You can have a mastermind for every area of your life. There are masterminds where business owners and CEOs get together quarterly or yearly to discuss their current challenges and ways they can enhance their companies’ growth. Then you have personal masterminds, where people get together to help them become better in their marriages and with their families or help each other achieve personal goals and be a voice of support.

I have a mastermind group of five close friends who are all doing exceptional things and looking to get to the next level. We reflect with one another, laugh together and support each other. The type of impact this mastermind has had on my life is something that is very hard to put into words.

There have been several times where something didn’t go as planned or failure unexpectedly came knocking on the door and the collective input and support I received from those in the mastermind led me to see things in a different light. That’s what masterminds are for — not only to talk about your goals and find ways to become more successful, but to reflect and be honest about what is going on in your life so the group can come together to create solutions.

I strongly encourage you to gather four to six people that you trust and share your drive to be great. Here are three guidelines to think about when you are in the process of creating your own mastermind group.

1. Find out what the overall objective is.

This is important especially in the beginning stages of creating a mastermind. For example, is your group going to be focused on the personal or professional side of things? Is there a specific theme for the mastermind?

These are just a few questions to help get the ball rolling for you, but finding out the overall objective is a mandatory process to get things moving in the right direction.

2. Choose carefully.

Be extra picky with the potential candidates for your mastermind. You want the other people in your group to be positive, motivated and hard-working individuals who really do want to take their lives to the next level.

Imagine getting your mastermind set up, and when you come together you have someone who is constantly being a Debbie downer about everything. Even worse is someone who tries to belittle a goal or dream of yours that you share with the group.

3. Meet regularly.

It’s one thing to create a mastermind, but it’s a whole other thing to actually meet on a regular basis. It does you no good to meet every other year or hardly ever talk to one another. Whether you meet quarterly, monthly or have weekly conference sessions, just make sure to meet regularly.

My mastermind consists of people who don’t live in the same city as me, but we don’t let that stop us from meeting regularly. If you have to, conference calls as a group can work as well. The bottom line is to make sure you and everyone involved in the group does whatever it takes to meet on a regular basis, even if that means going virtual every now and then.

These are just three ways to help you get started when you are pondering where to start getting your mastermind up and running. Creating a mastermind can do exceptional things for your life. It can provide new perspectives. Don’t wait any longer to discover the phenomenal benefits of having a group of your own.

Originally Posted on Entrepreneur.com

The post Create a Support Group That Will Push You appeared first on Matt Mayberry.

There is a major difference between hoping to be successful and expecting to be successful. When we hope to be successful, we are basically saying we are unsure if it will ever happen. To an extent, this attitude dictates our level of belief in ourselves and the way we work. When we expect to be successful, that means we know deep down that regardless of how hard times will get throughout our journey, that we will eventually get to where we want to go.

There are a lot of reasons why most people just hope for great things from themselves or to reach a certain level of success. One of the main reasons is because they have let where they are at right now in life dictate their ways of thinking. Just because you aren’t where you want to be in life doesn’t mean you can’t expect greatness from yourself. Just because you don’t have the resources and money to back your idea doesn’t mean you can’t expect yourself to build and start an incredibly successful business.

You must stop this way of thinking. Don’t let all of your misfortunes prevent you from expecting great and wonderful things from yourself.

I know you want to be great and somewhere deep within you have the desire to achieve extraordinary things in your lifetime. You read Entrepreneur searching for ways to grow and learn. Or maybe you already are a major success and just love reading ways you can enhance your game. Whatever it may be for you, start expecting greatness in every area of your life instead of just hoping and wishing one day it will all come together for you.

Moving forward, increase your expectations in every area of your life. Don’t wish to be great — expect to be great. Don’t wish to become a successful entrepreneur — expect to be one. Don’t wish to change the world — expect to.

Ultimately, the difference between being average and being extraordinary will all come down to you executing your expectations.

Originally Posted on Entrepreneur.com

The post Don’t Wish to Be Successful. Expect to Be. appeared first on Matt Mayberry.