You’ve heard “it’s lonely at the top”. As a business owner, you know more than most how true this is. It’s not easy to find a safe place to share your successes without being envied, to share your struggles without being judged.
Here at the halfway point of our series on growth and exit planning, I wanted to take a step back and tell you about a few key lessons I took away from my mastermind group, and to suggest you find one of your own to join. If you don’t know where to begin, ask me. I’d love to connect you with a good group.
- Different industries, similar challenges: it’s amazing to me how much I can learn from folks who are not in my industry, and how their challenges often reflect my own.
- Different stages, similar opportunities: In a typical breakout session, participants can span multiple generations and represent divergent stages of growth or development. And still our opportunities are often similar, such that we can learn from one another about what is working or different ways to attack them.
- Different backgrounds, similar strengths: listening to folks from all different walks of life talk about the building blocks on which they develop their businesses and personal lives, I’m often reminded of the “diamonds in my own backyard”, the strengths that God has blessed me with. This causes me to come away with way more gratitude.
- “Crap is fertilizer” – Joe Polish summarized Dan Sullivan’s longer quote about obstacles being raw material to achieve goals in this way: “Crap is fertilizer”. In my mastermind group, we routinely begin with the dangers that seem to oppose our goals, and then systematically go through thinking tools that help us transform these ostensible obstacles into our best advantages. Talk about exhilarating!
- “Who, Not How”: This quote from Dean Jackson was turned into a full book with Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and the truth is transformational. Because of my cohort, I am increasingly reminded that whenever I am tempted to ask a “how” question, a “WHO” question is always a more direct route to a solution.
So, if this sounds like something that you would be interested in, I would love to tell you more about my experience, and connect you with an appropriate mastermind group that can help you transform yourself and your business.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this “halftime” in the Exit Planning Series. We’ll be back to “regular programming” on the next one.
With that, we thank you, and we will see you soon!