Every musical act has influences. The Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest influenced each other. Punk bands from the U.K. influenced garage bands in Southern California and vice versa. Reggae and dub influenced each other. What are your influences? That's what we talked about in Helping and Listening Skills this week. We came up with a great list and I liked it so much I took a picture of it. I asked the students to tell me about the things that influence them. What do they value? Why do they do what they do; love what they love? This is the list they came up with: Parents Environment -Friends -Neighborhood -Peers -Religion Culture Schools Food/Nutrition Media Mental Illness Life Experience -Observation Socio-Economic Status ($$$) Books Music Relationships Friendships Family -Uncles -Aunts -Brothers -Sisters -etc. Role Model -Coach -Minister -Teacher Law Government Health Medication/Drugs Language Sleep Fashion Freedom Travel Pets Sex Arts -Pictures -Painting -Dance Entertainment Perception The point I want to make in this class is that you cannot know any of these things about yourself or anyone else unless you first learn how to listen. A great Master Mind group is one that's committed to honoring and respecting each other and that includes listening unconditionally and without judgment. It is honoring a person to trust that they know what's best for their own life. --------------- When you think about it, every musical act you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin' things happen in your life. Do you have a creative project you want to complete? Do you want to find a purpose for your life? If so, I invite you to come over to my brand new page called Start a Master Mind Group.com. I'm offering 4 freebies to get you started so you can get a sense of what the Master Mind is all about. There's nothing cool about holding back.