How to start your own group

The first thing you need to do is to find a quiet spot and have a long talk with yourself.  Be honest, completely true with yourself,  forget all the excuses that you usually tell yourself.

  What do you want out of life?  What are your goals?  What does a day in your ideal life look like?  What do you need to change?  What are the obstacles in your path?  What can you do to eliminate or go around those obstacles? What are you hungry for?  What do you need to release in order to move forward?  

Once you've examined your life and written down your findings, you are ready for the next step.  Write your Goals down, then break them up into manageable steps, which I like to call baby steps in my case.   This is called your Action Plan.  Set up a time line, and give yourself some leeway to accomplish your goals.

Now look around in your life, and see who your like minded friends are, the ones that you find it easy to work with, are supportive, and who have goals that they want to address right now.

  Email or call these friends and invite them to join your makeover group.  Find a meeting place and time and get your friends together and brainstorm your personal goals, the goals for your group, and how you plan to create your best life.  At your meetings, each person should have a time to tell about their goals, action plans, progress met, and setbacks.  It is helpful to have some support articles to hand out, or questions that each member can work on until you meet again.  Exchange contact information with each other so that you may keep in touch in between meeting dates.  This support is critical!  You must be in contact so that each person feels they have support and are not alone in their mission to improve their life. 

 We each have a notebook in our group divided into sections.  These sections include Goals, Action Plans, Group Goals, Motivation, Calendar, etc.  Depending on your tastes, you can add separate sections for each goal, such as Creativity, Exercise, etc and put helpful hints and ideas in there. 

 Confidentiality is a must in any support group.  You must respect each person's right to share their innermost feelings, concerns and fears without the threat of it going any further.  Our meetings, emails and conversations are sacred to us, and we respect that special bond that we have together.  We are on a fascinating journey together and are learning much along the way.

Our group is based on the strong love and respect we have for each other.  When one person succeeds in a goal, we all succeed and celebrate it!  The point is not to feel competitive with your group members, but to feel competitive with yourself.  You want to live the best life for YOU!  You are the one with the power to change whatever you feel is necessary in your life.

Good luck with your group, and let us know how you are doing with it.