In September 2018 I posted a message on The Magic Cafe asking if anybody wanted to get together on a regular basis as part of a “mastermind group” to discuss mentalism and bounce ideas off each other.

A mastermind group is a peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members. The concept was coined in 1925 by author Napoleon Hill in his book The Law of Success, and described in more detail in his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich.

Wikipedia
Mastermind Group

We ended up with four people in the group and for the next year we met almost every week on a video call. Some calls only had 2-3 people due to conflicts, and there were a couple weeks we didn’t meet due to things like Father’s Day, etc., but in general we met weekly for a full year.

We had a great time and it was wonderful meeting with like-minded people and discussing different methods and presentations…

And then life intervened.

Work, school, moving, etc., all hit one or more of us and we ended up winding down the calls. We’d email each other every once in a while with things, so the contact didn’t cease, it just changed.And became more sporadic.

We recently decided to start the calls again, but this time doing it once a month rather than once a week. We’re also going to try a little more structure, in that we’ll have a specific topic to discuss each time.

Not that we won’t go off on rabbit trails…

I’m really looking forward to getting together with the guys again — I know it will help me figure things out as I work on a show that I can start perforning once things are mostly back to normal and theatres open back up.

Whatever you’re into, I highly recommend a mastermind group. The other folks can give you good ideas, help you brainstorm stuff, and keep you accountable with your goals.

And now that everyone and their mother (literally) knows how to use Zoom, there’s no better time to get one going.

Map by Mariah Gardziola from the Noun Project