How Mastermind Leaders Can Help their Members Create Abundance and Self-Expansion

 Jared Van Dyke wanted to create a mastermind group for several years, but he had no idea where to start. Eventually, Van Dyke realized he had to start thinking differently about his goal. Rather than wondering how to start, he had to think about who he could connect with to create abundance and self-expansion.

By connecting with a trusted group of mentors and learning the knowledge presented in The Mastermind Playbook, Jared was successfully able to create his own flourishing mastermind, and a podcast that offers life-changing advice to his audience.

Jared’s reframing of his goal immediately brings to mind chapter 1 of Who Not How, entitled “Whos” Create Abundance and Self-Expansion.

How “Whos” Create Abundance

As Dan Sullivan puts it, the first “who” you have to worry about is yourself. Sullivan emphasizes that you must improve yourself, value yourself, and maximize your own happiness, creativity, and interpersonal relationships.

Further, Sullivan points out that a people-oriented approach to goal-setting creates a non-linear path to success. This sharply contrasts with the linear progress that manifests for individuals who only consider “how” to achieve their goals. 

Sullivan gives several examples of individuals who leveraged this non-linear progress to create what he calls freedom of time in their lives. One example that Sullivan talks about is Richie Norton, who built a successful business after learning from an experienced entrepreneur. Norton later moved with his family to Hawaii, where he earned the freedom to organize his day-to-day routine however he wanted. Richie even created an acronym for the word “time” that he believes represents his personal philosophy: Today Is My Everything.

Richie’s freedom of time allows him to spend time with the most important “whos” in his life. He can enjoy the quality time with his wife, children, and father that he knows makes him happy.

Mastermind leaders must understand how they can guide their members to create the same kind of freedom in their lives. In order to do so, you should encourage members to reframe their perspective by looking at who can help them achieve their goals instead of how to achieve their goals.

Check out The Mastermind Playbook for more on creating abundance by connecting with the right people.

The Self-Expansion Model

Sullivan speaks about The Self-Expansion Model in psychology. Married psychologists Dr. Arthur Aron and Dr. Elaine Aron developed the model. This psychological model posits that the core driver of human behavior is a desire for self-expansion, and analyzes human relationships through several components.

The first component in the model is efficacy, which refers to your ability to manifest a particular outcome, in potential, not absolute terms. The concept of efficacy extends to your ability to accumulate tools and resources you need to produce a desired outcome. This applies to relationships you develop, insofar as those relationships contribute to your potential to produce those outcomes.

As Dr. Aron puts it, whenever you enter into a relationship with another person, you incorporate and merge aspects of that person into yourself. Psychologically, you view this other person as an integrated aspect of yourself. Moreover, you gain resources from the other person, which can include knowledge, perspectives, and insights.

As a result, your desire for self-expansion leads you to seek relationships with other people, and Dr. Aron states that you can break down this desire into two aspects. The first aspect is desirability, which refers to your perceived amount of self-expansion that you can make possible through the other person. The second aspect is probability and refers to your likelihood of forming a personal relationship with a specific person. 

The Self-Expansion model tells us that our potential is always contextual, fluid, and variable. It also shows why it is so important for mastermind leaders to teach their members how to help members form interpersonal relationships that enhance their self-expansion. 

It’s crucial for individuals trying to overcome a major life challenge such as addiction to develop a peer group of other addicts and mentors.This illustrates why interpersonal relationships are so crucial for self-expansion.

Check out The Mastermind Playbook for more information on the transformative power of relationships.

The Importance of Delegation

Connecting with quality people allows you to focus on doing what you do best, and delegate the rest. Forming a team and collaborating with others will also make you more invested in your commitments and goals. 

This is true because of the power of social pressure. Numerous psychological studies have shown that individuals stick to commitments more frequently when they have a group of peers holding them accountable. As a mastermind leader, foster a sense of accountability for members that propels them to achieve their goals. 

Delegating work to others also creates freedom of time that allows you to devote your attention to tasks that you are uniquely qualified to complete, and to enjoy the kinds of activities that you know enhance your quality of life. By helping your members learn how to delegate, you will help them to unlock their potential and savor each day as if it were their last.

Check out The Mastermind Playbook for more insights on how delegation can improve your quality of your life, and your members’ lives.