By James Mielnik on Aug 25, 2009

Sherrie,

I have to admit that in just 45 minutes of speaking with you I learned more than I have from any book…. and I read a ton of books! I had over 4 pages of handwritten notes. To keep it simple I broke down the notes into my 3 major takeaways and the action steps you inspired me to take:

1. MASTERMIND: It’s all about who you surround yourself with. To get to the next level in anything you need to have a mastermind. This is a group of people who are as good as, if not better than you, who can challenge your thinking, expose you to new ideas, etc. If you can’t find a mastermind group to join- go start one.

Action Step: Because I live in a small town I have set up a LinkedIn account and started networking with people around the world online in order to form my own business mastermind group.

2. AVERAGE AWESOME DAY: This was a big one for me. It taught me exactly how to create the life I dream of. What you do is simple- visualize everything in life you want and then write it down. Not just the big house or nice car stuff… for this to REALLY work you need to visualize EVERYTHING and get very detailed about it. This is what I was missing in the past. *Detail is the key with this exercise. For example: What type of bed do you wake up in, what type of house and community/environment? What do you do in the first 5 minutes of waking up? 10 minutes of waking up? 20 minutes of waking up? Never before have I got this detailed about what I actually wanted and I’m guessing that is probably why I don’t have it yet!

Action Step: I took the 2 page exercise you created and set aside a good portion of the weekend with no distractions so I could really dig into it. In fact, I did the exercise twice because I made it a game to see just how detailed I could get.

3. MASTERMAN:
Definition = http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=masterman
This was a very powerful definition. The part of the definition that really stuck with me is the following ¨ A man who exudes the clarity of purpose on a daily basis, and strategic direction of his life.¨ I have to step up and claim what I want with absolute certainty and confidence. To do that is to become a true masterman. I knew this was in me before speaking with you, but for some reason I was having a hard time activating it. Something was missing ….I just didn’t have the right mindset. Something from our conversation clicked and there is no way I am turning back.

Action Step: I coach an U12 soccer team and to be honest, for most of the season I was just present and doing an okay job. This isn’t good enough for me anymore. Being a masterman I am now showing up to every game with a purpose. I know there are 12 children looking up to me who are watching everything I say and do. I have to lead and inspire each one of them to be mastermen on the field and in their lives no matter what.