Mastermind Your Life: How to Achieve Ultimate Success in Your Life Today and in the Future

Copyright © 2022 Bill Blalock.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case of

brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

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of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3351-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3349-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3350-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022921133

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/06/2022

If you think you are beaten, you are, If you

think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out in the world we find, Success begins with a fellow’s will –

It’s all in the state of MIND.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise, You’ve

got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles, don’t always go to the stronger or faster man

But soon or later the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!

—Napoleon Hill

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1   Success

Success Defined

The Art of Being Focused

Personal and Professional Interconnection

Chapter 2   Building the Foundation

Your Foundation

The Feeling

The Faith Fitness Factor

Chapter 3   Developing Your Career

Your Career Review

The Interview

Chapter 4   Going through the Process

The Process

Success Skills

Soft Skills

Hard Skills

Attitude and Culture

Motivation—The Approach

Your Belief System

Your Relationships

The Mastermind Impact

The Mentor Impact

The Emotional Intelligence Impact

The Impact of Mindfulness

Chapter 5   Delivering on Leadership

Leadership Traits

The Future of Leadership

Chapter 6   Sustaining Transformational Leadership

Sustaining Leadership

Self-Discipline

Critical Thinking

Groupthink Bias—Herd Mentality

Extreme Ownership

Being an Advocate

Team Building

Decisiveness

Overcoming Roadblocks

Avoid Burnout

Successful Selling—Your Brand

Chapter 7   A Winning Methodology

Chapter 8   The Future

The Future—Your Future

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Machine Learning (ML)

Quantum Computing

The Meta Universe

Virtual Reality (VR)

IQ + EQ + DQ

FINAL THOUGHTS

Personalize the Experience

Seek Balance in Your Life

PREFACE

There will always be a future. Work environments, roles, and responsibilities will change, corporate structures will be altered, and a new way of looking at life will evolve over time. Advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, advanced communication mediums, and the migration of persons and companies to other locations within the United States and the world will occur. Work settings will be in person, virtual, and hybrid, and four-day work weeks will evolve. There waits to be seen what the future will bring, but there will always be a place for people to excel and be successful.

Research will provide the development of new drugs, vaccines, and medical advances that will lengthen our life spans and improve the quality of our lives. The challenge of finding a cure for cancer, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and various viruses and psychotic conditions will be on the forefront. And yet we will discover new debilitating diseases and conditions that will require specialized expertise and research to find solutions. Again, this demands leadership! As a part of the scientific method, there will be trial and error, but the goal is a successful solution, led by professionals who see ultimate success for their efforts.

Sales and marketing strategies will continue to be refined and recreated with the advent of technology, but there will always be a need for competent and successful sales and innovative and creative marketing professionals to make it happen and get the desired results. Corporations and businesses of all sizes will require highly educated and motivated leadership.

Now is the time to mastermind your life and make your desire a reality. This is your success story. There is no defined timeline for achieving the level of success you want. It is different for everyone, so do not get discouraged. But there must be a beginning! You may be on your journey already, but you need some additional knowledge, resources, and encouragement to continue. That is the purpose of this book.

There are some basic categories the book is divided into, for a reason. Here they are; success defined, building a foundation, developing your career, going through the process, delivering on leadership, sustaining transformational leadership, a winning methodology, and finally, the future. As you can see, it starts with understanding what success is and ends with the future.

Change is always challenging for individuals and cultures, yet over time, we adjust. We acculturate to new surroundings and consider different points of view. This will happen. But the basic desire of all of us is to have a meaningful and productive life we call successful. We all just want to be successful and happy in life. That is the goal and the real purpose and motivation behind this book.

INTRODUCTION

This book is your journey!

You are the only person who can chart a path for ultimate success!

Mastermind Your Life is designed for you to gain insight and surface new thought patterns in your life. It will not be a step-by-step process where, if you follow all the assignments, you will achieve success or reach your goal. Everyone has a different take on what success means, and every goal is specific to your personal life choices. So, what is the source of achieving ultimate success?

The answer is using your greatest asset—your mind!

Do you need to change the way you think? The principles and concepts are the same when you are going through your life, but how we approach life matters! One lesson that has really helped me is listening to other people more with a purpose. To understand who they are, where they are coming from, and what is important to them. In that process, I ask them open-ended questions to gain further insight and understanding. Concurrently, I make a practice now to listen more to myself—my thoughts and reasoning, why I say and do what I do. How I feel. It is a cognitive approach to understanding myself and others.

Herein lies the importance of integrating mindfulness and reflective thought into our lives and careers.

This book is for you to ask yourself, how am I thinking and reasoning the decisions I make? What are the trigger points that work for and against me? What are the key elements for personal and professional success? What systems, resources, and methodologies work for my benefit? Do I have a plan? How do I go from success to significance and have balance in my life? Am I a transformational leader?

When you change your thinking, you will change your behavior, and you will get different results. It always starts with the mind. So where are you at this point in your life?

Join me in a journey to discover a new frontier for personal growth and achievement.

It is time for you to mastermind your life and write your own success!

Let us begin.

1

SUCCESS

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

—Albert Schweitzer

There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.

—Jim Lovell

Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.

—Mike Ditka

Success Defined

So how do we define success? It could be building a successful business, spending more time with family and friends, excelling in your career, or becoming independently wealthy. We each define success differently. But we all want to be successful! You will discover that personal and professional success are not mutually exclusive.

Can you recall when, as a young child, you were asked, What do you want to be when you grow up? Depending on your age, you may have desired to do what your dad or mom’s career choices were. On the other hand, you may have wanted to be a firefighter, police officer, military officer, doctor, dancer, actor, astronaut, or have your own company—influenced by your interests, surroundings, media, internet, and family and friends. Truth is we all want to be and do something in life as we grow and mature. However, we need to make sure whatever that choice is, we are equipped for that role in life to be successful.

No matter how old we are, where we are from, or what we do for a living, we all share something in common—the desire to be successful! However, there are some foundational strategies that will help you achieve success in life:

To achieve success, you must have a primary goal. And no matter what your goal is, you must establish and maintain healthy habits that lead to goal accomplishment. One reason so many of us are unproductive and procrastinate is that we are waiting until we want to do it. That feeling, unfortunately, sometimes never comes, unless we are prompted by a major consequence. Waiting to feel like it should never be a part of the success equation. Habits turn into routines, and routines make it easier to keep up with all the tasks necessary (whether pleasant or undesirable) to achieve success. Some examples would be completing tasks on schedule, being accountable for your decisions, and being on time. What habits would you benefit from in your life?

List the habits you would benefit from:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The most practical of all methods of controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a defined purpose, backed by a definite plan.

— Napoleon Hill

Realize a higher probability of achieving success:

Go beyond the norm. Think big. Think possibilities. Everything that exists today was once an idea that was the result of a vision driven by inspiration. How do you see yourself achieving great initiatives? You have the capacity to create new concepts, new technologies, new and innovative products, and services. What you desire in your personal relationships and where you want to live, raise a family, be a part of a professional association, and have a country club membership is all possible. This is where visualization plays a key role. Do you see yourself achieving great milestones in your life? Seeing is believing and motivates you to take whatever actions are necessary for them to become reality. Set your standards high!

Plan. It is essential that you research and do your due diligence so that you make the best choice for your career and your personal relationships. Aside from developing healthy personal relationships, your career choice is critical to your life fulfillment and providing financial security for you and your family. There is no room for excuses. You make your plans, and you own them. Acknowledge your weaknesses, address them, correct them, and move forward! Excuses have no place in the lives of successful and enterprising people. The fact is increased levels of professional achievement result in a positive self-image, good family relationships, and a rewarding future.

Do not be afraid to fail. Never give up. The very moment you give up, you miss the opportunity for success. Someone else will come along and create the very solution you could have provided that would have led to substantial wealth and contribution to society.

To fail is not to be labeled a failure. You just made the wrong decision. We all have those moments. What we learn from our failures will help us make fewer mistakes in the future and give us pause to be mindful of what we are doing in our lives. As previously stated, there is no room for excuses. You own the decisions you make. Creating a healthy environment where you can excel in your career and family life demands that you always recalibrate your life by seeking solutions, so the outcomes are more positive and successful. Remember, you are the by-product of the decisions you make in your life! Only you can adjust and get better outcomes!

Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up, I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain … To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices—today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.

— Kevyn Aucoin

Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.