00:00:00 Thanks for joining us on episode 636 of the inspired stewardship podcast. Hi, my name is Aaron Walker, I'm president and founder of the mastermind playbook. You know, masterminds are a great way to intentionally grow yourself and invest in others. And one way to be inspired to serve others well is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my good friend,
00:00:27 Scott Mader And what I'm learning each and every day. There's a new methodology. There's a new tools out there. There's new processes and there's new systems. And so each and every plateau that you arrive at, there's something new to learn. So I think the enemy is having to know everything before you launch otherwise you'll never launch. And so I just suggest that you learn as you go Welcome.
00:01:02 And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcasts. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. Go learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world In today's interview with Aaron Walker,
00:01:34 Aaron and I talk with you about masterminds. Erin shares, how they can be used for intentional self development, but only if you really have the right mindset, he also shares a great tool for building your own masterminds and lots more. One reason I like to bring you great interviews. Like the one you're going to hear today is because of the power in learning from others.
00:01:58 Another great way to learn from others is through reading books. But if you're like most people today, you find it hard to find the time to sit down and read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible, go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from.
00:02:23 And instead of reading, you can listen your way to learn from some of the greatest minds out there. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books. The same way you're listening to this podcast. Aaron Walker has founded more than a dozen companies over the past 41 years. He attributes much of a success to having surrounded himself with his mastermind counterparts.
00:02:49 Aaron spent a decade meeting weekly with Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Ken Abraham, and five other amazing entrepreneurs. Aaron is founder of the iron sharpens iron mastermind that now hosts or 15 groups with national and international members. Aaron, as the Arthur of the view from the top, a must read to fully understand how to live a life of success and significance.
00:03:16 Also the founder of the mastermind playbook and incredible resource for starting running and scaling your own masterminds. Erin lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Robin of 40 years, and he has two incredible daughters and five beautiful grandchildren. Welcome to the show. Aaron Scott, Thanks for having me, buddy. I've been so looking forward to this and I'm excited that you're having me today as your guests.
00:03:46 Well, and, and you know, I've, I've been, uh, you're one of those folks that's been on my list for a while of getting on the show. I love listening to your Facebook when you go and do the videos I like watching you out and walk in there and talking to everybody, uh, you know, we've we were talking before we got started about some of the folks that we have in common and I I've heard great things that I know you're going to add tremendous value to Lister today.
00:04:10 So I'm looking forward. Well, I appreciate that, buddy. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. So, you know, when we think about this, one of the things that, uh, the listeners hear me talk about all the time is this idea of self-development T you know, growing ourselves so that we can turn around and serve others,
00:04:28 help others pour into other people. If you really had to sit down with someone and give them some advice on two or three things that they should really focus in on, what do you say to people when they really are recognizing they want to transform their lives, but they're not even sure where to start yet. Well, can I give a little context to my answer?
00:04:51 Can we go back a little ways? We'll go way back just for a moment. Uh, I was 18 when I started my first business and, uh, we were very blessed and fortunate to sell out to a fortune 500 when I was 27 years old. So I already thought I knew everything. It was like, Hey, I got this figured out.
00:05:09 It wasn't that hard. And then as I went on in business, I discovered that I really needed personal and professional development more than ever, because there were more opportunities out there. And you and I were talking just a little bit earlier, Dave Ramsey invited me to join his mastermind group, uh, decades ago, Dave, and I've been friends since the early nineties,
00:05:29 when he first started the show. And shortly thereafter, he invited me to join his mastermind group. And I said, I don't even know what a mastermind group is. And he started laughing and he said, just come to my office next Wednesday. And I'll introduce you to the guys I've invited. And so I'll win in. And right out of the gate,
00:05:47 they started talking about reading these books. And I raised my hand. I said, Hey, this, I, I don't want to rain on anybody's party here, but I don't like to read. And Dave turned at me, looked, and he said, I don't care if you like it or not. You're going to read. And I started laughing and I said,
00:06:02 you're serious. He goes, I'm dead serious. He said, you just don't learn through osmosis. You just don't go to bed and get up the next day smarter than the day before. So get to reading the book and, you know, Dave, he's hardcore, you know, I was like, dang, okay. So man, Scott, that introduced me to a personal and professional development,
00:06:23 like nothing I've ever experienced and that's been decades ago now, but today, you know, I'm an avid reader and I don't know how many books I read a year. I don't even keep up with it anymore. But the thing is, is that we've got to be in a place to where we're hungry for new information. And for me personally, you know,
00:06:42 I love Ted talks. I love podcasts. I love to read. I love to go to conferences. And when Dave really opened my eyes to the education that I could receive from reading, I started investigating other opportunities and that's just opened so many doors to conferences, Ted talks, podcasts, interviews, uh, one-on-one interviews like we're doing today. It just really set me on a quest in order to learn more. one of those things that comes to mind,
00:07:13 you know, so I'm an avid reader as well. And, and actually when I was in corporate leadership and managed a team of directors, uh, they got to the point where they'd walk into my office with a problem and they'd say, so other than the book, you're going to recommend our read. What else can we, you know, that was just,
00:07:32 they knew they were getting a book, but when they left, when they left my office, you know, that was always, always going to happen. So when you think about reading a book growing like that, the one of those things that you can do is you're sitting down effectively with a expert and getting to have them pour into you right then.
00:07:52 And there that's an obvious one. You know, people talk about it all the time reading, but at the same time, there's 10 million, 557 books out there. How do people kind of begin thinking through where do they start with all of this? Well, I think it's the obvious answer is what is your interest? What are you trying to accomplish through your development?
00:08:16 And through that process, uh, I've discovered that I need different things at different times on my journey. And so we were in the bricks and mortar business for 35 years, and now I'm in the online space for about eight years. And so the education is quite different. The authors are quite different that I read and study about today. The conferences are different that I go to today.
00:08:39 So I think a lot of it really rest on what it is that you're interested in. Now there's personal development that we can do that, uh, doesn't matter, you know, what niche market you're in, there's personal development out there. Uh, I'm very interested in spiritual matters. And so there's personal development growth and there's professional, but then there's spiritual.
00:09:02 And so it just depends on what you're looking for. Coaches is another thing that I've really invested in heavily. I hired dr. David Krueger. He was over the psychology department at Baylor university. And I said, well, I want to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. So I went to a guy that was very qualified to teach me their strategies.
00:09:23 Now that I want to learn like LinkedIn, for example, I've hired a coach for that. I've hired coaches for internet marketing, uh, to learn how to build funnels. And it just depends on what you're trying to learn as to the Avenue that our approach. So one of the things that I've run into is when we start thinking about this, you know,
00:09:47 you, you walked into a mastermind with Dave Ramsey and anyone that knows Dave Ramsey knows that he's going to hold your feet to the fire. You know, that's just, that's him, that's him in a nutshell. But at the same time, I've, I've run into people as a coach and, and friends and other folks where one of the things that's holding them back is this,
00:10:07 this mindset that they have of, I've always got to learn something else. I've always got to get one more piece of knowledge before I'm ready to start. You know, once I know everything, then I'll get started. You'll never start. What would you say to those folks? Well, the thing is, we're always learning in the more I learn,
00:10:24 the more I find out, I don't know, know, years ago I was in the diamonds and gold business and we had a very successful company in Nashville. And I probably knew more about diamonds than 99% of the public, but I knew enough to know that I really didn't know much at all. And I think it's that way in every industry that we get.
00:10:46 And there's no way I could have ever learned everything that there was to know about diamonds and the more we learn the new opportunities, the more doors that open up. And I think it's that way in any industry that we're in, you know, we've scaled masterminds. Now I was going to coach two people when I started years ago. And today we have 19 mastermind groups and we're nine different countries and what I'm learning each and every day,
00:11:09 there's a new methodology. There's a new tools out there. There's new processes and there's new systems. And so each and every plateau that you arrive at, there's something new to learn. So I think the enemy is having to know everything before you launch otherwise you'll never launch. And so I just suggest that you learn as you go. So we've talked about masterminds a couple of times and listeners know I'm a huge proponent of masterminds.
00:11:40 Um, your, your mastermind is one of those that's out there that, that I've heard great things about. I've had friends that have participated, uh, in years. And I know that currently you're launching the mastermind playbook. So can you for somebody that maybe this is the first time they've heard the show, they don't know what a mastermind is, what is it,
00:12:01 and how can we find the right ones to participate in? You know, there's a Scott, there's so many different mastermind groups. There's the industry specific groups, there's general mastermind groups, and you can come up with all kinds of definitions. But when really when you have two or more people working together, kind of for the attainment of a specific purpose,
00:12:27 you really have a mastermind group. But I have found personally that is most effective when there are eight to 12 members that really meet regularly. And that is, uh, a, provides a leverage that is a valuable asset. And when you have total access to these people, you have different life experiences. You have professional insights, you have relational influence and it's of unbiased,
00:12:59 trusted advisors. You have a greater amount of ability to be enlightened. And so there's something really magical about the power and the strength of a unified force. And I just want to encourage the people that are listening today, that when you subject yourself to the scrutiny of others who embrace your core values, you really sure to find a higher level of success and significance in your life.
00:13:28 So think of a mastermind group as a board of directors, people that don't have a dog in the hunt, they don't have anything to gain or lose as a result of the advice they give you. Then they're going to tell you the truth. And when you meet with those persons on a regular basis, we meet in our groups weekly. You're able to do life with them and you're able to give them good advice based on their particular needs.
00:13:52 And so for me, I just summarized it in saying, it's really your own personal board of directors. And you mentioned earlier, there's a ton of different kinds of masterminds. Uh, you know, in terms of, of maybe everybody's in the same industry, maybe it's a diverse group, maybe they're all entrepreneurs. Uh, I, I know sometimes it's even all men or all women,
00:14:15 you know, depending on, on the organization, what are some of the questions that people should ask or filters, what things they can look for to know that maybe this is a mastermind, they want to try out and see how it, you know, see if it's a good fit for them. Yeah. There again, to give you a little bit of context,
00:14:34 I've got to give a preemptive strike here. Before I answer that question. Uh, decades ago I was so focused on making money that I almost lost my family. Thankfully I didn't Robin and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage next month. And we're recording this in 2020. And so it's been an amazing journey, but we've had difficulties along the way,
00:14:59 like most marriages that have survived for four decades. But what I've really discovered was, is I didn't know myself as well as I thought I did. And I tell people often now I came home with a pocket full of money to a house full of strangers. And what would have happened is my marriage would have been wrecked. I wouldn't have had a good relationship with my children.
00:15:20 And it took a major life upheaval back in 2001, where I ran over and killed a pedestrian on my way to the office. And it really rocked me to the core and it really made me set up and pay attention to what was going on. And, uh, it was the mastermind group that really kept me grounded and helped me work through that and help me focus on what was important in my life.
00:15:48 And so for mastermind groups, I think one important quality is that they need to share the same core values. If you're in a group that don't, it's hard to reach a consensus, if you don't have the same core values. So for us personally, in iron sharpens, iron, our core values are honesty and integrity and authenticity and transparency. And without those,
00:16:15 we really can't grow to the place that we need to go. The other thing that you need to ask is, is what are you going to do exactly as far as taking me on a journey? Is this something that we're just going to get together and hang out and talk about ball scores and the biggest fish you called, or are we really going to dive in personally,
00:16:36 professionally and spiritually, are we really going to cover the dynamics of my life? That's going to move the needle. And we have huge accountability in our groups. We even have a 10 question, accountability tool that we fill out each and every week that heightens our awareness to the things that are the most important in our life. And we call you out on those things,
00:16:56 how you treating your spouse and your children. Are you working ridiculous hours? Are you saving money? Are you taking care of yourself physically? Uh, we changed the questions every 90 days. And so we're always covering very important topics in your life. So you've got to get a good understanding if you're just looking for a coffee club or you're looking for a group that's really going to take your life to the next level.
00:17:21 So those are some of the main components that I would look for to be sure that I was vested in a group of people that had the same core values that was really going to take me on a journey to help me grow in those three areas of my life. Awesome. All right. Awesome. Thanks so much. So is there anything else Aaron,
00:17:44 that you'd like to share with the listener? You know, when I was a child, my had a saying that I didn't like at the time it was can't, couldn't do it and could did it all. And I've adopted that as a mindset and a mantra for my life and people are afraid to fail. And I used to tell my daughters failure is in not trying,
00:18:07 not in, not succeeding. And so I would say fear missing an opportunity more than you, fear of failure and adopt a mindset of you can do something and you too can be highly successful and significant on this journey that we call life. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast, as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively,
00:18:42 listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoy this episode, please, please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes rate. All one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed until next time,
00:19:17 invest your time, your talent and your treasures, develop your influence and impact the world.