Three Feet from Gold

Module 2

Mastermind:
Alliances & Associations
Reading Assignments
• Review pages 83-107, 135-145 of Three Feet From Gold
• Read any additional selections your coach recommends:

Primer S e s s i o n O b j e c t i v e s M a s t e r S e s s i o n O b j e ctives
In this session you will learn to: In this session you will learn to:

• Define Your Mastermind(s) • Evaluate Current Mastermind(s) (SWOT)

—What —Who • Evaluate Current Mastermind Progress
—When —Where • Add/Dismiss Mastermind Members
—Why —How • Multiply Your Mastermind
• Leverage Your Master Mastermind
• Create a Unique Code Of Conduct for
Each Mastermind
 Three Feet from Gold

Concept Summaries
Introduction
As you’ll recall from Three Feet from Gold, Greg Learned from Jonathan Buck-
land and Charlie “Tremendous” Jones that:

You’re the same today as you will be in five years except for two things…the
people you meet and the books you read…We are the sum total of the knowl-
edge we have and those we associate with.

Hang around with thinkers, and you’ll be a better thinker. Hang around
winners, and you’ll be a better winner.

This is the basis of Napoleon Hill’s original concept known as the Mastermind,
and it’s a principle that makes it possible for anyone to go beyond what they
ever thought possible to build the ultimate dream team for success.

Through the application of the Mastermind principle you can use the entire
success philosophy that has been handed down from generations—without
spending years searching the lives of successful people for the principles they
employed. Because of Three Feet from Gold, you can recall some of the most
successful people in the current economic and technological environment. You
can learn from them the secrets of their outstanding achievements.

You may have ideas that you would like to carry out, but you do not have the
courage to try because you feel that you lack some form of knowledge. Get rid
of the negative self-talk that prevents you from carrying out any idea you have!
Through the Mastermind principle you can benefit by an association with the
knowledge of other people.

The true power in a Mastermind lies in the accumulated knowledge of the Mas-
termind members. As a group, you can make full use of the acquired knowledge

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of all history, all education, all experience, all talent, and all manner of personal
capital.

You + 4 Others
As Henry Ford said, “I don’t need to know everything. I just need to know the
people who do.” In Three Feet from Gold, you learned that the Mastermind
principle works best when you bring together five great minds—who become
greater than the sum the parts. In essence, those four other people are your axis
of strength.

You can have as few as two minds working together to create a Mastermind, or
you can have as many as ten. But each extreme has its drawbacks. Two people
have nowhere to turn in a voting tie. When the two disagree, it’s easy for the
mini-Mastermind to become stagnant.

On the other hand, when more than five people get together, it’s more difficult
to maintain order. The opportunities to express opinions become smaller and
shorter, and the progress of the group can sometimes come to a halt. For your
purposes, we strongly recommend using a Mastermind that consists of what we
see as the ideal number for strength and efficiency—five.

Work Your Strengths, Hire Your Weaknesses

All truly great minds have been reinforced through contact with other minds.
The most successful people in any industry or aspect of life have successfully
used the Mastermind principle. These stellar achievers have understood that no
one mind is complete by itself. Every mind needs association and contact with
other minds in order to grow and expand.

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When you consider putting together a Mastermind Alliance, remember that

you need to know yourself first. What are your strengths? What are your weak-
nesses? If you decide that you and a potential Mastermind member have the
exact same strengths and weaknesses, we recommend that you seek a different
candidate. Why? Because to have such a member join would be redundant.

Through a Mastermind Alliance you may borrow and use the education, experi-
ence, influence and capital of other people. You can accomplish in one year more
than you could accomplish without it in a lifetime. You can draw freely upon the
spiritual forces within you and your alliance. When your purpose is beneficial to
all members of the alliance, you have an absolute guarantee of success.

That’s why members should make unique contributions. The more diverse your
talent pool is, the greater your chances of success will be.

Using this concept of Mastermind, you will go beyond just building a team. You
will be leveraging every talent, every skill, every intuition, and every connection
that each person brings to the table. This will enable you to overcome practi-
cally every obstacle standing in the way of the attainment of your Definite Major
Purpose.

Humility and Being Open

As you’ll recall from Three Feet from Gold, it wasn’t until Greg took some stripes
and allowed himself to be humbled that he was able to receive some of life’s
greatest gifts. Without humility he never could have received the advice from
some of the greatest minds of our time. Without an attitude of humility, he could
never have opened himself up to new ideas and ways of thinking.

There is a powerful force of attraction in humility—especially when it is com-

bined with adequate confidence. The two are not opposites. Rather, the two go
hand-in-hand to create strength of character.

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With humility you enable yourself to receive insight and constructive feedback in
the spirit that it is intended. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear, but wouldn’t
you rather hear the difficult truth than an easy lie? Without that simple change
in Greg’s life, he never could have attracted Mia back into his life, nor would he
have attracted the great mentors who helped him re-shape his future.

Mastermind Laws
There are five laws that govern how a Mastermind can best work for you:

The First Law

The first is to for every member to treat the experience, training, educa-
tion, specialized knowledge, and native intelligence of other members of the
group as if such contributions were their own. This means not only making
use of those contributions, but also respecting those contributions.

The Second Law

The second law is: an active alliance of two or more minds in a spirit of
perfect harmony for the attainment of a common objective stimulates each
mind to a higher degree of courage than is ordinary, and paves the way for
that state of mind known as faith.

The key words in this case are: active, perfect harmony, courage, faith and
common objective. How can you make sure your group is taking advantage
of this second law? The answer is in defining a Definite Major Purpose for
the group. Two or more people who have a common purpose or goal—and
are active in attaining it—will develop the necessary harmony, courage and
faith almost naturally.

You’ll also notice that “active” is a key word in the second law. Once you
form a Mastermind Alliance, the group as a whole must become and remain

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active. This association must move according to a definite plan, at a definite

time, toward a definite common purpose or goal.

Indecision, inactivity, or delay will destroy the usefulness of the alliance.

You may have heard this bit of folk wisdom, “The best way to keep a mule
from kicking is to keep him so busy pulling he will have neither the time nor
inclination to kick.”

Also, you can’t forget that perfect harmony is a must. There must be har-
mony in the relationship of the minds in the alliance. That doesn’t mean
everyone has to agree on everything all of the time. It simply means that
everyone in your Mastermind must have enough respect for one another—
and especially for the defined Major Purpose—that petty arguments and
infighting fall by the wayside.

For your Mastermind to move at its greatest pace, there must be a complete
meeting of the minds, without reservations on the part of any member.
There must be a full understanding of the facts, an overall agreement in
opinions, and a clear understanding of the Definite Major Purpose. Each
member of the alliance has to put some of his or her personal motivations
and ego aside so that the alliance can successfully achieve the Definite Major
Purpose. This ultimately benefits each member.

Naturally, this kind of harmony doesn’t fall from the sky. It will not always
be blue skies, clear water, fresh air, and roses. You can cultivate and grow
this kind of harmony by using four elements:

• Confidence
• Understanding
• Fairness
• Justice

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Confidence

Confidence is reliance or trust based on proven trustworthiness. Your

relationship with those who make up your Mastermind Alliance should
be full of confidence. That means the group should have a strict policy
of confidentiality. The purpose of the alliance should not be discussed
with outside parties—unless the purpose happens to be a public service.
There’s no room for self-expression or boasting. This kind of behavior
can compromise the group. Members cannot give away vital secrets of
the Mastermind’s business to anyone who will listen. The best way to
prevent this is by carefully evaluating potential members of your Mas-
termind Alliance before you fully form the group. If a potential candi-
date doesn’t seem to keep things in confidence, don’t invite them to join.

Understanding

Understanding goes beyond intellectual comprehension. It’s about

having enough empathy to feel what other people are trying to say. It’s
about putting all of the pieces into a more comprehensive whole. Each
member of the alliance must be in support of the Definite Major Pur-
pose. This means that each one agrees the DMP is a good idea, and will
give it wholehearted support.

Fairness

Partiality, prejudice, bigotry, closed-mindedness—these are all the

enemies of fairness. You want to create a safe zone in your Mastermind
Alliance. That implies freedom from bias and selfishness. When you
first form your Mastermind Alliance, all the members should agree on
the contribution each member will make toward the DMP—and what
division will be made of any benefits or profits that result. By creating a
win-win agreement between each member and the group, you prevent
dissension by harnessing self-interest. Each member knows that he or
she will win when the group wins.

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Justice

This means that members of the alliance have to maintain the highest
ethical standards in their relationships with each other. No member of
the alliance should seek an unfair advantage at the expense of the other
members.

In the second law, we also mentioned courage. This is a state of mind that
enables you to meet danger and difficulties with firmness, resolution and
valor. It’s a form of mental power that comes from self-confidence and a
success consciousness.

Think of a single reed or stick. By itself, you can easily bend it or break it.
When you combine a whole bundle of them together, however, it’s not so
easy. There is strength in numbers. Confidence comes from knowing that
where you might have flaws, another team member has strength—and
vice-versa.

Lastly, in the second law, the ultimate outcome is faith. In our context, we
clear faith of some of the religious implications and adopt a broader defini-
tion. Faith is when you clear your mind of all negative ideas and prepare it
to receive new and greater ideas. Your mind is an instrument—capable of
continually renewing its power by absorbing and responding to whatever
you consider the source from which it originally emerged. This is how you
receive inspiration.

The Third Law

A Mastermind Alliance, properly conducted, stimulates the mind of each

person in the alliance to move with Enthusiasm, Personal Initiative and
imagination. The interaction accelerates the ability and potential of each
mind.

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You will find that when your mind comes in contact with other minds in
a Mastermind meeting, you feel connected to the Definite Major Purpose.
The stimulation you get from interacting with your group almost becomes
euphoric—and it can last for hours or days after the meeting.

This euphoria is invaluable because it ignites your creativity. It motivates

you. It drives you. It’s electric. Use this stimulation to drive you forward to
help you achieve more than you ever could alone.

You have the ability to communicate with anyone and everyone, but when
a Mastermind group gets together—and truly follows the governing rules—
you find that your ability to communicate is even more powerful. You are
able to sense what others are thinking. You are more alert. You can project
more easily and more readily to the other members.

Remember that this power to transmit thought has its good and bad. Be
careful which thoughts of others you pick up and invite into your mind. Be
equally careful of the thoughts you release to others.

The Fourth Law

The fourth law of the Mastermind is that a Mastermind Alliance has the
effect of connecting the subconscious sections of the minds of the allies, and
gives each member full access also to the spiritual powers of all the other
members.

Without a Definite Major Purpose and the element of harmony, an alliance

may be nothing more than ordinary cooperation, or friendly coordinated
effort. This is very different from a Mastermind Alliance. In the case of
ordinary teamwork or cooperation, you might have a good connection with
the other minds on the team, but that doesn’t really constitute a Mastermind
Alliance.

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When subconscious minds are united in harmony with singleness of pur-

pose, you unleash the most powerful creative energy on earth. With the right
control and direction, this power is capable of anything. It can achieve feats
beyond the imagination.

Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson made the statement, “Every

institution is a lengthened shadow of one man.” Knowing how businesses
have grown and merged and evolved, Emerson’s statement could truly read.
“Every business is the extended shadow of those who manage it; or, more
correctly, the extended shadow of the Mastermind Alliance which guides its
destiny.

The Fifth Law

The fifth rule is: when people achieve above-average success, they do so by
using the Mastermind principle.

Most successes are the result of personal power. They are based on your
personal ability to rise above circumstances or overcome obstacles. Usu-
ally, your success is proportionate to your personal will, your ability to keep
going—even in the face of adversity—and your ability to exercise all of your
talents, skills, and experience.

When people rise above mediocrity, it’s usually because they have made
use of the Mastermind. They leveraged beyond their personal means to rise
above mediocrity.

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Two Types of Mastermind Alliances

There are two general types of Mastermind Alliances. The first is a Mastermind
that you form for purely social or personal reasons. This would include your
relatives, friends and religious advisors, and its purpose is to help you feel soli-
darity—to feel personally connected to the people you care about.

The second type is the occupational, business, creative or professional alliance.

You form these with other people who have a material or financial motive. These
would be considered an economic alliance—designed to help you sell your per-
sonal services, your skill, your ability, or to help you succeed in business.

No one is ever finished learning. If your Definite Major Purpose in life is aimed
as it should be—the sky—then you must continue to learn from every possible
source.

One of the greatest overlooked sources of knowledge and information are the
friends and associates from whom you can learn. Your current network of people
is a rich source of help, and one that you can tap by carefully selecting a social
Mastermind group who will find the exchange mutually beneficial.

While religion is a personal topic—and increasingly, a very individual experi-

ence—it’s great for you to turn to your religious group for certain types of Mas-
termind Alliances. Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other spiritual
centers bring people together under favorable and harmonious circumstances.

One can benefit from social activities as well. This is a way to become acquaint-
ed with people with whom you can enjoy an exchange of helpful ideas. For
your mind to remain sharp, brilliant, alert, receptive and flexible, it must have
healthy interaction with other minds.

Economic networking can also be a valuable source for meaningful alliances. No

one can achieve greatness alone. Almost every new entrepreneur has networking
needs—not the least of which is the financial need. It often pays to network with

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those who have the power to provide you with the financial assistance needed
for a new venture. Better yet, if you can include a financial resource in your
original Mastermind Alliance, they can be a great resource for planning, organiz-
ing, budgeting, forecasting and executing in all kinds of useful ways.

Forming and Maintaining a Mastermind Alliance

There are several considerations for forming and maintaining a Mastermind Alli-
ance. First, you must write out your Definite Major Purpose for your life. Hope-
fully, you were able to finish this in your first session(s).

Second, write out your goals and objectives. Before you can get other people on
board, you’ll have to know where you want to go.

Third, you should have a basic idea of what you wish your Mastermind Alliance
to accomplish, but this should also be open to discussion. When you empower
the members of your alliance to brainstorm, discuss, and make decisions about
the group’s direction, you create a stronger win-win environment.

Also, since they will have to interact in order to determine the group’s greatest
strengths and challenges, it’ll be best to work as a Mastermind team to establish
meaningful and challenging goals.

Fourth, you’ll need to choose individual members with the education, experience
and influence that add just the right value you need for achieving your goals. Do
not form a Mastermind Alliance just to have someone to chat with. It will soon
fade away if you don’t have a strong motive behind it, and it’s up to you to plant
that motive in the minds of the other members.

The greatest criterion for choosing your top five for your Mastermind Alliance, is
their ability to help the alliance get where it needs to go. Do not choose people
just because you know them and like them. Save those acquaintances for your

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social or personal alliances, where their contribution may be the very friendship
you appreciate.

While it may seem harsh and cold, you may have to select and eliminate Mas-
termind Alliance candidates until you get the right ones. You should be guided
in your choice by the things you need, which you do not already have. For
example, if you need a software expert, you’ll need to pursue a programmer or
amateur computer specialist to meet those needs.

You don’t have to take the first person that meets your major requirements. You
may find people who possess more than one major talent, skill, or expert experi-
ence. Above all, the members of your alliance must be able and willing to coop-
erate with you and the rest of the team. You cannot overemphasize harmony, if
you want to be a huge success.

The fifth consideration is to execute a careful analysis of your goals and list the
items you will need for to achieve them. Then you can fill in the gaps to bridge
the space between where you are and where you want to be.

Sixth, determine what appropriate benefit each member may receive in return
for cooperation in the alliance. You might want to review the ten basic mo-
tives—self- preservation, love, fear, sex, desire for life after death, freedom of
body and mind, anger, hate, desire for recognition and self-expression and the
desire for material wealth.

With an Economic Mastermind Alliance, the main motive will more than likely
be the desire for material wealth, or profit. If you make a profit, you must be
willing to divide it with those who help you. Be fair but generous with the mem-
bers of your alliance. The more generous you are, the more help you will get
from them.

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The seventh consideration is to establish a definite time and place where the
members of the alliance will meet. Have your agenda ready and be prepared to
discuss the group’s plan. Be flexible, because your original plan may need to be
changed before you get through discussing it with your team members.

When you have established a harmonious relationship between your mind and
the minds of others in your Mastermind Alliance, you will find that ideas will
flow into your own mind and the minds of each of the members very freely. Be
prepared to harness that creativity and momentum.

During the meeting of the Mastermind Alliance each member should speak with
confidence. There should be no secrets within such a group, because of the care
with which you have selected its members.

It is important that you have frequent and regular contact between the mem-
bers. If you don’t define this, it’s too easy for the group to fall apart. You must
keep in continuous contact with the other minds of the group if you are to get
full benefit from them. Meetings should be scheduled often, and telephone num-
bers exchanged, so that it is possible to discuss any sudden development with
the group within minutes.

It’s your burden as the leader of the alliance to maintain harmony among all the
members and that action toward the goals is continuous. You’ll recall your own
Personal Success Equation. You will likely want to crate a Success Equation for
the group as well.

The major strength of your Mastermind Alliance will be how you blending the
minds of all members. Jealousy, envy, friction, or lagging interest on the part of
any member will undermine the group, so be sure to resolve such threats as soon
as you spot them.

When you’ve selected strong members for your alliance, take them into your
confidence regarding your goals and plans. If you have successfully created true
harmony, you can consider the mind of each member an extension of your own.

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This doesn’t mean you know how to compliment each other for hours. Instead,
it means you can have created a practical working alliance with definite goals.
Each member must make a distinctive individual contribution, and share in the
returns.

At the first sign of any lack of harmony among the members, find out immedi-
ately what is causing it and, if it is the negative attitude of any particular mem-
ber, deal with the problem immediately. Don’t allow one negative member to
ruin the group’s potential. Remember that the strongest Mastermind Alliances
are democracies. That said, sometimes you’ll have to make an executive decision
as the leader of the Mastermind group. It’s always best when you can create a
unanimous consensus rather a voting situation where one or two group members
feel slighted.

As the leader of the alliance, you’ll have to keep your own mind positive and re-
ceptive at all times—especially when you interact the whole group. It is your job
to maintain interest. If it should lag for any reason, you should give each of the
members a strong motive for lending their wholehearted support and coopera-
tion in the venture.

The Three Cs
Tanaka Taka-aki, founder of the SSI corporation in Japan said that success
depends on the 3 Cs— Congruency, Clarity, and Certainty. Congruency in this
case means to be authentic in your words and actions. In other words, do as you
say, and say as you do. Others are watching, and ever more importantly, this is
what makes up your character.

Clarity is having a crystal vision of what you desire. Certainty means to know
within your heart and soul that what you are doing has purpose. If you apply
the 3 Cs in your Mastermind Alliance, there’s no doubt that you will succeed.

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An Example of a Successful Mastermind

Andrew Carnegie did not know the details of making, distributing and selling
steel and didn’t pretend to; but he had in his organization filled with people
who, together, knew all that was known at their time about such things. When
Carnegie first entered the steel business, steel was selling at $140 a ton, which
made it prohibitive for a great many uses. He was determined to reduce the
price, and he did. As a result of the combined knowledge of twenty members of
his Mastermind Alliance, directing and controlling his mills and enterprises, he
reduced the price of steel to $20 per ton. This made steel an everyday commod-
ity instead of a luxury. Carnegie truly became the father of the steel age—which
was destined to change the appearance of every city in the world.

Carnegie was one of the most gifted men in history in using the Mastermind
principle. His achievement and fortune were due to his wise use of his Master-
mind’s knowledge. Here’s what he had to say about his relationship with his
colleagues: “My job is to keep the members of my alliance working together in a
spirit of perfect harmony. It is extremely difficult to get even two people to agree
on anything for five minutes.”

Carnegie said that one person with a negative mental attitude turned loose in
a factory of a thousand people could ruin the minds of the rest of them with-
out saying a word. There is a reason why one person with a negative attitude
can influence a thousand others in an organization without ever saying a word.
There is a way that the mind will reach out to other minds.

Each one of the privileged members of Carnegie’s alliance became wealthy in

their own right. Members of the alliance earned the right of membership by go-
ing the extra mile and by demonstrating their commitment to a Definite Major
Purpose.

Like a great antenna, your mind is constantly in tune with every other mind
within its range. Some minds have a much longer range than others, and you
are constantly picking up the thoughts of other people and often mistaking them

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for your own thoughts. That is why you cannot afford to remain in a negative
atmosphere unless you have a technique for protecting your mind from negative
broadcasts.

As Greg learned when Jonathan Buckland questioned his attitude in Three Feet
from Gold, Whether the glass is half full or half empty depends on where it
began.

Here’ s a way for you to immunize yourself against negative people, even though
they may live in the same house. Practice this technique until you can demon-
strate it at will. As you do, negativity will have little impact on you—even when
you face it daily in close proximity:

Visualize a set of mental curtains to shut out negative influences. Imagine

yourself in a comfortable shell full of warmth and positive energy. Visualize
negative thoughts and energy being pulled into the curtain and dissipating.
When you encounter negativity, let the curtain absorb the negativity without
touching you. Then re-affirm your positive attitude.

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Primer Session Assignments:

Discuss with your mentor which of the following assignments would best suit
your needs, progress, and development:

____ Defining Your Mastermind(s), namely:

• What
• Who
• When
• Where
• Why
•How
____ Creating a Unique Code Of Conduct for Each Mastermind

Master Session Assignments:

Discuss with your mentor which of the following assignments would best suit
your needs, progress, and development:

____ Evaluating Current Mastermind(s) (SWOT)

____ Evaluating Current Mastermind Progress
____ Adding/Dismissing Mastermind Members
____ Multiplynig Your Mastermind
____ Leveraging Your Master Mastermind

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Exercises

M A S T ERMIND: WHAT

What kind of Mastermind would you consider putting together right now, right away?

What strengths do you personally have for being the leader? What qualifies you to lead such a group?

What skills, education, opportunities, and experience do you bring to the table?

What skills do you lack? Where are you personally weak?

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Exercises

M A S TERMIND: WHO

Who would be your number one choice for the Mastermind group?

Why?

Who would be your second choice for the Mastermind group?

Why?

Who would be your third choice for the Mastermind group?

Why?

Who would be your fourth choice for the Mastermind group?

Why?

Who would be your alternate choice for the Mastermind group?

Why?

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Exercises

M A S T ERMIND: WHEN

How often will you conduct meetings with your Mastermind group?

When will you hold them—times, days of the week, calendar dates, etc.?

How long will they last?

How will you conduct your meetings to stay on task, on focus, on target, and on time?

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Exercises

M A S T ERMIND: WHERE

Where will your Mastermind meet?

Where will you each take action—together or on separate assignments?

How will you keep in contact with each other on a regular basis (in between meetings)?

How will you maintain confidentiality within the group?

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Exercises

M A S TERMIND: WHY

What would be your Mastermind’s Definite Major Purpose?

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Exercises

M A S TERMIND: HOW

How will create a code of ethics within your Mastermind group?

How will you work to create a code of conduct within your meetings to maintain respect, yet encour-
age healthy discussion and debate? (This is a question you might ask the group. The full discussion is
in a later exercise.)

How will you arrive at a consensus so that minority opinions are won over, not bulled over?

How will you construct win-win agreements with between each member and the group?

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Exercises

M A S T E RMIND: HOW (cont)

What criteria will you use for adding members or dismissing them if irreparable problems arise?

How will each member be compensated once your Mastermind has accomplished its Definite Major
Purpose?

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Exercises

C O D E OF CONDUCT

You and your Mastermind will need to fully develop your code of conduct to maintain the ultimate harmo-
ny. Mostly this will come as a result of your Definite Major Purpose. You already sketched out some ideas
about how you see the code of conduct for your Mastermind in an earlier exercise. Now take the time with
your team to hammer out the details for each aspect of conduct (and any others that come to mind). Write
your team’s personal guidelines for:

Brainstorming

Critical Analysis (Constructive Criticism from group to members.)

Values

Attitude (maintaining a PMA)

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Exercises

C O D E OF CONDUCT (cont)

Mission Mantra

Session Discussions (How will you maintain “the floor”—parliamentary procedure, casual conversation,
speaking limits? Who will conduct?)

Conferencing (How will team members stay in touch? What times and places are appropriate?)

Offline items (mini-teams)

Reporting/Accountability

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Exercises

C O D E OF CONDUCT (cont)

Rules of Confidentiality

Repurcussions (for breaking code)

Evaluating Progress

Adding Members

Grounds for Dismissal from Mastermind

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Exercises

E V A LUATING CURRENT
M A S T ERMIND (SWOT)
In business theorgy, you may have heard of Albert Humphrey’s SWOT analysis—which stands for
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. In this exercise, consider your current Mastermind
and evaluate what you see as the potential Strengths (attributes of each team member or the group as
a whole that are helpful contributions to your Mastermind Definite Major Purpose), Weaknesses (attri-
butes of each team member or the group as a whole that are detrimental to your Mastermind Definite
Major Purpose), Opportunities (external conditions that are helpful to achieving your Mastermind
Definite Major Purpose such as timing), and Threats (external conditions which could do damage to
your Mastermind Definite Major Purpose):

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Opportunities:

Threats:

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Exercises

E V A LUATING CURRENT
M A S T E RMIND PROGRESS
How will you personally evaluate your Mastermind’s progress? Of course you have created ground
rules as a group, but what are your personal views?

How will you evaluate whether or not the Mastermind is achieving what you set out to do as its
leader?

If the group no longer satisfies your needs or becomes disparate, how will you turn the reins over to
someone else and move on?

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Exercises

A D D I NG/DISMISSING
M A S T E RMIND MEMBERS
How will you make the executive decision to add members? Of course you have created ground rules
as a group, but what are your personal views? How will add members without violating trust?

What criteria will you personally use for determining when a new member must be added?

What criteria will you use for evaluating potential candidates?

What would you do in case you felt the need to dismiss a member? What steps would you take to
maintain order within the group and trust?

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 Master Session

Exercises

M U LTIPLYING YOUR
M ASTERMIND
Once you’ve created a Mastermind around your Definite Major Purpose—which, chances are, will be
an economic Mastermind—begin brainstorming the ways you could take the principle and branch out
to other important areas of your life. These can be social or they can be other economic Masterminds
depending on your personal needs.

VOCATIONAL
Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

PERSONAL GROWTH
Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

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 Master Session

Exercises

M U LTIPLYING YOUR
M A S T ERMIND (cont)
HEALTH
Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

HOME/FAMILY LIFE & SOLIDARITY

Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

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 Master Session

Exercises

M U LTIPLYING YOUR
M A S T ERMIND (cont)
SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT
Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Definite Major Purpose:

Who:

Next Steps:

What works for all of your groups

Maintaining Confidentiality
Preventing Conflicts of Interest (utilizing true win-win)

34
 Master Session

Exercises

YO UR MASTER
M ASTERMIND
What three things work best for all of your groups?
1.
2.
3.

If you could change any one thing about each group, what would it be?

What action could you take to make that change?

How have you been able to maintaining confidentiality among all of your groups?

How have you been able to prevent conflicts of interest? (How have you utilized true win-win re-
lationships with members to keep them motivated on the group’s objectives and not on their own
personal objectives?)

35