I met last weekend with my private clients in a personal master mind day.  We spend one Friday a quarter going over business related, very focussed, roll up your sleeves, type of work.  Then on Saturday, we have a guest speaker and do something fun.  On Saturday, we had Clinton Swaine come talk to us. He’s got http://www.FrontierTrainings.com.  

I learned so much from him in just 3 short hours, but wanted to share two things that I took immediate action one.

First, I really appreciated the level at which he played his own game.  If it was worth doing for Clinton, it’s worth mastering.  And that means hours and hours of practice and study.  I came away re-energized and re-committed to first clear out the clutter and things that I felt I was doing that weren’t that important and secondly to master the things that are left.

The other was a real, practical way to create an internal Master Mind Alliance.  I use Napoleon Hill’s definition and spelling of “Master Mind” because it is different than the popularized “mastermind”.  Hill’s “Master Mind” referred to a master mind that took over a group when it was on purpose and running well.  The alliance created a synergy that became real and palpable.  The term “mastermind” is a bastardized form of the original concept that has come to mean the group itself.

I like the idea of working toward the higher purpose for the group- the creation of synergy that makes it all worthwhile.  Again, Clinton’s ideal - play full out or don’t do it.  

One of the strategies is to create an internal master mind alliance, or an imaginary group to consult with.  And Clinton had solutions on taking that to the next level as well. He’s commissioned a painter to paint the people he’d most like to create an alliance with.  They are figures from history and some are still alive.  He’s got them all looking you straight in the eye.  Best of all, he’s got some prints just hot off the press.  So, he took some of the group back to his studio to see where he worked with his lifetime students.  Lining the walls were the pictures.

My husband Richard and I both selected prints of the people that we’d most like to have in our group.  There were a lot (hundreds) to choose from.

Here’s who I have right now on the wall in my home office:

J.K. Rowling, John F Kennedy, Buckminster Fuller, Queen Elizabeth I, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Louis XIV (France) and Cleopatra.

For me, they collectively symbolize the ability to see something that isn’t there and then create it, powerful vision, courage and strength in the face of huge adversity, powerful oration and (in the case of Louis XIV) the ability to turn the known world upside down and make it revolve around him.  I rather like the last one. LOL

This morning I’m getting read for my teleseminar in an hour “Opportunities & Pitfalls in 2009 Tax Law Changes”.  I normally take some alone time before I do one to make sure I’m focussed.  This morning, I’m not alone.  I’ve thought about each of my alliance partners and asked the question “What would XX do in this situation (fill in the blank)?”  

The answers that come back to me make me want to be play bigger and bolder.  I like what happens with an Internal Master Mind Alliance.

Please check out Clinton’s website www.FrontierTrainings.com.  He has a FREE 3 day intro course in LA and in San Diego in August.  I’m changing some plans so that I can attend one of them.  He’s that good.

Here’s the 3 day course Play to Win:  http://www.frontiertrainings.com/playtowin/?fn=Frontier_Website