Mastermind Group : My 2017 MISTAKE turned to SUCCESS for 2018!

In 2017, I experimented a lot with my business. I know any mistake is inevitable but I still pushed through. One of the biggest risks I took was to put together a mastermind group. According to Growthink.com, a mastermind group is a term first coined by Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich. Hill defined the “Master Mind” as a “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose. We created our own mission which is

“We are a group of healthcare writers who are members of the HMN and are committed to helping peers build their businesses over the next year. We brainstorm to help keep each other accountable to the goals we share. We help each other with resources and support.”

My friend Carol Bush and I put together a structured document and did a lot of research to understand Mastermind Groups and how it could work for us. This research and coordination took a lot of time and dedication. We reached out to members of our network to see if they were interested, and they were!

Did I make a mistake?

After we compiled the research, reached out to the women, and making the date, we had to start. I was being the moderator weekly and it scared the crap out of me! I was so nervous that nothing would happen, no one would contribute, and I would have wasted my time, and everyone else. Our group has only been around for the last quarter of 2017, and wow, we have done a lot! Almost all of us have been able to be in the hot seat (which I will tell you about). We have launched new services in our business, gained more clients, and helped each other with obstacles with the organization, productivity, and resources to help solve our problems.

Commitment every single week was scary.

Committing to something every week could take me away from client work, times with my kids, and my other job. I hate committing if it was something that wouldn’t help me or the other women who are putting time aside from their client work, family time, and other jobs. It turns out this commitment has kept me in the correct mindset instead of thinking of it as a mistake. I organize before the meeting and spend time after the meeting hashing things out to make my goals for the next week (because I want to come up with nothing for my ‘wins’ when we share them).

The Hotseat scared me.

Our group has a structure that helps keep us on time for every meeting. The structure is:

• Intro → Roundtable – one win for the week (one personal and one work)

No wins? How can we get you a win? This gives everyone a little hello, but we try not to go off on a tangent. This is difficult for a group of women haha.

• Hotseat → Problems and issue and the group solves it

We provide a checklist for the hot seat person to help them come up with the most specific question as possible.

• Conclusion → Goals for next week

Everyone mentions the goals they want to carry out the next week for their businesses and the mistake they’re trying to avoid. In our group, we have a weekly hot seat. A hot seat is a position in the group that everyone gets to partake in, but when it was my turn, I was so nervous. When it was my turn, I had a list of things I wanted to ask, but it focused on the VA services I was launching. I was curious about what people were going to add, and I was astonished by the feedback. When you are in the hot seat, your ideas are heard, and we give feedback, honest, true feedback to make sure we guide each other to succeed. It will help you avoid a mistake before you regret doing it.

I gained a group of like-minded women

The group of women I have in my group is like-minded, hardworking women. We are making around the same amount in our businesses and have connections to help each other take the next steps. My 2017 mistake turned into a different mindset for myself moving forward into 2018. I want to grow my business at every angle, and this group helps me with that. I have nothing but good things to say about my group. I feel like these women are growing into a tight niche for me, and I know I am for them.

Like what you’re reading? Take a listen to our podcast called The Savvy Scribe Podcast!

Interested in taking your health writing business further? Join us in the Savvy Scribe Growth Lab!

Would you like to join a group of like-minded health writers? We host the Savvy Scribe Collective and would LOVE for you to be a part of it! Join us for FREE