I value education and invested heavily in my learning and growth as a professional through college and after. Why? Because investing in the right personal and professional development makes a BIG difference, impacting one's confidence, quality and focus of work and most importantly, overall success.

There's lots of programs to choose from out there on business-building and personal development and each are valuable in their own right. One of my greatest investments and what I've found to be key to my stellar success, hasn't been learning just the hard skills like marketing, how to grow your client list or even what best website or social media practices to use. True, these are also very useful but remarkably I found it's the soft skills, like critical thinking, empathy, collaboration and how to fully bring all of me; my gifts, talents, values, vision, personal leadership skills and experience to my expanding business that's been most helpful. Where might you master your mind, gain hard and soft skills, improve your leadership, and accomplish goals? A mastermind group.

Mastermind seminars help you master your mind and incorporate hard and soft skills plus practices that help you fully emerge as an professional who excels as a whole person. Masterminds vary greatly in length, cost, commitment and quality, and I believe a mastermind seminar worth it's weight in gold isn't a program steeped in steps but a program steeped in process so you can learn to manage your growth by managing your mind and behavior. When it comes to success, it really is mind over matter, that matters.

HERE'S 5 REASONS WHY joining a mastermind group is important and what to keep in mind when researching one of THE MOST IMPORTANT investments of your life.

What kind of mastermind is right for you? Mastermind seminars used to be solely available to the elite. Extremely expensive, (exceeding $50,000 and up!) were originally designed for high profile multi-million dollar executives who needed a confidential place to talk business, swap contacts, solutions and to rub elbows with other high-end players. They're still for this, yet today many mastermind groups have been watered down considerably for the open market and entrepreneurs. Because of this you're more likely to get bamboozled and sign up for the wrong mastermind that doesn't suite your needs. So... #1 Understand what your needs/goals are. Ask yourself, what's missing for you, what do you need improvement on, what's in your way, and what do you want to have accomplished at the end of a mastermind commitment? This will help you determine what program will suite you best. Does its shiny advertising feel like it will help YOU achieve YOUR goal(s)? If not, then keep looking!

Not all masterminds are created equal! Some masterminds are offered in-person or online or a hybrid of both. Some are filled with 20 or more people. Some offer special sessions with a high-profile facilitator or coach and for most of the program you'll be shuffled off to work with someone off their 'team', not with them. Some masterminds are 'absolutely free'. Make sure to read the fine print and remember to investigate the cost of 'free'. Sometimes 'free' is not worth your time. Remember your time IS money! Before you commit, make sure to ... #2 Do your research! Look up the group or program, read the fine print, read the testimonials. If you don't resonate with their message or participant's progress- then, go fish! You'll want to find a program that will help you shine!

Don't settle on the first mastermind you find. Maybe you've heard others go through a mastermind before or you're just hearing about it for the first time and want in on the success and excitement right away... #3 Take your time to ask yourself what's important in a group setting for you? Remember the topics you may cover may be personal but it WON'T be private. It'll be shared among the members of your cohort. If your cohort is huge, that's not so good for confidentiality nor comfort in being vulnerable. FYI- being vulnerable is a key part of making progress and growing through change. You must want to share, to help others and to be ok with feedback, suggestions on how to grow and to hold others accountable.

Remember this, we're all human beings behind this business pomp and circumstance talk. The reality of business owners and professionals talking about real-world business problems often touches on personal and possibly deeply intimate stuff. You'll get into why you react in certain circumstances and how you think and feel about yourself. We can't really get away from that. This is very important when exploring your commitment to join a mastermind group. . ...#4 The point of a mastermind is to get behind the walls of limited thinking and encourage serious growth. Transparency is key to creative problem solving. Are you willing to jump in and help others grow by starting with you?

No investment is more important than a really good mastermind group. There are TONS of ways to invest in your professional development and personal growth. And each will teach a different spin on, often-times- the same thing. I've found mastermind groups are notorious for this. I've had clients who regrettably spent 4-10 times more money on other mastermind programs before joining my Wisdom Circle mastermind program just to hob-knob with big names and sadly found the actual program they paid so much for was terribly lacking at its core. So, again... #5 Content, goals, desired outcome, quality of your experience are HUGE. What are you willing to gain for your commitment? How much time, money? What do you want to feel while you're in the mastermind group? What tools do you want out of the investment? What support must you have in-between sessions? How about afterwards? How intimate/or not do you want it to be? Are you in it to hob-knob with big names or to accomplish goals that are hard for you to do alone? These are the questions to ask yourself.

Ask to see results upfront. Contact the mastermind facilitator or coach you're researching and ask if you can talk to a participant or two who's gone through their program. Hearing someone's success story goes way further than any website advert. If they say no or won't introduce you to at least one happy client- then go fish!! Find a mastermind leader who will.

6 months: Online or In-Person

WISDOM CIRCLE MASTERMIND

Facilitated 6-month mastermind group. Bi-weekly meetings, accountability partnerships, exclusive workbook and personalized coaching support helps serious professionals grow their business and accomplish goals while they define themselves, catalyze ideas, fuel their visions, gain traction, direction, community and peace of mind. Wisdom Circle is tremendously powerful. REGISTRATION BEGINS NOW! READ MORE