Recently, I sat down and evaluated my life and I came to a few conclusions about success. I’ll share one of my findings with you in this post!
When I look back at every single major accomplishment I have had in my life, I realized that I had a mentor to help me. This includes both personal and business accomplishments.
For example, a long time ago, I had a goal of running a marathon. I realized that one of my college professors was a runner. I started asking him questions about running after class. He was happy to share his experiences with me. I found out that he had run in several marathons. He went on to help me prepare for my marathon. He suggested various training runs. He also taught me how important nutrition was to running. I went on to finish the Cleveland marathon. They were taking down the finish line when I crossed it. I’m not kidding! My wife was waiting for me at the finish line. She said that she got worried when a lady pushing a jogger stroller with two kids crossed the finish line and I hadn’t. My goal wasn’t to win the race. My goal was simply to finish the race. I accomplished my goal. My college professor’s advice and guidance was immensely helpful! (Note – the lady pushing the jogger stroller beat me by about an hour!)
Several years ago, I started reading books by Dan Kennedy. I found his books to be phenomenal. I decided to try and join one of his mastermind groups. I sent Dan a fax listing my goals and requesting to be considered for one of his groups. Dan replied back suggesting a day of consulting. The fee for one day of his consulting was $8,600. This was a few years ago. I honestly don’t know what his fee is today. I scheduled the consulting day. The day changed my life. Dan became my mentor and I have learned some very valuable lessons from him. My best friend thought I was nuts to pay someone $8,600 for one day of consulting. He joked that he would spend the day with me for $4,000. Dan helped me triple my business. He also helped launch a coaching business for real estate agents. I honestly cannot put a value on what Dan has taught me. I’m so glad that I saw the value in a mentor when my best friend didn’t. Had I listened to him, I would probably be in the exact same place I was back then.
Now, I’m in the process of learning Brazilian Jujitsu. At 37 I’m finding this to be very challenging. Over this past weekend, a fifteen year old who weighs 30 pounds less than I do, made me tap out twice. He has been training for a year and a half. He is way ahead of me.
To master this art, I have found a mentor. In the picture above, I’m with Relson Gracie and his son. They are legends in the Gracie family and Brazilian Jujitsu. I attend one of their Gracie schools here in Willoughy, Ohio. To learn more about the Gracie family see my previous post:
What real estate agents can learn from mixed martial arts
I could go on and on with various examples from my life. I’ll bet if you really think about your life that you’ll see mentors have helped you with your major accomplishments. Sometimes you might not even realize it. Take some time to think about it. I’ll bet you’ll find a mentor behind you who helped. Once you realize how powerful a real mentor is to goal accomplishment, you should seek out "real" mentors to help you achieve all of your goals. A real mentor is someone who has already done what you hope to do.
A "real" mentor can save you hours of time, thousands of dollars and help you avoid costly mistakes. Their help and guidance can and will become invaluable to you. My suggestion would be for you to find a mentor for every one of your major goals. This is what I have learned to do in my life.
