Creating a Financial Mastermind

I recently watched the movie, “The Greatest Showman” with my family, and I loved it. I know it was inspired by a true story and I don’t know how accurate the movie reflects the reality at that time, but certain themes in the movie got me thinking. The movie was a great example of a pivotal concept: we are only limited by our imagination. This idea was instrumental in transforming my mindset around decision making. I first came across this idea when I discovered the “mastermind” about 20 years ago.

At that time I had just read the book, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. I was fascinated by the ideas presented throughout that book.

A mastermind group–for those of you who like concrete definitions–is a peer-based mentoring group that allows people within common interests, goals or career fields to share advice and solve problems together.

A mastermind is an indispensable tool when you desire something bigger than yourself (or simply the support to do what you keep putting off). This week I want to discuss how you can apply the mastermind concept to your financial goals.

But it’s so much more than that. The consistent support from brilliant peers often leads to groundbreaking aha! moments. It’s amazing what a group of people with similar ambitions can achieve together.

 

My First Mastermind

When I made the big commitment to walk away from good income working as an engineer, my mastermind consisted of just me and my wife. She knew of my strong desire to do something special for others with their finances and she knew of my potential and what I taught was unique to the industry.

My wife and I had two important things in common (and still do!): the desire to do something extraordinary with our goals and the understanding that we are only limited by our imagination. Being on the same page as my wife helped encourage me to go from decisions based upon fear to decisions based upon doing something great.

 

My Current Mastermind

My current mastermind as a financial advisor includes some of the top financial advisors in North America. We meet about once a week and focus on topics and ideas that will create significant value for our clients and in turn our businesses. It is a positive environment focused on a common goal:

To improve ourselves and our companies to be the best at serving our clients in finances.

This mastermind has helped me provide better insight to my clients, and as a result my clients do extraordinary things with their finances that separate them from the majority of households in this country.

 

Want to start a Mastermind? Here’s How.

There’s this quote that has stuck with me since I was a kid. I don’t know where I heard it and I don’t know who said it, but here it goes, “Show me who you hang with and I know who you are.” To me this means when you put yourself in a certain environment, decisions and thoughts (good and bad) can be strongly influenced by that environment.

This leads me to the first step for creating a mastermind: audit your current environment. The people within your current environment are influencing your behaviors, whether you realize it or not.

Let me be clear, I am not advising that you only hang out with people that think like you  all the time–that would be a small world. I am specifically talking about the environment where you choose to work on your goals. That environment should be selective.

Let’s say you want to create a finance mastermind specific to achieving financial freedom. Start with an observational checklist:

• What circle are you going to create around you to make this happen? This is where you can be selective. Are you going to randomly seek guidance from your neighbor, your parents or friends you’ve had since college? If so, how successful have they been with their finances? Excellent? Good? Okay? Bad? If you did not answer “excellent”, why are they part of your financial decisions? Enjoy them for who they are, but don’t seek guidance on money. They should not be part of your financial freedom mastermind.

 

• Find several good friends and peers that have the same vision of financial freedom (financial independence) as you. It’s that simple.

 

• Meet with your mastermind consistently. Once a week or once a month, meet to discuss what you have done and what you are doing to put yourself in a better position financially. Some discussion topics for your mastermind include:
  • What you have done for protection
  • What you have implemented to create savings and liquidity in your household.
  • What you are investing or considering as an investment to help achieve those goals.

 

My clients that have created a mastermind have made great accomplishments. As their financial advisor, I have helped with unique ideas and concepts, but they did the work and ran different ideas past each other to best implement new ideas for them and their families. They have common goals and dreams. They call me to discuss ideas they have come up with to get my thoughts. They consistently encourage each other to take the next step and celebrate in each others accomplishments.

 

Don’t you deserve a Mastermind?