If being an entrepreneur were easy, everyone would be doing it.
There’s an element of “hustle” involved, certainly in the first few years of striking out on your own. We often tell our Primal Health Coach students to expect about three years of hard work before you’ve found your groove in your business. Until then, nothing is delivered to you on a silver platter, and that includes support and accountability. It is incumbent upon you to create the support network you need.
Of all the business mastery tools at your fingertips, one of the most beneficial and easy to implement is the mastermind group.
What Is a Mastermind Group?
A mastermind group—sometimes referred to as a networking group or “inner circle”—is a group of people involved in building their own businesses, coming together on a regular basis to share, speak, and work through challenges, blocks, successes, and struggles. Entrepreneur.com suggests that a well-formed mastermind group “must be mutually beneficial to all members and offer a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability and support in a group setting.”
If you’re looking for support as you grow your Primal Health Coaching business, don’t wait for it to come to you: create your own network. Whether you’re still in the thick of the course, have only recently graduated, or have been out on your own in your health coaching practice for years, do it now.
Cast a Net(work)
A great place to start is by visiting one or both of the Primal Health Coach Facebook groups regularly. Make it part of your daily ritual and commit to checking in with what your peers are sharing, doing, and thinking. You will quite quickly find yourself aligning with a subsection of your fellow Primal Health Coaches.
This becomes an important first step in the Mastermind process: business alignment. Maybe you’re a massage therapist, looking to connect with other massage therapists who’ve brought health coaching into their practice. Are you a busy mom looking to build out your “busy mom” niche with other busy mom Primal Health Coaches? Looking to specialize in ketogenic diets for obese CrossFitters and want to connect with other obesity/keto/CrossFit Primal Health Coaches? Maybe you live in Florida and are hoping to connect with other Floridians to understand how to roll out your business in a state with strict regulations around health coaching.
Ask. Create a group. Any kind of group. Meet in person, over the phone; via Skype, Zoom… the technological possibilities are almost endless, and render geographical borders virtually null.
Mastermind Guidelines
The rules for creating a networking group are not strict by any means; create what works for you! Here are well-thought-out guidelines from our Coaching Director Christine Hassler on how to create an effective and productive group.
- Four to six participants is a good start. That way the agenda can remain focused and everyone will have time to share.
- Ideally, your mastermind group participants are practicing in a smilier realm to you; your business should align somewhat closely to your network of peers. This helps focus the conversation to mutually beneficial topics.
- Ask for a one year commitment to the group. Agree to meet once per month and set those dates and times up well in advance, so they go into every participants’ calendar and are not missed. Speaking of which…
- Establish an attendance requirement. Any member that misses too many sessions will be removed from the group. Make your mastermind group a priority. Value it as an integral part of your business-building plan.
- Be present. These networking sessions are sacred. Show up present, ready to share, learn and grow. Even if—especially if!—your business has not been moving as smoothly as you’d have liked since the last meeting of the minds.
- Rotate who hosts/facilitates the discussion. That person gets to develop the theme for the call, keeps time, and generally organizes the conversation to keep it on track.
- Everyone gets a certain amount of time to share: it’s your choice what you want to share, but definitely try to share something. Maybe you have a specific business question, a block that has come up, or a struggle or challenge. A win or a triumph! This starts the mastermind conversation as everyone else in the group offers to respond, discuss, and brainstorm with you during your allotted period of time. And you return the favor when it’s their turn to share.
- A mastermind group should be very structured; not loosey-goosey. Keep it business focused, and avoid having it accidentally descending into a processing or venting session. This is a business meeting.
- At the end, go around and share one cool thing that you learned from the session.
Masterminding: It Works If You Do
There’s a parallel between a mastermind group and a health coaching relationship between coach and client. If your client only met you halfway, failed to show up, or was reluctant to share his/her struggles and successes, you’d find it difficult to help navigate that client along the path to change.
Treat your own entrepreneurial spirit with the same care and respect that you’d hope your clients will treat your coaching relationship.
Now get out there and find your network. Start today, no matter where you are in your business!
