What sets this small minority apart from the rest, if I may say so, is a combination of simple corrective action over steps taken on purpose! The recognition of the unwritten LAW that says ONLY ACTION WINS! The subscription to the BEGINNING that says your destiny is in your own hands. The undying determination to answer yes to Brendon Burchard’s life and death question: Did I matter? thus winning against all odds!
This tiny minority take action every day to radically reinvent themselves. They swallow their ego-induced pride and look for coaches. They take stock of trends in the economy and readjust the sails on their ship. Based on the information they filter from the deafening noise around them, they strategize to master new abilities, tap into rich mother lodes of networks that allow them to unleash their impact. All of this requires uncommon skills, months of learning, hard work, trial, sweat, and the precise understanding of the fact that knowledge alone is not enough and other ingredients are necessary for large-scale success.
You could cut your learning curve by 5-10 years if you knew the right person to turn to for help, joined the right network, and positioned yourself properly. I learned this lesson a few years ago when I heard billionaire philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, share the story of how he moved without even a wooden spoon in his mouth some 30 years ago, to the position where he has just as many golden spoons today. he hasn’t got enough of a mouth to put them on. Tony said his mentor took a chance on him and as the cliché goes, the rest is history. Mr. Elumelu today leads one of the largest philanthropic efforts in all of Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
I decided to research other billionaires and top achievers, and what I found was truly an eye opener. Here’s what I discovered in my mini-research: Warren Buffet was mentored by economist Benjamin Graham, Richard Branson was mentored by Freddie Laker, Rich Schefren was mentored by Jay Abraham, Bob Dylan was mentored by Woody Guthrie, Jeff Bezos had David Shaw as his mentor, and Tony Elumelu was mentored by Ebitimi Banigo. It is also instructive to note that Paul Allen had Bill Gates’ back.
The simple lesson is that academic knowledge alone is not enough. If you’re ready to cut your learning curve from five to 10 years, learn the proper steps to take, hone the skills required, and join the kind of network that will see you finish stronger in the future, then put on your running shoes and get started. to find a mentor, which is used interchangeably with coach here. If you’re ready to start building the roadmap that will turn you around and put you in the top 1 percent in your own neck of wood, wake up.
If you are an expert, author, consultant, speaker, thought leader or aspiring thought leader and want to reposition yourself in such a way that individuals and organizations alike are willing to pay thousands of dollars to hire you to help develop and motivate their people in your annual retreats, workshops, conferences and training programs, get a coach. If you’re ready to learn how to produce blockbuster products and build platforms that people are willing to pay thousands to buy and join, you don’t need to push yourself for twenty years until you get there. There is a shorter path. Your mentor will show you the way.
Think about how your life could change if you could position yourself in such a way that organizations would be the ones ordering their purchasing department to “get us that guy,” as Alan Weiss advises, instead of going cap in hand. asking for sponsorship? Think about how your life could change if you could develop platforms that people would be willing to pay you handsomely to be a part of. Thousands lose their jobs annually due to technological innovations and now is the right time to reinvent yourself. You can’t do it alone, you need a mentor, or call him a coach if you want.
The idea of mentoring is so crucial nowadays because of the global information overload. How do you separate the gold nuggets from the terabytes of noise around you? Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers, stated that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, equivalent to about 10 years, in any field of activity, to reach the point of mastery. That can also be the case if you’re learning a rare skill like coding, Kung Fu, karate, or kickboxing. In fact, these rare skills can be learned today by watching and learning from others on YouTube or Google, as shown by the cases of Adilyn Malcolm, Amira Willighagen, and Michael Sayman, who learned dubstep, opera, and coding, to the point of mastery, respectively. . .
Coaching applies to all fields, but it is particularly critical in areas of self-control, thought leadership, and information marketing. Take marketing information. It barely existed fifteen years ago. Fifteen years ago, who would pay for current information that could be obtained free of charge in any library? However, the fastest growing industry in the world today is not banking, oil and gas or telecommunications, it is INFORMATION MARKETING. It’s why companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are the most valuable and successful brands in the world today. It’s why Oprah Winfrey, Ariana Huffington, Peter Diamandis and Brendon Burchard, to name just four, are among the most powerful thought leaders on the planet today. The reason is that every time there is a paradigm shift, the playing field is reset to zero, and organizations and individuals capable of quickly mastering the new era come out on top. Is it any wonder that Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world today, Henry Ford was the richest during the industrial age, and Genghis Khan was the richest during the agrarian age?
In today’s world, fancy and advanced educational certificates don’t matter as much as they used to. Don’t get me wrong, education is important, but not a paper certificate. What matters most today is imagination. What matters are the skills you are able to hone! What matters is your ability to master the secret of the new world that is evolving at mind-boggling speed. Technology has leveled the playing field so anyone can participate, whether you’re a recent high school graduate or a veteran who’s been on the job for 25 years with battle scars all over his body. Your mentor will be able to help you figure out most things you need.
If you’re ready to break free from now on, you need an expert mentor in your area of interest who can show you how the world works. Don’t expect a quick fix. There is no miracle involved, just hard work, effort, and a willingness to jump on the road less traveled. If you’re ready and willing to pay the price to win the ultimate prize, don’t wait, hire a mentor today. You have nothing to lose and much to win. You see, if you don’t change the way you live your life, the only thing you’ll unfortunately get at the end of the day is regrets. Nobody wants regrets. Everyone yearns to be better, richer and healthier, but only action can ensure that their desires do not stop there, unfulfilled dreams! Get a selfless mentor today and break free from the crowd.
