I bought a book twenty five years ago for my business library that has been an exceptional investment.

The book's pages are dog eared from use over time and filled with pencil and ink notes.  I paid $8.95 for it; its value to me now is at least ten thousand times that.

Don't be alarmed. A mastermind group is not a collection of white coated evil scientists plotting to take over the world.  It's a group of forward thinking individuals who agree several minds working on a problem or goal is far better than just their own.

The author describes a mastermind as "a coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose"

More simply stated, a mastermind group is a collection of like-minded individuals interested in improving their businesses and themselves by meeting on a regular schedule and capitalizing on the collective thinking of the group.

I've been in a mastermind group for over five years. The benefits I've recognized:

• Fresh thinking and discovery of new possibilities for solutions to problems
• Shared business experience between members
• Staying positive and continued pursuit of goals
• Shortens and flattens the learning curve
• Accountability for your performance to the group

Distance prevents our group from meeting face to face on a regular basis, but an easy conference call at a scheduled time solves the geography problem.

Your mastermind group could be two to eight people. More than eight in a group can be troublesome to manage. You might seek help from your group for the following subjects:

• Raising prices
• New Programs or Services
• Handling Difficult Employees
• Launching marketing programs
• Getting organized

If you're aim is to do great things with your business in 2011, start working on joining or forming a mastermind group now.

Oh, I almost forgot, the book I mentioned is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. It was first published in 1937. It is the grand daddy of most business books published since.

If you don't own it, get it. You won't be disappointed.

"You can get everything in life you want, if you'll just help other people get what they want."

--Zig Ziglar

"Power consists in one's capacity to link his will with the purpose of others, to lead by reason and a gift of cooperation." --Woodrow Wilson

"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." -Napoleon Hill