The first time I heard the term masterminding I really didn’t know what it was. It all sounded very intense and highbrow. I felt that it was way too grand for me to participate in. At the time I didn’t notice that I was once again putting myself down, belittling my skills and talents and keeping myself from experiencing something really important in my life.
That was some time ago and since then I’ve done a little digging and looking around at what is going on in terms of what can be called Master Minding.
There are people out there in the market place that conduct professional mastermind services for corporate and other groups and I actually got to participate in one when I did some training a few years ago. We were a group of strangers at the beginning of the training but by the end we had some good ideas that we wanted to implement. With the aid of a facilitator we were able to Mastermind our ideas and strategies and come up with something quite concrete and useful to take away with us at the end of the workshop. That is one form of masterminding to my way of thinking but there are many more.
Of course there are the traditional forms of masterminding that masquerade as normal things we do all the time. I certainly hadn’t considered them to be anything that could be labelled Masterminding until recently I began to look at things a little differently. The kind of activities I’m thinking about, are those everyday kind of things like Book Clubs, Bible Study groups, Knitting Circles or even things like Nursing Mothers clubs, 12 step program groups and the like.
What a bunch of disparate things to put altogether under the label of Masterminding!!
Fair comment but hang in there with me for a little while. When I thought about what Masterminding was to me I came up with “a group of like minded individuals who get together regularly to discuss their common interest, to give each other support or information and to share ideas, successes and strategies”. In one way or another each of the groups outlined above can be included in that description.
Over the last 12 to 18 months, I’ve listened to Mastermind sessions where people ask for advice from a leader/facilitator/guru who then leads them individually through a process until they have a potential solution for the problem or an answer to their question. The really good leaders let the person find their own answers.
Others I’ve listened to help people to see their solutions as part of a guided meditation or visualisation. The two I’m thinking of in particular are quite different from each other but both of them are very, very good. If you want to find out more about either of them, go to http://flipsideperspectives.ning.com as I’ll post some information and links on the site for people who might want to know a little more.
As for me, at this point in my life I am looking to ‘hang out with like minded people’ in order to share my journey with others. This has been an invaluable part of my spiritual and physical journey in the past – you all know who you are and I love you dearly – and I’m really looking for something similar right now. Of course this doesn’t mean that the people I wish to ‘hang out with’ will be on the exact same path as I am – what would be the fun in that? However, they will be on a similar journey of exploration of themselves and the Universe and by getting together on a regular basis we can learn from and support each other along our chosen pathways.
This will not necessarily take the same form as the facilitator led workshop style Mastermind group I previously experienced. I’m looking for a more ‘Arthurian Round Table’ model for this process.
A place where people can meet as equals, each with experiences and insights that will be able to be shared at the perfect moment with another member of the group at exactly the right moment. One where people can come together to share what they are reading, thinking about, discovering and exploring about themselves and the Universe.
I like to work in smallish groups, with people I can develop real relationships with, building levels of respect and trust so that the value we create for each other in the mastermind process will be very high. This is the way I like to mastermind, one on one with someone I trust and like or within a group of people, say up to 8 or 10, so that we get a good dynamic and create enormous value for each other.
As I was thinking about this newsletter I was given the gift of an insight that I would like to share with you. The insight was about the most important mastermind relationship you can ever be involved in. The mastermind relationship I am talking about is the one you develop between yourself and the Universe, The Great Mystery or whatever you wish to call it. These gatherings are held in the place and the space within yourself where the answers to all your questions, doubts and concerns are held. Also within that place lay all the insights and inspirations you will ever need and it is in building a strong relationship with your inner-self, through all those spiritual and physical practices such as meditation, masterminding and journaling, that you can come to belong to the most intimate, most useful, most value laden mastermind group you will ever experience.
So develop our inner mastermind relationship with All That Is, find the people and the groups with whom you resonate most strongly and begin to build relationships that will sustain and inspire you into the future.
Until next month dear friends I wish you Love, Peace and the certainty that comes from living with Conscious Intention.
