When I started Iron Sharpens Iron, one thing I knew about mastermind groups is they’re binding. The level of transparency, authenticity and vulnerability you require will weed out a lot of applicants who aren’t ready to go the distance. You don’t have to “have it all together” to be in ISI, but you do need to prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.

Since we’re studying Brian Moran’s book, The 12-Week Year, I think it’s time we discussed our reluctance to make commitments with time. I read somewhere that a “commitment” is “a state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to some course of action.” The problem with this isn’t the idea itself. It’s how commitments collide with all the other things we have in our lives, like family or faith, that scares us.

I can relate to that, as a lifelong Christ follower in pursuit of a healthy marriage and family. I learned the hard way that putting...

Do you feel a little awkward starting your own online mastermind group, because you think, “What do I talk about once we’ve started?” That’s a very legitimate concern, and I want to validate it because I’ve been in that situation.

I started out as a business coach. In that setting, it’s usually about all the experience the coach or mentor has accumulated. You’re passing one person’s knowledge to another. Sure, you need to ask questions and make sure you’re giving the right advice for situations clients bring you. But mostly, it’s a game of waiting for them to bring something up, and then answering from your reservoir of wisdom.

The way I designed my masterminds online, however, was to gather everyone on a weekly basis. And that immediately begs the question, “What are you going to talk about once a week, especially with eight to twelve other men on the line at the same time?”

Well,...

Do you think you could start a new mastermind group in twelve weeks?

Welcome to June, and I’m fired up to share this next truckload of value with you. We’re diving back into one of my favorite books for our online mastermind groups this month. My friend Brian Moran wrote a book called The 12-Week Year, and we like it so much we’ve made it our signature tool for time management.

The old saying goes, “Time is money,” and in this example I want to compare these resources because of how easily they slip out of our hands. “Easy come, easy go,” as George Strait would say. Although money’s a lot more replaceable than time, both substances are supercharged by the spiritual world. As a Christian life coach, I see it often - you can tell what people’s priorities are by how they use their time, and how they use their money.

More on that later, but I want to ask you the question again: do you think you could start a new...