You've heard that 'knowledge is power', right? Hopefully you also know that knowledge is not power until it's acted on.

Power is essential for your success, but just what is 'power'?

Power is the ability to get yourself to act intelligently, on knowledge you've acquired. Power is organized effort.

However you look at it, power implies and involves your taking appropriate, intelligent, ACTION. Action leads to results.

Let's back up a bit. If your results are due to your actions, and if your actions are due to your power, and if your power is due to your knowledge, it follows that your first step in acquiring the power to succ*eed, is getting knowledge.

No wonder the wisest man in the world said 'in all your getting, get understanding'. Knowledge comes before the gold and silver.

So where does knowledge come from? Three main sources are:

- God (the all-knowing Source, aka 'infinite Intelligence').
- Accumulated knowledge and experience from man (found in libraries, schools, etc)
- Continuing research and experimentation.

Now you have a choice when it comes to acquiring knowledge: you can do it the easy (smart) way or the hard (stupid) way.

The hard way is to do it all by yourself, thinking you don't need anyone else to guide you or support you. This is a sure- fire way to failure: no great man or woman has ever achieved any measure of succ*ess all alone.

It's just plain difficult for any one individual to assemble *all* the required knowledge and expressing it through 'definite plans of action'. I won't spend any more time discussing this route as it's a waste of your time (and mine).

The easy way to acquire the knowledge you need, and inject it with *power* while you're at it - in other words, the way to accelerate your success, is by becoming part of a 'Master Mind Group'.

I first learned this phrase from Napoleon Hill, so let me give you his definition:

"The Master Mind is the co-ordination of knowledge and effort in a spirit of harmony, between 2 or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose" - from 'Think & Grow Rich'.

Andrew Carnegie had at least 50 men in his Master Mind group. History books readily show you the stupendous results he acquired in his life. Henry Ford had several people in his group and his legacy remains today, despite his limited education. Oprah surrounds herself with a team of people and the result of this collective effort is obvious. The list of examples is endless. The evidence demands action on your part.

Here's how it works. Anytime 2 or more people come together in a spirit of harmony and cooperation, to achieve a definite purpose, it becomes a case of '1 + 1 = 11'. Jesus said that 'when 2 or more of you gather together in my name, *and agree* upon *anything* here on earth, it shall be done for you'. If that isn't a formula for getting results, I don't know what is.

He also said 'when 2 or more gather in my name, I am there in their midst'.

This is not about religion. It is a practical principle which every successful person alive employs consciously or unconsciously. Nature and science teach that this is so.

Think of a group of batteries: when they are connected together they provide more energy than a single battery would do.

Likewise when your mind connects with other minds during a Master Mind session, together, the group has more energy than any individual member of the group. Better still, the collective (and increased) energy is available to each member of the group. Remember that thought is energy which brings about physical manifestation. I hope you are starting to see how you can accelerate your results by surrounding yourself with others in a Master Mind group.

Masterminding is a powerful form of leverage. Henry Ford is a good example of this. He was not educated, but he surrounded himself by men who were. He leveraged off their knowledge. The members of your group make up for your deficiencies, as you help make up for theirs.

If you desire to make this your best year yet, you cannot afford NOT to be a part of a mastermind group. Plug into the wisdom and experience of others. In surrounding yourself with those who have attained that which you desire, you take on their nature, habits and thought-power. They in return will benefit from those areas of life you're good at or strong in, so that everyone in the group wins.

Now as with everything else, you have a choice when it comes to being part of a Master Mind group: you could go about trying to form one yourself, or you could plug into a ready-made one that's spearheaded by people who have successfully applied the mastermind principle to create massive success in their lives.

If any of your goals is worth achieving, if you truly desire to see RESULTS this year (as early as this week, if you desire) you'd be wise to go for the second option. Or you could spend the rest of the year trying to go it alone.

Your decision.

I leave you with a line from the song 'Decision' by Michelle Blood: "Decisions - winners make them fast, losers make them slow!"

Which one are you?

Dr Kem Thompson

Dr Kem Thompson is an International Speaker and Author. She teaches Success and Personal Development strategies in a down-to-earth fashion - even children 'get it'!

She has written the highly acclaimed Success Manual, 'Days of Success Collection' (currently being updated), as well as numerous articles published which continue to bring in good reviews from satisfied readers.

Dr Thompson is an accomplished speaker and trainer who delivers talks both live and virtually (teleconference, web conference) on how to harness any of 7 Beliefs of Highly Successful People (TM) to create outstanding results in life, work or business.

She lives in the United Kingdom and is also a practising physician while pursuing her passion of reaching a wider audience with her life-changing messages via the written and spoken word.