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When no one responded, he continued, “Do any of you remember Napoleon Hill?”
“Wasn’t he the notecard guy?” Jarod asked.
“No, I’m the notecard guy. But you’re correct that the notecards rely on his discoveries of how to train your mind toward a goal. We just saw another one of his core principles in action, the Mastermind Group.”
“Mastermind?” Christy asked. “Like the game?”
“No, Christy, not like the game. The concept of the Mastermind Group is to bring together others whose expertise and ideas complement your own.” “How can they compliment my ideas?” Jarod asked. “You didn’t let me share them.”
“Not compliment, complement, with an ‘e,’ which means to add to what you’ve done to enhance or improve it. I didn’t let you share your ideas first because I knew how reluctant the class was to come forward. Had you shared first, I expect they would have simply deferred to your ideas, and been even less forthcoming with their own.”
Mr. Griffin turned to the rest of us. “Let me emphasize: when you defer to the ideas of others, you do them no favors. Jarod may not choose to adopt any of your suggestions, but I guarantee that sharing your ideas activated his mind and got him thinking in ways he wouldn’t have done on his own. Am I right, Jarod?”
“True.”
“Now that you’ve heard them, you can decide which ideas you want to keep, eliminate, or synthesize with your own thoughts. Let’s hear what you’ve come up with.”
“One minute.” Jarod scribbled on his card. “I’m making some quick changes.”
“While Jarod finishes, let me make my intentions clear. From this point on, this class is your Mastermind Group. That doesn’t mean your classmates are the only ones you can turn to for help. Feel free to seek additional guidance, as Christy is doing with her coaches. But it does mean you’re expected to show up for one another. When a classmate shares an idea, don’t just listen or even appreciate it. Look for flaws, alternative perspectives, opportunities missed. The best Mastermind partners are not gentle; they say what’s on their mind, though ideally without mockery, Christy.
“If your idea is being torn apart, don’t sit meekly and take it. If you think you’re right, give reasons. If you hear a glint of wisdom but aren’t sure you fully grasp it, hash it out until you own it. Those of you who work out know your muscles grow when they’re challenged. Your brain works the same way.” “OK, I’m ready,” Jarod said. “Here goes:
I intend to make $1000 between November 13 and December 13. To accomplish this, I will do the following:
1. Call all past customers who have not hired me in a while to see if they’re again interested.
2. Print out a flyer and pass it around my neighborhood. The flyer will not only say that I mow lawns, rake leaves, shovel snow, etc., it will also say who I am and why I want the money.
“That second part I just added now.” He nodded at me.
3. Keep my existing rate for customers willing to commit to one mow/lawn care per week, and raise my rate by $10 for one-offs.
4. Call people with successful landscaping businesses until I reach someone willing to give me advice.
“How do you feel about your list, Jarod?” Mr. Griffin asked.
“It feels good. I’m still not sure it will get me all the way to $1000, though.”
“You’re probably right. But it doesn’t need to—not yet. How much do you think you can make putting this new plan into place?”
“I don’t know. Maybe $600.”
“You see the power here? You’ve only been working on this for one day, and you’ve already more than doubled your productivity.
“Reading the card, along with putting the steps into motion, will activate your mind. You’ll begin to realize that some of these steps are more powerful than others. You’ll reorder them, scratch some off, and develop better ideas to take their place. Commit to this process and I feel certain that your card a month from now will look little like it does now.”
* * *
Derek Andrews’ parents were out of town. Again. So, of course, he was having yet another party. And, of course, I wasn’t invited. Still, I wasn’t going to some lecture with Dad.
He ended up taking Mom on condition that they eat at her favorite Italian restaurant afterward. I stayed home to babysit Megan, who in all honesty was old enough to hire herself out as a babysitter. At least it was easy money. All I had to do was order pizza and let her watch whatever she wanted on Netflix, and she left me alone.
I found Napoleon Hill’s book online and started reading it. It was kind of interesting in that century-ago-English sort of way. It got me thinking about the notecards. I looked at the crumpled cards piling up in my bedroom trash can. There was no way I could ever share any of those in class. Besides, my goal was not remotely realistic.
Hill’s book dropped out of my hand, and I sank back into The Martian. Mark Watney might be freaking out, but I could think of worse fates than being stuck on a planet all by myself.
Defining Moments
Christy had news on Monday, but Mr. Griffin chose to start with Jarod instead. “Anything to report?”
“Nope. Been reading my cards, just like I agreed.”
“Yes, I notice you’ve been diligent in checking off the app. Any progress?”
“I called some past customers. Got more work over the weekend than normal.”
“Good. Anything—.”
“That’s all. Let’s go on to Christy. I want to hear her news.”
Mr. Griffin sighed. “Very well. Christy, how did the joint practice go?”
“Awesome. Coach Jan paired us up, one girl from our team with one girl from hers. They’ve got a Division I program, so everyone on her team is a top swimmer. They gave us some great advice and tons of encouragement. Coach Jan kept going from pair to pair, answering questions and giving feedback. At the end, she told us that our partner was going to be our ‘big sister’ for the year and we could call her whenever we needed advice, and she encouraged us to make time to swim with our big sisters whenever we could. She told us never to hesitate to call them, as the college swimmers would probably get more out of the relationship than we would. It was a nice thing to say, even if it’s bogus.”
“Don’t be so quick to write it off. One of the reasons I love teaching is because of how much I learn.”
“But we haven’t taught you anything.”
“First of all, you’re wrong. Secondly, teaching this material forces me to go back to fundamental principles. Whenever I do that, I develop understandings that eluded me in the past or find that I’ve gotten lazy and let some things lag that I shouldn’t have. There’s no doubt that I raise my own level by teaching, and I think Coach Jan will find the same thing with her team.”
Mr. Griffin sat on his desk. “I sense that you have more to share, Christy. You look both excited and disturbed.”
“There’s more. Coach Jan invited Dana, one of her past swimmers, to join the practice. Dana was a star on last year’s team, and though she’s still at the school getting her Masters, she can no longer swim because she’s used up her athletic eligibility. At the end of the practice, Dana offered to be our coach.”
“So you did it,” Mr. Griffin said. “You found yourself a coach with time still left until your deadline. Did you like Dana?”
“She’s great. We hit it off right away.”
“So why do you look so uncomfortable?”
“There’s more news. The Olympics coach kept his promise. He posted Kelvin’s video and tagged all sorts of people. Based on the number of views, it seems like some of them shared it too. How many views do we have, Kelvin?”
“As of last period, 403.”
Jarod stepped over to rustle my hair. “Nice going, dude.”
“Yeah,” Christy said, “but here’s the problem. One of the women the coach tagged lives nearby. She was an alternate for the US Olympic team during the Atlanta Olympics, and later became a swim coach herself. She stopped coaching when she had kids, but the kids are a bit older now, and she was thinking about coaching again. She reached out to me over the weekend and said she’d help us out.”
Mr. Griffin laughed. “As you progress, don’t think your problems will go away. They’ll just be replaced by higher quality problems. Two coaches may be uncomfortable, but it’s far better than none.”
Christy’s hands twisted into each other. “So what do I do?”
“What do you want to do?” Mr. Griffin asked.
“Well, I’ve met Dana, but I haven’t met the other woman. I suppose I should meet her.”
“Sounds like a plan. You have your coaching notecard on you?”
“Right here, but it’s pretty useless now.”
“Useless? I doubt that. Read it off.”
“It says:
I intend to find an amazing coach for the girls’ swim team by November 24. To accomplish this, I will do the following steps.
1. Research the top swimming coaches in the world
2. Make a list of 20 World Class Coaches to reach out to
3. Before each call, I will reconnect with my vision and get myself in a peak state of mind.
4. Call each coach, and be open to whatever help they offer to give.
5. Create a Team Video showing who we are and why we want to win so badly
“See, it’s useless. I’ve done all of that.”
“It’s true that you’ve completed all of the steps listed, but that just means that they need updating. The goal and the deadline are as relevant as ever.”
“So I just cross out the steps I’ve done?”
“Of course. The purpose of the card is to activate your mind toward your goal, to keep bringing you back to the work that lies ahead, and to motivate you to follow through. Have you found it motivating reading the steps you’ve already completed?”
“No, I was just doing it because you told me I had to or I’ll fail math.”
“You have to keep focusing on the goal and keep plugging away at the steps that will get you there. But you’re looking at your steps in the rearview mirror. Let’s make some changes. Are there any steps you feel you should keep at this point?”
“No. I’ve completed them all.”
“Then cross them out. Or better yet, here’s a new card. With all of those completed steps, you’re out of room on that one.”
“So I should copy over the top line of the old card?”
“Yes, the goal and the date are the same.”
“What should I write for the steps?”
“You tell me.”
Christy chewed the cap of her pen. “Well, the first step is that Jill and I should meet with Sue, she’s the second coach. I suppose if we like her, we can ask her and Dana to each run a practice.”
“What else?”
“Then we choose the one we like best, I guess.”
“Can you think of any other options?”
“Not really.” Christy turned to the rest of the class. “Any of you have ideas?”
“Maybe you don’t need to choose,” Darnell said. “Couldn’t they both help you?”
“I think they’d get in each other’s way, but it’s possible. I see what you’re saying. Why plan on choosing just one before I
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