How my Masterminds Get Me "Juiced"

Have you ever had one of those weeks that you felt like you were ready to give up? Maybe you felt the weight of the world on your shoulders, things aren't going so well, lots of challenges to deal with and you start to wonder why you do what you do?

That's how I was feeling early this month.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my work but hey, every relationship has it's ups and downs, right? I was definitly on the down swing. And I had two trips coming up and quite frankily , I was not that crazy about having to travel twice in one week.

But being the kind of person I am, I talked myself into my "coach" space, got my game face on, packed up and headed to the first of two of my mastermind retreats near the airport in Los Angeles, CA.

To kick off properly and really get reconnected to my purpose, Therese Skelly (the coach for the Business Accelerator Mastermind) and I got together on Sunday and attended Rev. Michael Beckwith's Agape church service. If you haven't had an opportunity, I highly suggest getting juiced up with Michael - talk about a mood change!

The Business Accelerator Mastermind

Michelle Dettman, Therese Skelly (the coach), Adam Hommey,
Mary Headley, Mary Kelso, Sheri Menelli, me, Stephanie Graziano.

The first two days were amazing. I watched these 6 people in the Business Accelerator Mastermind have their issues, doubts, frustrations and challenges melt away as the coaches and their mastermind partners (the rest of the group) brainstorm and sort out the fastest, most direct path to achieving their goals.

A few of the most powerful breakthroughs were:

1. Finding an easier path to the six-figure goal.
2. Realizing how "doing your own audio editing" was sucking up tons of time and commiting to give it to a professional.
3. Mapping out the "target audience" to make marketing message pop to attract lots of clients.
4. Identifying a new source of clients that were "right under our noses" and lining up an immediate gig.

Realizing that connecting with other brilliant business owners is essential to pushing yourself past comfort zones and achieving massive results!

This is just the tip of the ice berg...I'll share more in my next post from the Platinum Mastermind experience too.

Why Successful People Have A Coach

It is a Monday at 8:15 am and I'm half way through my workout. My personal fitness coach, Matt, is kicking my butt (again.) I've just stepped onto a machine that I hate -- it's a pull up machine. Matt is standing next to me saying, "Come on, you can do it. Breathe Melanie, breathe!" Every time Matt putts this machine in my workout I grumble because it is hard, uncomfortable and totally infuriating.

But as I laid down on the mat for another round of abdominal crunches, it dawned on me...my coaches are the reason I accomplish such huge results in my life. I have a coach for my mind and a coach for my body. Both of them challenge me to do and be more than I ever would for myself.

Today, Matt gave me a reward. We did my measurements and body fat. In the last 30 days I've lost 2 lbs of body fat and gone down more than an inch in my waist (that's good progress for me!)

I was ecstatic and pumped so I jumped on the elliptical machine for another 20 minutes of cardio. When we feel like we are accomplishing results, we naturally want to do more!

Why am I telling you this?

Because this is why successful people hire coaches. Coaches challenge you to do more, work harder and accomplish greater results than you ever could on your own.

Now, I'm not someone who likes to work out but the benefits are tremendous. Left to my own devices, I may muster up the stamina for a 15 minute walk around my neighborhood. With my fitness coach, I have accountability, focus and the drive I need to truly accomplish my desired results. With my personal coach, I work on blind spots, challenges and obstacles that I might just as soon not address.

The combined results -- I have more energy and stamina. I am focused and clear on my high payoff activities. I accomplish major results in my life and my business.

On the days I don't want to exercise are the days I'm most grateful for my fitness coach. These are the days I really don't feel like doing what is best for my body. I'd rather cozy up to my computer and just work my buns off all day. But when you have accountability to someone else, you show up, you do the work, and you reap the rewards!

I've also noticed that I will accomplish more with my coach's challenge than I would do on my own. It's quite easy to fall into a comfort trap -- doing just enough to get by. But with my coach challenging me to do a few extra repetitions and pile on another 5 lbs, I catapult my results forward.

One more thing. There have been months that I felt like I couldn't afford my fitness coach (I also have a personal coach too.) In the beginning it was a HUGE stretch to commit to a big monthly "expense." I realized that successful people hire coaches to challenge them to accomplish more. It is not an expense -- it is an investment in my health, sanity and desired results. Without my coaches, I would not be able to perform at the top of my game consistently.

How about you? Do you have a coach that challenges you to achieve more? Share it in the comments.

Do you need a coach? Maybe one of our coaches will be a good fit for you. Visit www.successconnections.com for an overview of our coaching programs.

More Billionaire Bootcamp A-Ha's

I've just had so many opportunities to change my thinking and uplevel my standards since the Billionaire Bootcamp in Hawaii. It's actually been a lot of fun to share these learnings with my team and my clients. Here is another a-ha that has really been quite powerful for me.

One of the exercises we did was to research five billionaires on how they think, make decisions, what their habits are, etc. It's called Performance Modeling. It's a technique I've used for years with my coaching clients and doing this for myself was quite valuable.

After completing the modeling exercise, I realized that in order to grow my own business to the next level, I had to be willing to incorporate some values and beliefs of one of the billionaires that I have least resonated with -- Donald Trump. What I realized is that many billionaires share the same values but how they pursue them can be different.

The five billionaires I modeled are:

Donald Trump
Oprah Winfrey
Bill Gates
Richard Branson
Warren Buffett

Then I wrote out an index card with the 3 personal values/beliefs I am incorporating into my life.
Negotiate for win-win outcomes -- Donald Trumps value was negotiate to win. I believe that I could increase my profitability, revenues and accomplishments if I always negotiate to win-win outcomes. Sometimes I give up and feel as if I lost because I don't want to offend or push. It hit me like a ton of bricks that if it doesn't serve me, it will never ultimately serve the other person either.

Run a tight ship -- if the ship (aka my company) has a leak, it will be poisonous to me, my team and ultimately my clients. I asked my team if they would all agree to help me tighten the ship. That means new systems, keeping our word for on-time deliverables, addressing problems head on with better strategies immediately, etc.

Be tough -- sometimes I go for being nice over being strong. I know many females have the same challenge. I'm being honest here when I say that I realized sometimes I'm not tough enough and I end up forgoing opportunities that seem like to much of a hassle. I decided I'm willing to "toughen up" a bit and play the game with a bit more stamina. What could it hurt? =-)

I also have a personal value that I established as a new standard for my team -- Four Seasons Excellence. We've always had a commitment to excellence. However, if I set the bar higher at "Four Seasons Excellence" then we have a standard of consistent, client-focused excellence. If you've ever been to a Four Seasons Resort, you know what I mean here.

My coaches and my staff have all been very excited about these new standards. It's like I brought a Vitamin B shot to the team and we've all become even more inspired to take action! Imagine what could happen in your business if you incorporated this kind of cutting-edge technique into your life? If you are interested, check out some of our coaching programs at http://www.successconnections.com/.