So here’s something I don’t want to admit:  I’m addicted to helping.

I love helping.  I binge on helping.  (I might’ve been Santa’s favorite elf in a past life…THAT’S how much I like helping.)

But the flip side of being helpful is the stress I feel when I can’t help when I don’t have the answer you’re looking for.

This dark underside was magnified recently while I hosted my first mastermind meeting.

The group is filled with incredibly brilliant and hard-working entrepreneurs, all of whom pour into each others’ businesses as much as their own.  So, imagine my delight planning an in-person event in Newport Beach next week…

Reservations organized, menus selected, guest-speakers booked, a new keynote presentation created…and while I couldn’t be more excited, there’s also a low-key hum of worry.

I don’t want the mastermind retreat to just be helpful, I want it to be the most helpful event of all time…I want it to win the trophy for the most helpfullest helpful masterminds…I want it to be the valedictorian of helpful events.

But let me just cut to the truth of this letter:  I realized I was making myself the center point of the event.  I (falsely) believed that if I was helpful enough, the event would be successful.

What a joke.

Over my career, I learned that while my helpful attempts are notable, the most help someone ever received was by a group.  That the group itself wasn’t just helpful, but when all our minds connected, we created value.

No, really, these groups created pathways (and a plan) to make money, to actually grow a business.

As we head into the live mastermind retreat in Newport Beach next week, I’ve shifted from thinking I had to be helpful, and—instead—asked myself how I might facilitate the most effective group strategy sessions and Hot Seats.

THIS will be where the magic happens.

Now let’s make this letter less about me, and more about YOU.

Can you think of 3-4 people you can bring together to brainstorm about your businesses?  If so, get together and begin by each answering the following questions:

1. What is working best in your business right now?
2. What are you most excited about in business?
3. Where are you stuck in business right now?
4. A clear ask for help in your business

I hope you get exactly what you need to gather a group of people to help push you toward your dreams.

Santa’s Little Helper,

j*