recreatingreality.com

There is strength in numbers.  Two people working together is better than one, if both are striving toward the same result.  Three people working in concert are better than two.

Thus, the Mastermind Alliance came into being.  What is a Mastermind Alliance?

Let’s say that you want to eliminate your credit card debt.  We have already discussed several ways to go about it.  Perhaps, you are considering a combination of activities.  You can start by trying to get the interest rates reduced.  You can follow up by paying more than the minimum payment each month.  Two heads thinking are better than one.  You may come up with yet another idea or means of achieving this goal.  If the relationship is positive and geared toward positive results, if one purpose of getting together is to work toward a common goal, you are a part of a Mastermind Alliance.

We all need support of some kind.  So, consider the Mastermind Alliance as your support group.  There are many benefits.  First of all, you will recognize that you are not alone.  You are not the only person in the world that is drowning in credit card debt, for example.  This is not suggest that you create a pity party.  This is to suggest that you create an active group of people working towards the same goal, paying off your credit card debt.

Some Mastermind Alliances are more loosely formed than others.  Some are very specific and meet for an hour or so for a specific purpose.  The real key to creating a Mastermind Alliance is that you surround yourself with people who have the same goal as you and are willing to take action, positivie action.

As an example, our neighborhood has a Mastermind Alliance.  It is a rather tight knit group of a families who work together to grow vegetables.  Happy is the real gardener in the group.  (See Eating-the-Backyard)  She is the one who had the first greenhouse.  Happy is the one who started growing vegetables and giving her extras to her closest friends and neighbors.  Pretty soon many of us had begun realizing the benefits of home grown vegetables and fruits.  It saved money and trips to the grocery store.  The food is organically grown.  We are eating safe food.  All are good reasons for us to join together with Happy to grow fruits and vegetables for our little group of families.

Some of us are pretty dedicated to planting, tending to and harvesting the vegetables.  That was the beginning of an unspoken relationship that turned into a real Mastermind Alliance.

Some of the neighbors who were beneficiaries of the greenhouse produce, who aren’t particularly interested in getting their hands dirty, realized that they could take the vegetables, wash them and prepare them for freezing.  Those families became another part of the Mastermind Alliance.  They contribute a second step in the overall plan.

Yet, another group of women, the ones who love to cook, began cooking dinner occasionally for those of us who are working in the greenhouses or preparing the food for freezing. 

In essence, three small Mastermind Alliances were created, each as a part of the overall goal of growing and preparing food for the neighborhood.  We support the efforts of the other.  We all work toward the same goal, feeding our families.  We enjoy one another.  (That’s an added benefit.)  And, by having several of us working together we save time, money, and effort.

Our neighborhood teenagers have a Mastermind Alliance, although they don’t know it, per se.  One of the youngsters decided that he wanted to build a solar panel.  At first, he wanted to build it for the heck of it.  As he was making his plans, he realized that he could build a solar panel to heat Happy’s greenhouse during the winter months.  This one teenager could have built a solar panel perhaps.  Instead of going it alone, he got other neighborhood teenagers interested in building the panel.  Soon a group of neighborhood teenagers were working to build solar panels for everything.  I won’t go into the details, but if you are interested in seeing how Mastermind Alliances can come into being, I suggest that you take a look at The Gratitude Journal.  From time to time Maya writes about how the neighbors began working together to achieve specific goals.  It is a very interesting chronology of events that has led to the creation of several Mastermind Alliances, some overlapping. 

Think of the Mastermind Alliance as a team of people working toward a single goal.  There are real benefits to forming such a group.  I would suggest that one of the best is that when you have support, you stay on track and are much more likely to achieve success.

A Mastermind Alliance does NOT mean that you must state all your life goals to the group.  You may be a part of one Mastermind Alliance that helps you toward one small part of one goal and a part of another that assists in accomplishing something else.  But, when you put the bits and pieces together, you are well supported in each area that will lead you to your long term goal.

Take some time to think about those people with whom you can form a Mastermind Alliance.  Don’t try to put all your eggs in one basket.  Pick those people who are most interested and most willing to take action for each specific little bitty goal.  Do not limit yourself or the groups of people you are able to reach out to.  Seek out those people who are most like minded.  Suggest that you get together weekly or ever how often you feel necessary for the purpose of taking steps towards towards your common goals.

Form a Mastermind Alliance now.  It will make life easier, more sure-footed, and more fun.