On this episode, we're going to be looking at eight questions to ask yourself if a mastermind is right for you. So stay tuned.
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I'm Jen Argue and I've been leading masterminds for the past five years for six and seven-figure entrepreneurs. And I would love to help you start your own mastermind as well, so that you can create a really big impact with those around you and work a lot less and make a lot more at the same time. So we are in November.
And classically, at the beginning of fall, it is pretty much the start of what I would call mastermind season. This is where a lot of people start to think, okay, summer's over, I want to start focusing on You know, whatever it is you want to focus on for your business, and having a mastermind really helps you with focus and it helps you with motivation and just getting faster progress than going at it alone.
So a lot of people start thinking about a mastermind at this time, especially with January. Coming up. So people are going to start advertising their masterminds a lot. And if you are considering a mastermind, there are some questions you need to ask yourself before you join one. Now, you might be thinking, Maybe I'm considering whether to join one or not, that would be the first question.
And then the second question is, if you are going to join one, how do you know which one to join? So I've got you covered. In this podcast, we're going to be talking about all those things. So hopefully this can serve as a guide for you as you are asking yourself these questions. Okay, so let's start with the first question.
The first question is, Do I join one or not? So. I've talked about this before on my podcast, but just to summarize it right now, the aspect that stands out with a mastermind that is far and above, you know, what you get in other types of products out there is you get a really strong community. So let's say you're One option is to buy a course, and that would be like a DIY course and definitely, I mean, all these other products are really great.
They come in handy for different reasons. So that's what we're looking at and considering today. But when you're looking at a course, what you're getting is, I'm just going to call curriculum. So as I start talking about all these things, I'm going to be talking about the three C’s…Curriculum, community, and coaching.
So with a course, you get curriculum. Sometimes you do get a Facebook group with it for support, but maybe not direct coaching. Then there's group coaching. With group coaching, you get curriculum and coaching. And sometimes a community, but it's probably going to be heavier on the coaching and the curriculum.
With a mastermind. A mastermind primarily is community. See, with a group coaching program, you're going to be getting instruction and expertise from one guru, one person who's at the top of that program, and maybe a set of coaches that they've hired, but it's coming from the program directors, essentially, versus a mastermind, when you join a mastermind, You will be getting some instruction from the person who's facilitating the mastermind, but you will also be getting a lot of input and feedback from others in the mastermind.
And what I love about that, now there's definitely a place for all of these like I said, but what I love about that emphasis in a mastermind where the whole community is giving you feedback is You are learning from a lot of different people with a lot of different expertise in one group at one time over a period of time.
And the benefits that come from that are incredible. It's amazing because it's different than when you're just getting it from one source. When you are saying, I have this issue and a variety of people are speaking into it, people who you trust, people who, you know, that you, you look up to and they look up to you as well.
You're learning from so many different people's experiences, because if you've been in this business for a while, you know that yes, there are some. Very sound principles that can be woven through all things as far as business wisdom, but then the rest of it really, it's personal. It's up to you and each person's values and their strengths and what they like and who they like to serve that plays into a person's success.
You can arrive at success in so many different ways. And so when you're in a mastermind and you're hearing from all different people and how they experience success, it's going to speak to you on how you can find it for yourself even faster. So that's is going to come into play as far as you deciding if a mastermind is right for you.
So think about your needs. Do you just need information? Maybe there's just a course out there for you. Do you need specific instruction and coaching from one person about a topic? Then a group coaching program is going to be best for you. Or do you need that general motivation, encouragement, wisdom from a large group?
A close-knit community who is all focused on success and so you get this rising tide phenomenon, then a mastermind is right for you. So hopefully that helps you decide which route to go if you're looking for support. And let's say you do decide that you're going to look for a mastermind. Now, the question becomes, which mastermind is right for me?
How do I know? How do I decide? So I've had this freebie that I've developed years ago, and it's still out there. It's still useful and being used. And it's called Eight Essential Questions to pick the Mastermind that's right for you. So I will have it linked wherever you're listening or watching this, uh, just go ahead and look in the show notes for the link to the freebie.
So. You can have this, you can think about it, you can use it as a guide as you're, you know, shopping around. But let's go through each of the questions one by one together right here. Okay, so question number one is how long do I need support? So one of the things that's going to play into you choosing a mastermind is how much time do you have?
For support, how much time do you want to be in the group? There are three-month masterminds. There's actually like even a one-day mastermind out there or a weekend long, or three months, six months, nine months. 12 months. There's all different lengths of masterminds out there. So think about how long do you want to be in one?
I've led all the different lengths and I can say if you're in a three month long mastermind, it's good. It's a good quick hit. You're going to really experience progress in one thing, most likely. The beauty that comes from a year long mastermind, I will say, is that You get the support of the group through all the seasons of your business over the course of a year.
Because when I talk about seasons, You know that there are times when you are launching something, and it requires extra energy, and maybe it doesn't quite turn out the way you want. Or maybe the first launch is amazing, but then the second launch is more of a dip. Maybe there's not as big of a response, but then you still have the support of the group and you do a third launch and now it picks up again.
And, and you'll see that there's these roller coasters, right? Throughout the life of an entrepreneur. And when you've got the same group at your side throughout the course of a year, really tremendous progress can happen because. Number one, you're sustaining focus over the course of a whole year and relationships and consistency in one area of your life, which is kind of your support scene, right?
The people who are on your support team. So if you want that sustained focus and support. Look for a one year or maybe even a six month, but I will say from the six month perspective of having led groups for six months, it's kind of a rough time to end a mastermind. Three months is really great because you just get that wow experience.
You accomplish one thing. It's really amazing. You feel like you're on a high. At six months. It can feel like a dip type of time because once you've put forth the effort in the first three months, now you have to sustain it and it can feel exhausting by the time you hit that six month mark. It's kind of not a great time to end a mastermind when you're feeling a little bit spent.
So if there's a nine month mastermind or a 12 month mastermind, I personally would lean towards one of those because just getting you through a whole bigger chunk of time allows you to go through a couple of cycles with the support of the people you're with. And building relationships takes time. It takes some time.
And having the same relationships with you for a whole year, it's a pleasant experience. You don't want to go through business ups and downs while going through building new relationships over and over again. So having the same relationships for a whole year, I think, is a really Great way to go, but you have to decide that for yourself.
So I'm just painting the picture of different pros and cons for all the different lengths. Okay, let's move on to number two. Do I need a specific group or a general group? So there are different types of masterminds. Some masterminds are very focused on a specific topic. Maybe, for example, podcast growth or social media growth.
or building a team. There are masterminds for anything and everything out there. And then there are masterminds that are more general. Uh, they are focused on community support, on accountability, on keeping the motivation high. And you can bring any type of goal to these more general type of groups.
Personally, I'm a fan of both. I think this is where you have to ask yourself, what do you need in this season of your business? You might have a couple of different types of goals going on this year. And so maybe a specific group is going to limit your growth in other areas. And so you might just know you need that community support.
You need the accountability to stay focused, to stay motivated. So then a general group is going to be better. Or here's what I always say. If you're trying to decide between two things. Pick both. I know it sounds extravagant, but you will see that a lot of successful business owners are in multiple masterminds at the same time.
Um, they're getting multiple coaching from different coaches at the same time with different. You know, specificities, so maybe you want to do both or maybe you just want to do one or the other. So if you're doing something specific, like you're focusing on, let's say podcast growth, then, you know, focus on that, decide how long you want that focus to be.
Do you want it to be three months, six months, a whole year and look and see what's out there as far as that goes and what, what the promise is for that specific type of group. So that's number two. Number three, how committed do I need to be? Okay, so typically in a mastermind, your presence is required at every single mastermind meeting.
If you've heard me say it before, Attendance is the backbone of a mastermind. It's hard to run a mastermind if people aren't showing up consistently. If you know your consistency is going to be challenged in any sort of program, then join a group coaching program, or get one on one coaching with somebody, or just do a DIY course where your attendance isn't required.
I will say in one on one coaching it is, but you have more flexibility, um, typically. So with a mastermind, though, that takes commitment to every single meeting and like I said, you need to be there. You need to be there in order to have those brainstorming discussions in order to support each other. It's the whole point.
And. Oftentimes, I'll say how you show up in a mastermind is how you show up in your business. So if you're ready to take your business to the next level, part of that might be your commitment to showing up consistently in your mastermind. So that might be part of your own personal challenge. But there could be masterminds out there, maybe like a scaling mastermind, the kind that are really big, that are, you know, tons of people coming to the call or to the venue where your attendance isn't as necessary to each meeting.
So think about your own values, your own schedule, what you're looking for. And if you know your... more of a sporadic person, but you still want to be in a mastermind. Well, look for a mastermind that's a little bit more open as far as their attendance expectations. There are definitely other masterminds that your attendance really is critical for how the mastermind functions.
And so if you want that consistency, then look for something that has a higher expectation. So either one, they're both out there. But just look for what it is that you need. Question number four, do I need an in person or an online group? So if you are looking for that in person camaraderie, you know, that's where the magic happens for you.
Then look for a mastermind that is primarily in person. Now that can come in a lot of different forms. That could come in the form of a group that meets over three to six or 12 months and they meet once a month in person or maybe once a quarter. That would be A great one for you, or sometimes the in person masterminds, they meet just on retreats and they just have maybe two retreats over the course of a year, or maybe it's just one mastermind retreat, and maybe it's at a cool destination.
So those are different options. So thinking about, do you need that in person dynamic that really makes you come alive, that, you know, you need that quick hit, you need that super focused time, then that's for you. If you want something that is virtual, then that's going to be a completely different option.
And then also, there are hybrid. There are hybrid options where you can do in person and online. So, both are really great, or all three are really great. It just depends on what you need. Question number five is, do I need a mastermind or group coaching? So this I'm mentioning it because it's in my freebie that I mentioned, even though we kind of talked about it right at the beginning of the podcast, but you can do.
Either you could do group coaching or you could do a mastermind. There are some hybrid options out there where the coach offers mastermind time, but then they also do coaching time. So just know what you need and you'll know then what to look for. Question number six is what time works best for me now, when a mastermind is being advertised, unless they truly don't have a time decided on yet, typically they will list the time in their sales material or when you're on a sales call doing the application call.
Knowing the time obviously is critical. I've run masterminds where I've had people there from all over the world. And I even had a group once where there was somebody from Australia and from Europe at the same time. I think we met at noon for that mastermind and I think it was really early. Or maybe it was 11.
I think it was noon. It was really early for the woman in Australia, and it was getting kind of late for the person in Europe. So just be cognizant. Where's your audience? Is your audience mostly on the East Coast or the Pacific Coast? Are they in Europe? Are they in Australia? Do you want to run separate groups?
Do you want to have a group that serves? The Pacific coast and Australia or, you know, the Asian nations, or do you want to do a group that mostly serves the East coast and Europe or two times, you know, a group that meets early, a group that meets later, what is the group time that you're looking at? Do you want to make sure that it works for your schedule?
Because if the group meets at a time, that's kind of difficult. That's a big commitment. You absolutely can do that. Like I said, the woman who was in my mastermind from Australia, she was in for multiple years. That was a very early group for her. There were times where she was getting up at four or five in the morning, but she committed to that and she came to every session.
So You have to know yourself. What is your commitment level? Are you able to meet at an uncomfortable time? If that's the mastermind you want to be in, or do you have to make that decision, you know, and say, no, I absolutely have to find one that works at a better time. So that's definitely an element to consider as well.
Number seven is what kind of extra support do I need? Well, when it comes to support, masterminds are all over the place. Some masterminds are very simple, where they only have their group meeting. Some of them also include some one on one support, uh, some co working support, maybe some guest expert speakers.
There's all different types of masterminds out there, so think about the type of support that you feel would really help you with growing your business. Number eight is ask yourself, do I trust this facilitator? There's different ways and reasons why you would trust a facilitator or not, one being, and they lead a good group.
Running a mastermind is a little bit different than running a group coaching program in a group coaching program. The guru can kind of separate themselves. They can just call on certain people, answer questions, and they can even really remove themselves and even do their coaching from a Facebook live and just take questions in the chat or in the comment section.
So in a mastermind. You're holding space for a lot of people at the same time, and when a lot of people are sharing, there's a lot of personality differences, and some people are verbal processors, some people are internal processors, so the mastermind facilitator needs to be able to modulate all the different personalities and bring out the best in everyone, and so number one, there's the group facilitation skills, and second, Does the facilitator have enough background or knowledge about the topic that they're leading?
Now, it doesn't mean that they have to. I have a course where I teach people how to run their own profitable masterminds. And one of the things I teach in there is that You don't need to be an expert in the area that you're leading the mastermind. Sure. It helps. And sure. It helps to have a passion, but if you are simply just good at running groups, you love to run groups, it's okay to run a mastermind where you're not the expert and to have everybody in the group be at.
the same level, hopefully like sort of an expert level where they are contributing to themselves, but you're the one running the facilitation. So ask yourself about the facilitator. Do you trust the facilitator? So those are the eight questions. I'm going to throw in a bonus one for you. I'm just going to call this number nine.
It's the bonus one. It's not in my freebie, but I want to throw it out there. So, the last question is, can you make the decision? I know that seems crazy, right? I mean, if you're trying to make the decision and these are all the things that are going to help you decide what I have found with running different types of businesses for 30 years, that.
It's actually hard for a lot of people to make a decision. What I've seen over all the years is that those who are successful are very empowered decision makers that They still have the same, uh, self doubt, imposter syndrome, fears, everything that is just basically comes with being human, but they make empowered decisions anyway.
They know those feelings are there, but they know that they have to keep moving. They have to make a decision. They know that sometimes those decisions aren't going to be the best decisions, but they're typically very positive people who look for the best situation anyway. If they got like one thing out of the decision they made, they're happy with that.
They're owning responsibility. They're not placing blame on anyone else. They hold the responsibility themselves. And so, even though they're making fast decisions, some of them might not be the greatest decision in retrospect, but they can still appreciate that they got something out of it, they hold the responsibility themselves for having made it, and then they make wiser decisions going forward.
So, all of that to say, here you have Eight elements to consider with deciding which mastermind to be in. Now, the next step is, can you make that decision? Can you say, yes, is it going to take you a week? A week actually is a very long time. And I'm going to create a whole nother talk around being empowered decision makers and the cost to you of being an in decision.
I cannot tell you how many people I have seen just take forever and ever to make a decision like months, actually, or years. And so it could take a really long time. But. If you take that long to make the decision, you're only putting off your own progress in getting the empowered results that you're looking for.
So I really want to encourage you be that decision maker. Just go for it. If a mastermind you're looking at ticks most of the boxes, then that's probably the best mastermind for you. I don't think any mastermind out there could really check every single box. And so think about prioritization. If you were to prioritize what's, you know, like rank.
Rank the questions that I gave you. Maybe it's a in person that matters most or virtual. Maybe it's, you know, a group that's specific about a certain topic versus a general group, or maybe you want the general group over the specific group. Whatever ranks higher for you, then just make sure that mastermind is fitting.
that rank for you, and then go for it. Make a fast decision, be empowered, know that. This is not a do or die situation. This, you can still get a lot out of whatever you choose, even if it ends up not being 100 percent what you expected it to be. That's pretty much how it is for anything. If you buy a course, if you invest in a group coaching program, even with masterminds, there are always going to be pros and cons to everything.
But Remember, the road to success is paved with failure and fast decision making is going to get you to your success faster. So even if you make a fast decision and you know, there ended up being some things about it that weren't the greatest, you can still learn from that. I bet you, you could still get even one relationship out of that mastermind.
That's going to be a. Game changer for you. If you see things in the perspective of opportunity and possibility, you are going to get amazing things out of a mastermind, and I imagine that if you're going through all of these questions, these eight questions, you're gonna pick a pretty good mastermind.
You're going in a eyes wide open, and I imagine your experience. is going to be amazing. So I would expect the best after you've used this grid to help you decide, and then it just comes down to it. Make the decision. So hopefully this helps you as you are looking at masterminds to join either at the end of this year, the beginning of next year.
And if you're interested in joining my mastermind, I would love to see if we would be a good fit. Definitely fill out the application. It's going to be linked wherever you're listening to this. And I would love to meet you and see if my group can help you reach your goals better and faster. All right. Take care!
Thank you so much for listening today. I hope that if you found value in this, that you would subscribe to my podcast and share it with a friend and leave a review.
Thanks so much!
