that inspire you. You can create a mutually-beneficial mastermind that is free or you can create a money-making mastermind that can become your primary revenue stream or at least compliment your existing ones. Either way, the primary goal is to surround yourself with more successful friends.
Below is a recap of how we distinguish social and success friends. These distinctions and the exercise below are designed to support you in building a well-rounded mastermind group of successful friends and team players.
Social Friends
Take you out to a party
Are there when you’re up
Keep it PC
Become your friends by convenience
Talk about and repeat your past
Take you out of your comfort zone
Are there to lift you up (when you’re up or down)
Keep it real
Become your friends by choice & commitment
Talk about and create your future
Great minds don’t think alike. The best mastermind groups are composed of people who have a variety of perspectives. We need new experiences, new ideas, and different world-views to help us expand to reach our full potential. Contrast keeps us open, challenges our mental models, and sparks our curiosity around the various way to create and live our lives.
As you brainstorm you group members, you are looking for people who will:
1. Challenge you by expanding your mind and not accepting your excuses
2. Complement (aka brings a missing strength) the group and compliment (aka congratulates) the group.
3. Keep it 100—telling you the truth while still compassionately holding a vision of your highest best self.
4. Hold you accountable—showing up for you and believing in you even when you don’t want to show up for or believe in yourself.
Here are several places where you can potentially find more successful friends
- Your cell phone
- Your LinkedIn contacts
- Facebook friends or followers
- Mentors
- Mentees
- Old colleagues
- Fraternities and sororities
- Professional associations
- Intramural sports teammates
- Old high school & college friends
- Local alumni associations
- Lean In groups
- Meetups
- Church
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STEP 4. Invite People & Host Your First Meeting
To make it as easy as possible for you, we have include a personal invitation email template below. Feel free to edit and adapt it based on who you are and what you want to tone of your mastermind group to be.
If you've chosen 10 people for your initial invite, know that perhaps only 3 will say yes. Don't worry about who doesn't take you up on your offer—only focus on the people who show up and are committed.
The feeling of getting that your first RSVP is invigorating. You know that you're onto something big and that new needed friendships will be formed as a result of this single email.
Everything else you need from a pre-meeting checklist to a word-for-word meeting script are in the group starter kit. This is a proven system that has worked for countless others and will also work for you.
It's time for a change.
By surrounding yourself with people who push you in the specific areas of your life that you want to grow in, you will accelerate your success and achieve things that you alone didn't believe were possible.
All you have to do is send the email above and watch your life unfold in a richer way.
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STEP 5. Have Members Complete The New Year Guide
The New Year Guide is an annual visioning and goal setting tool to help create your D.R.E.A.M. life this year. D.R.E.A.M. means to have your Desired Relationships, Employment, And Money.
This process open people up to where there are gaps in their life and gets them to write them down. Completing The New Year Guide sets the stage for the entire year to come.
The first section includes visioning and goal setting tools. And the rest of the book is a weekly planner to organize your time.
For new members, completing this should be their first month's goal unless they already have something specific in mind that they want to work on.
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STEP 6. Track Everyone's Transformation With Our App
We have created and are constantly developing the Masterminds.org web application to make it as easy as possible for groups and their members to maintain momentum. Below you can see the coach view and the member view. Watch the demo. When you're ready to have your first meeting, email us and we will set you and your group up for success.
The Coach's View
Easily coach & lead your group to success
- Track each team member’s monthly progress and coach them online
- Send text messages based on player’s progress and recent activity
- Setup monthly meetings with automatic reminders so nobody forgets
Press Play To Watch Demo →
The Member's View
Track transformation from month-to-month
- Set monthly goals, track your progress, and get coached online
- Get text-based notifications when you get coached or your buddy progresses
- Search your teammates by skills to get specific help on your personal goals
Are You Ready To Be The Leader You Know You Can Be
& Have More Impact?
Still Have Questions? We Have Answers!
Feel free to reach out to us via email. We usually respond within 1-2 business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I get access to the online web application?
Simply BCC jullien@masterminds.org on your initial meeting invite or your reminder email to people who RSVPed and that will signal to us that you are serious and taking action and we will get you and all of your members setup before the meeting date in your invitation email.
Q: Should I invite friends?
Yes. But remember the distinction between social and successful friends. You probably already know who is who. One approach is to invite all of your close friends and simply see who shows up so nobody feels left out. The other option is to only invite those who you know will be serious and push you in addition to others outside of your social circle so that new energy is added to the group.
Q: What if I don't have any successful friends?
You likely have successful friends, but you just don't know it. We encourage you to use Facebook and LinkedIn to identify successful friends based on their behavior. The easiest way to do so is on Facebook following the steps below:
1. Go to https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=mastermind
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and allow it “Load More Results” so you start to see the breadth and diversity of the mastermind groups on Facebook
3. Scroll back up to the top where the groups that your friends participate in are
4. Click the first group and see which of your friends is a part of it
5. Do that for the next few groups until you start getting to groups where have no friends
6. After doing that, think about whether you saw any faces over and over again or someone you have influence with that may be a fit for your group
7. When you invite them to your group, don’t tell them you stalked them, but spark up a conversation in person or on Facebook about whatever the Facebook mastermind group they are in is about and share with them that you have a “real” mastermind group for just that
Q: Should I invite strangers?
We recommend that your first wave of invites be people in your personal network. After you get going, it's okay to have members who are consistent invite their friends a few at a time. Get clear on the number of members you want. Size does not matter. Bigger is not always better. All new members should complete a New Member Form to see if they are a fit for the group. It is okay to deny membership.
Q: Where should I host my meeting?
If your initial members are in your personal network, we recommend inviting people to your home. Alternative spaces can be a Starbucks, a restaurant, or a library. You can even rent meeting spaces on Breather.com or AirBnB.com.
Q: What if I'm not an expert? Who will join my group?
If you are a coach or online leader and only have one group, you should be the coach. But if you have a large community or conference, we will work with you to supply you with coaches or train people in your network to be coaches on your behalf.
Q: Can I run a virtual group or should it be in-person?
We offer meeting scripts for virtual or in-person groups. Virtual groups allow you to have a wider reach nationally or globally, but because the intimacy is less. In-person groups are high-touch and they require physical space to meet in which may come with a cost to you. You have to determine what is best for you and the goals of your group.
Q: Does my group have to be a full year?
We recommend a full-year to see the real transformation in your members. But it is okay to do 9-month (with a quarter off), 6-months, or 3-months. Regardless of the length of your group, you may want to consider meeting twice a month to add more value.
Q: Should I charge for my group?
If you are willing to initiate and lead the group until you have a consistent core, you don't have to charge. Our system is setup so anyone can facilitate the meeting, but the first few meeting usually require one leader until everyone understands the rhythm. After that, others can lead, co-lead, and host the meetings.
If there are costs associated with the group like the space, food, and printing, the group members should at least donate to cover the costs.
If there are costs associated with the group like the space, food, and printing, the group members should at least donate to cover the costs.
Money is a form of commitment, but we don't want it to be a barrier. We've found that groups that have some sort of financial commitment whether it's a $20 application fee or $20 per month have higher retention and engagement.
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