Power of the Master Mind

Pre-quote - The ladder of success is never crowded at the top

The Master Mind Group! The missing link to the entrepreneur! It is the unspoken dream of most people to be the boss, to control their own destiny, to not answer to anyone. That is until they take the plunge and begin on their own. Most then find the journey to be lonely and much more stressful and challenging than they ever thought it would be.

When I first read of the power of the master mind, I immediately understood the importance of the concept. I knew that I needed to establish a group of “experts” outside the Company that I could go to with issues.

As with many strong willed people, I had it half right and thought I had solved the mystery of business success. The part that I had missed was the most obvious. The master mind is not only external, it is also internal. Through out my childhood I had heard my dad make so many comments about his success being directly attributable to the people surrounding him. In his mind, this is what made him a good leader. How had I been so short sighted in my reading? I believe the answer lies in two places:

• My inability to control my ego (I have all the answers)

• My failure to turn on my creative imagination while reading this book.

Both these faults are very characteristic of entrepreneurs. To take the plunge into a business, they have to believe in themselves and their abilities. However, after starting the business, they get drawn into working in the business as opposed to working on the business.

I knew that some of my strengths were also my biggest negatives. My strong personality sometimes allows me to jump to conclusions and not see other acceptable options. In addition, it has the ability to negatively impact others and preclude them from offering a contrary opinion. This is a dangerous situation for any leader. The power of the master mind will not flourish in this environment.

The Definition of a master mind group is the coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose. It is interesting to see how a strong personality can take out the “spirit of harmony”.

The mastermind group has two very noticeable characteristics. They are:

• Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds themselves with the advice, council and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid in a spirit of perfect harmony.
• No two minds ever come together without, thereby creating a third, invisible, intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.

These two characteristics are supported by one important fact:

We take on the nature and the habits and the power of thought of those with whom we associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony.

I understand how I missed the “secret” that the master mind group is also an important factor in building a staff. Just because we spend more time with this group then we do with our families does not mean that they can influence our thoughts, our actions and the overall direction of the organization. A strong minded leader can change the course of the other associates who work at “ground zero” can’t they? Yea right!

Once this fact permeated the years of profound wisdom, it was obvious to me that my management style and the organization needed to change. I needed to improve the quality of the staff and give them the authority and power to make decisions and give advise. Our decision making process needed the infusion of the power of the master mind.

“The master mind principle holds the secret of the power wielded by people who surround themselves with other individuals of intelligence. When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through the alliance becomes available to every individual brain in the group.”

While it is important to have allies outside the organization it is just as important to build an internal team of bright individuals that are willing to come together for the common good of the organization. This is when the group of individuals becomes a team and the power of their thoughts grows geometrically. The desires of the individual cannot circumvent those of the organization. It is virtually impossible for one individual to have the necessary knowledge in all disciplines to successfully manage an organization.

If their plans are comprehensive, and if they contemplate large proportions, they must induce others to cooperate with them, before they can inject the necessary element of power. This power is the organized and intellectually directed knowledge that comes from intelligent people working in harmony for a common cause.

Running an organization is a very difficult undertaking. It is not for everyone. However, the development of a strong external and internal mastermind group with a commonality of purpose dramatically increases the chances of success and dramatically decreases the chances of mistakes.

I will leave you with one of my favorite passages from this book, “There exists a great unseen stream of power, which may be compared to a river, except that one side flows in one direction, carrying all who get into that side of the stream onward and upward to wealth – and the other side flows in the opposite direction, carrying all who are unfortunate enough to get into it downward to misery and poverty.”

“This stream of life consists of ones thinking process. The positive emotions of thought carry one to fortune and the negative side carries one down to poverty.”

“Poverty and riches often change places. When riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought through well conceived and carefully executed plans. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be attracted.”

The Mystery of sex transmutation

Prequote - More gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than has ever been taken from the earth

As may be ascertained from the title, this was a very “interesting” chapter and one that is often misunderstood. Mr. Hill was not a sex monger or an advocate of polygamy. He believed that the human mind responds to stimuli through which it can be keyed up to high rates of vibration known as creative imagination. It was his contention that the leading stimulus is the desire for sex expression. He also believed that most if not all successful people were/are highly sexual and influenced by a person of the opposite sex.

However, to understand this chapter, you need to focus on the word --transmutation. The definition provided is “the changing or transferring of one element or form of energy, into another”. Within this definition lies the key to the chapter. It is not the sexual urge that Mr. Hill is touting as the stimulus, it is the ability to reroute this urge into the creative process. This is why he believes most men do not produce their best work until latter in life. Most young men can not control their urges. In his words, “the lives of many men reflect the continued dissipation of energies, which could have been more profitably turned into better channels.”

While this conversation of sex transmutation is interesting, I found his conversation of the sixth sense – Creative imagination and its correlation to genius to be the pearl of this chapter. Mr. Hill’s definition of Genius is “a person who has discovered how to increase the intensity of thought to the point where he can freely communicate with sources of knowledge not available through the ordinary rate of thought.” He contended that through natural or outside stimuli, the genus transmutes the power of the stimuli into this increased intensity of thought.

The ten stimuli identified that have the ability to increase creative imagination most freely were:

1. Desire for sex expression
2. Love
3. A burning desire for fame, power or money
4. Music
5. Friendship
6. Mastermind alliance
7. Mutual suffering
8. Auto-suggestion
9. Fear
10. Narcotics or alcohol

Eight of these stimuli are natural and constructive and two are destructive. Many examples were given of great works that were done under the influence of narcotics and alcohol. However, in almost every case, the genus was destroyed by these very stimuli.

The creative imagination is a power that the majority of people never use. It is the direct link between the finite mind and infinite intelligence. All discoveries of basic and new principles come from the realm of creative imagination.

Where do ideas come from? The new IBM commercial that shows people ideating keeps running through my mind. Mr. Hill believed that ideas come from four places:

1. Infinite intelligence
2. One’s subconscious mind wherein is stored all sense impression and thought impulse that ever reached the brain though the five senses
3. From the mind of someone else that has just released the thought, or picture of the idea or concept through conscious thought
4. From the other person’s subconscious storehouse.

To get to infinite intelligence, the mind is stimulated through one or more of the ten mind stimulants. This has the effect of lifting the individual far above the horizon of ordinary thought, and permits him to envision distance, scope, and quality of thoughts not available on the lower plane. While on this exalted plane of thought, the creative facility is given freedom of action. The way has been cleared for the sixth sense to function. It becomes receptive to ideas that could not reach the individual under any other circumstance.

As with any skill, the sixth sense becomes more receptive with use. Mr. Hill described the process used by one of the best inventors of our time. He had a room that was almost sound proof and arranged that all light could be shut out. Within this room was a table with a writing pad. The inventory called on his creative imagination by going into this room and concentrating upon the known factors of the invention. He remained in this position until ideas began to “flash” into his mind about the unknown factors of the invention. It sure sounds to me that he ideated.

This is the process of the creative mind. This method is available to all of us if we just know how to use it. In most instances that successful inventor will use some form of this process. They organize and combine known facts, ideas or principles accumulated through experience. If this knowledge is insufficient, they then draw on upon sources of knowledge available to him through their creative faculty. This is done by:

1. Stimulating the mind so it works on a higher plane
2. Concentrate on the known factors and create in your mind the perfect of the unknown factors. This picture is held in the mind until the subconscious mind takes over and the mind is cleared of all thought and the inventor waits for the answer to “flash” into his mind.

While this sounds very bizarre, we all know it works. Most of our best ideas come when we are relaxed and our mind is clear. Unfortunately, most the time we do not have the foresight to write these ideas down and they just fade away into oblivion until we see an invention similar to our idea.

Unfortunately, Ideation is becoming a thing of the past. Most of our inventions are objects that babysit our mind rather than spark creativity. It is incredible how much time is spent in front of TV, and video games. It is almost as if most people are afraid to spend time alone and challenge their brain to come up with solutions. They do not trust themselves to come up with solutions. The world or others owe them a good life an a solution to all of their difficulties.

As a business owner, this leads to working in the business as opposed to working on the business. In order to keep the business fresh, the owner must have the ability to get above the day to day issues and see the possibilities. Sometimes this involves reading. Sometimes this involves listening. Sometimes this involves discussions with trusted advisors. Sometimes it is just sitting and a room and thinking of all the possibilities. But regardless, it always involves getting out of the day to day issues and looking beyond the present. Ideation at certain levels can not and should not be replaced or undervalued.

Persistence

Prequote – No man achieves great success who is unwilling to make personal sacrifices

Mr. Hill identifies the four qualities necessary to develop persistence. They are:

1. Definiteness of purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment
2. Definite plan expressed in continuous action
3. A mind closed tightly against all negative influences including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances
4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.

In looking at these four qualities, it makes me ponder what separates persistence from procrastination and how both can live and breathe in the same body. Why is it that certain actions get full attention and others “can always wait until tomorrow”? Could the answer be in the first quality of a “definiteness of purpose backed by a burning desire to fulfill it”?

We all have the tendency to gravitate to those activities we enjoy. Unfortunately, there often is not a correlation between what we enjoy what is necessary for success. Procrastination lives in all of us and continually calls for us to rationalize why immediate action is unnecessary.

In looking at this first quality, I wondered about the term “definiteness of purpose”. What is a definiteness of purpose and how does one go about getting one? Why is it that some people seem to know exactly what their “mission” is and others just let life control them? I am not a psychologist so I can not give academic answers to these questions. However, as a student of people, I can say unequivocally that a definiteness of purpose must come from within. Without internal conviction, there is little chance of igniting the burning desire and keeping it alive.

In order to find a definiteness of purpose it is important to keep an active mind and be aware of your passions and skills. Often, this definiteness of purpose is found where we least expect it. It often comes out of tragic events. It is all in our perspective and how we perceive these events. The important point is that definiteness of purpose will never come to those that do not continue the quest of finding that which sparks their passion.

Passion is the fuel that ignites the burning desire. However, once this desire is ignited, it is the definite plan that keeps the desire burning. I know of very few plans that do not require sacrifice, will not run into setbacks and do not need to be revised. All of these factors are contributory to procrastination. As they say; when the going gets tough, the weak can always finish the job tomorrow.

Procrastination is the very reason why the definiteness of purpose must be personal and why passion is required to light the burning desire. Nothing worth while comes for free and without sacrifice. By definition, a sacrifice is the surrender of something valued for the sake of something perceived as having a higher or more pressing claim.

Without a personal definiteness of purpose which is supported by a specific plan and fueled by passion, procrastination will seep into our lives and potentially destroy our ambitions. This trifecta is the secret of persistence. It is the driving force to success and the antidote for procrastination.

Mr. Hill mentioned the impact of negative influences and specifically the suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances. He stated that we should guard against those things that run contrary to our passions. This is why it is important to keep an active mind and be aware of your passions and surroundings. Who knows how many great ideas have been delivered stillborn because of the negativity and lack of imagination of these “confidants” who have never taken a risk in their lives.

I remember my own father, who I loved dearly, telling me that I should go into accounting because numbers always needed counting whether they were red or black. Wow that sure was a reason to pick a career. Unfortunately, my insight into my own passion was not developed and I took his advice. While I made a good living with my accounting education and it will always serve me well, it is not my passion.

You do not have to look any farther then any youth sports venue to find misdirected relatives and or coaches. What usually starts out as a love of a game turns into a child trying to please others. This almost always turns out bad. If the individual does not have the personal passion and desire to succeed, they will not be willing to make the necessary sacrifices. Their efforts are misdirected. The next step is usually the parent or coach forcing the individual to make the sacrifices. This turns into resentment and a dislike of the game they used to love. However, the biggest loss is the individual’s inability to focus on finding their true passion. While I have used sports in this analysis, it is prevalent in the arts, selection of career and any other area where people look for their passions.

While it is difficult to stand up to those we respect and believe they “have our best interest at heart”, an important component of finding your passion is to keep it your passion. However, once you have found your passion, it is just as important to find a support group or “mastermind group”. The roll of this group is to twofold. It is to be supportive and provide needed information and advice. In this roll the group will hold us accountable to our plan and provide suggestions on revisions. They will also demand we stay on task and be persistent in our endeavors. They act as a force field against procrastination.

The second role of these trusted advisor's is to be candid. Many times our passion overwhelms common sense. This is where a confidant with nothing to gain personally can provide valuable insight. They have the ability to see what our passion has blinded from us. The truth only comes to those that seek it.

Those who are persistent in reaching their goals defeat procrastination through the implementation of these four qualities rolled up in a blanket of passion. Without passion, we will end up on our couch watching those that have found the right venue for their passion to succeed.