Today I am going to tell you about my 90-day mastermind experiment. It’s about committing to goals AND achieving them.

The best part? – It was fun!

Did it change my life? – Absolutely.

In today’s post I will reveal how I did it and how you can achieve the same.

What is a mastermind?

Three months ago, I joined a group of motivated women as part of a mastermind, a peer-to-peer mentoring group.

In my case, a woman-to-woman mentoring group. We meet up once a month and help each other to solve our own problems with input from the other group members.

And we all get stuff done. The stuff that really matters.

The benefits are peer accountability, support in a group setting and a ton of combined life experience. It is an incredible environment for setting and achieving goals.

How does the system work?

Every 30 days we reflect and come up with a set of goals. It can be as simple as one goal, or as many as you like. I recommend starting with 1-2 and seeing how you do.

They have to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. They have to mean something to you personally.

One of my monthly goals has been to exercise for at least 30 min each day. No days off, no excuses.

If you want to know how this worked out for me and what I learned, read on.

My results

I have now completed my 3^rd month and I am amazed with the results.

It worked so well, that I am asking myself exactly what else I want to tackle in my life, because I can, and it feels good. It helped me refocus and see more clearly what actually matters to me.

And I now have a great strategy and system in place to actually get there and for achieving goals!

Here’s how it works.

The magic of accountability and saying your goals out loud

One key component is to communicate the goals that you have set for yourself. Within my mastermind group I refer to my goals as commitments, because that is what they are. Commit to working on them for a fixed period of time and to getting them done.

By voicing your commitments out loud you make them more of a priority, which translates into action.

Within your mastermind group write down and collect your monthly goals. Cheer each other on and congratulate each other for setting your goals.

The extra incentive

How do you add an extra incentive to make your goals feel like real commitments with consequences?

Simple.

Agree to donate a certain amount of money if you don’t achieve one of your monthly commitments.

How does that make a difference?

By taking responsibility for our own lives and actions. If we don’t achieve a goal we own up to it (no lying to ourselves).

We are all responsible for our own failures, but also our successes.

What to do with the fines?

My recommendation is to donate 50% to a charity close to your hearts and to use the remaining 50% to celebrate your achievements together after every 6-months.

Commitment and support

Every month, get together, lay your cards on the table, cheer each other on and celebrate your successes. But also support each other when it hasn’t quite gone according to plan. A mastermind is a great combination of encouragement and support, which is incredibly empowering.

Achieving goals – Why does it work so well?

It is a Win-Win situation with the following possible outcomes:

1. You achieve your goal. – Great! Celebrate!
2. You didn’t achieve the goal. – The money goes to a worthy cause that you really care about. You are doing something good!
3. You only partly achieved your goal. – You are several steps closer to reaching your goal. Excellent! (but you still donate the money ;))

You can’t really lose! I love it!

My key learnings

• I am responsible for my life and my goals, whatever the outcome. If I do not achieve a goal, I own up to it. If I succeed, I also know who to congratulate.

• I have learned to define better goals and to make them a priority. Only set yourself goals that you actually want to achieve. Ignore other people’s expectations and make them your own.

• It feels great to put myself and my goals first. I make space in my daily routine.

• Instead of excuses, I look for opportunities, even if I am on the road all day, on holiday or visiting relatives. I have so far done yoga in a quiet parking lot, found a local swimming pool while on holiday and unrolled my gym mat in my parents’ living room. Result!

• I also learned a lot from not achieving a goal. Yes, it initially hurt to pay the money, but it was for a good cause! I almost got there, which was pretty amazing!

Be kind to yourself.

My conclusion

How can you achieve the same? – Join a mastermind group!

Or put together a group of equally minded women, define your ground rules and get going. Prove to yourself just how much you can achieve by setting yourself good goals and supporting each other.

To you and your achievements!

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article feel free to share on social media and spread the positivity. Share it with the women you want to start a mastermind with!

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