I've heard it said many times "you only go as high as your five closest friends." My question for those of you who are successful and maintain great "mastermind groups": how did you meet and befriend like-minded guys with the same goals? Especially those who may be better off than you right now (being able to offer value to these people seems like a challenge when you don't have much in terms of financial resources, and you're not in a great life situation at the moment...).

My situation: I'm starting over. Building from scratch. I'm moderately handsome, very smart, decently fit, have a good career, and am in my mid 30s and look younger than my years. And I'm highly motivated to pursue success with a dogged determination - the clock is ticking, and I've wasted time. Flaws: I tend to be risk-averse, and over-analyze rather than act (succumb to overwhelm). I recognize this flaw and practice overcoming it daily.

I have friends, and they're solid guys, but they're not ambitious. I'm a self-improvement junkie at this point. I've made strides. But I recognize that by going it alone, I progress much more slowly than I could otherwise. I don't have time to waste. And I have value to offer others on the path, in terms of experience, ideas, commitment, and various professional skills and reference resources.

What I need is a mastermind group, of like-minded men, on the path. To offer support, advice, perspective, resources, and accountability. Benjamin Franklin even talked about the importance of this.

Where do I begin? I don't know many "high performers," and those I do know are in a professional setting, and not really close; and in any case are so well-established they don't need me hanging around taking more than I'm giving.

I feel a bit stuck. Any ideas?

Thanks.