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Chapter 2: The Hidden Key To 'Chemistry'

by Nelson Tan

We let you in on a little background of how the modern Masterminding culture first evolved in the 20th century. Some of you heard of this story before. Nonetheless, it will be a good reminder as you prepare yourself to become a member of a group which you can gratefully call your ‘family’.

Napoleon Hill might not have coined the term ‘Mastermind’, but he was definitely the first author to write so extensively and eloquently about it in clearly defined text and popularized it. In the process of writing his transcripts which would eventually form the all-time mega bestseller “Think and Grow Rich”, he observed the lives of over 513 of the world’s wealthiest men for some 20 years, and discovered that they ALL belonged to a Mastermind group. Each had a group of peers with whom they received support, encouragement, contacts, knowledge and advice. Each one of them acknowledged the power and absolute necessity of the Mastermind group for their immense success in life, as Napoleon claimed.

Birds Of The Same Feather...

The above paragraph is not the story, but which we are going to tell you now and is likely to be true. Napoleon recounted of a time when he spent a number of days living, eating, bathing and sleeping (not on the same bed, please!) with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone (you recognized these billion-dollar brand names, don’t you?) during a retreat in the woods to find out for himself, “When these guys are not masterminding and working together, do they still get together at other times, and what do they do?”

So what did they do? They went hunting in the woods of course! Carrying their double-barreled rifles on the lookout for foxes, deer, whatever, and talking and laughing along the way. That’s how they arranged to spend their time in recreation as part of an annual period of rest and recuperation. Apparently, Napoleon took significant note that not once during the hunting trip did they ever mention ‘business’. Business was business and recreation was… recreation.

When it came down to business, as Napoleon continued to observe, Henry, Thomas and Harvey were already so ‘into’ one another’s personalities, characters and temperaments that whatever was communicated between them was also perfectly received, and the 3 of them, whether consciously or unconsciously, by accident or design, had blended their minds in such a way that the mind of each had been supplemented by a super-conscious power known as a ‘Mastermind’, and that mind has brought each of them more worldly gain than any person could possibly use to his own advantage. The group of 3 grew with 6 more members and they were Wm. Wrigley Jr., who owned the Wrigley Chewing Gum business and whose income is said to be over $1.5 billion a year, John R. Thompson, who owned the chain of Thompson Self-Help Launch Rooms throughout the country, Mr. Lasker, who owned the Lord & Thomas Advertising Agency, Mr. McCullough, who owned the largest Express Business in the world and Mr. Ritchie and Mr. Hertz, who co-owned the Yellow Taxicab business of the country.

Did the culture within the Mastermind group grow more complicated with size? Apparently not. It was just as effective as before if not better. Maybe they all went hunting to orientate new members.

...Work And Play Together

Herein lies today’s lesson on Masterminding: it’s worth taking time out to speak to your partners about things outside business. That did not mean you all must go on a camping trip or a boot camp, but sometimes verbal communication is all you need to probe further and understand your partners’ concerns, priorities and other aspects of their lives, then with the hindsight you have gained, you can accommodate them and blend in with them in situations where so much more are at stake, like…‘business’.

“How do I start?” you ask. Just pick up the phone and call them, ‘ICQ’ them or ‘MSN’ them and chat wholeheartedly. It does help to de-stress one another and bring about a more relaxed atmosphere. Go one step further by inviting them for a weekly soccer or basketball game.

The hidden key is about how you make optimal use of whatever time you have with your partners outside of business dealings. The same principle behind this key also applies to how parents make full use of their time to be with their kids. The common misconception about ‘quality time’ goes like, “If I can make next Sunday the best Sunday my kid will ever have, that’s quality time.” That’s terribly wrong. Time cannot be recouped back, and so is quality itself. You can only channel all your time and energy in specific areas that are dear to you…with whatever it takes.

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Nelson Tan is the architect behind Internet Mastery Center (http://www.internetmasterycenter.com): Create Your Online Profits with the RIGHT Products, Environment and Mindset!

(You may reprint this text as an individual article.)

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