I was at a Mastermind in Newcastle recently.
Masterminds were first introduced by Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich”.
10 people
around a table and 1 person in the hotseat for 10 mins, talking about their business. Sharing challenges, brainstorming ideas, building contacts and getting feedback.
And the hot seat moves around the table so everyone gets their turn.
On the day there was a real mix of business owners in the room.
One lady I spoke to ran a pilates business. Another guy I chatted to sold mindset courses for musicians. And I sat next to a lady who owned a
de-cluttering business.
So lots of variety. But everyone was a small business owner.
And when it was my turn in the hotseat there were some great ideas.
One guy suggested I try to get on some podcasts.
Another said I should reach out to teachers and nurses. She said these professions had a high % of people looking to change career.
Someone else said I should start a LinkedIn newsletter and guest blogging.
A different lady talked about YouTube videos.
And another chap suggested I start working with HR
departments in corporates.
I was like a kid in a sweetshop. I came away from the Mastermind fizzing with ideas.
I could see how a lot of these ideas could
help me build my business.
Over the next few days the ideas started to settle.
And as they did, it hit me.
I don’t need more ideas.
I have a Word Doc on my laptop choc-a-bloc with ideas for my business.
How to market the business. Potential products and services. How to grow the business.
And after the Mastermind I’ve added a few more.
So I have
no shortage of ideas.
But it's not coming up with ideas which leads to progress. It’s taking action.
Without action, all ideas stay as ideas. It's only when we act on ideas that they start to come to life and we start to make progress.
I need to keep reminding myself of this. Especially as I love the process of coming up with ideas.
But it’s a distraction. Generating ides and dabbling with them means slowing the business down.
So even though the Mastermind gave me loads of new ideas…
My biggest takeaway was this:
Ideas are ten a penny. It’s acting on the ideas which makes all the difference.
Time to wrap this up and go for a jog.
Catch you soon.
- Tom
p.s. Whenever you're ready,
here are the ways you can connect
with me