There’s a great question out there floating in the universe; how do you find a great mentor? Well, it’s actually not as hard as you think it is. First of all, we have to get clear on what we’re looking for. There’s a great book called Think and Grow Rich. Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill and published in 1937. What Napoleon Hill did was he took 25 years of his life, of which he analyzed, researched, and interviewed the most successful people on the planet. And after those 25 years, he devised 13 principles that if we study, learn, master, and continuously apply we too will become extraordinarily successful.
Some of the men interviewed back then were names like Carnegie, Schwab, Ford, Vanderbilt, and many more. The reason I share this is that as the saying goes; success leaves clues. Now think about this. Hundreds of the most successful people on the planet, 25 years of research, interviews, and analysis, all this leaving the clues to success? That’s a tremendous amount of leverage.
As far as finding a mentor, first, you want to get clear on what you want, the qualities and type of character you’re looking for. I’ll leave the quote again, success leaves clues. Find somebody whether they be in your industry or not, that shows up in such a state of excellence that you would like to be like.
Understand, you don’t want to be exactly like them, you actually want to be your best self. However, you do want to learn more about their successful traits. Once you’re clear on the who, you can call or reach out to them. You can ask them questions that you’re curious about in their journey of success. What made you successful? What adversities did you go through? What advice would you give me? Find somebody that you believe is doing or has done it right. Not just about making a lot of money, not just about creating a big organization, but giving back. Creating a great team, having balance within their family, and with their friends. I call it; having the full package. That’s the mentor you’re looking for.
We have a coach in Australia named Bruce Campbell. He created a mission in Uganda Africa a few years back, to which he donates a large sum of money every year. He’s a very successful coach. His clients are also successful with what he put in place to help them. He’s also created a great environment for his family. He has fun living the life he loves. Now there’s a great mentor. There are some clues there that we could pick up on. Search out the people, coaches, executives, and leaders, that you look up to, that you have observed that display the balance, the character, the integrity, you’re looking for, and just call on them.
Here’s something you may or may not know. I used to think when I was young that super extraordinarily successful people keep it all for themselves. That they were selfish in that they only cared about themselves. No! There’re many successful people that consistently pay it forward. I now understand that they were exactly where you’re at somewhere in their life, somebody mentored them, guided them up, and paid it forward. That’s how they became successful because they followed somebody else, they were not self-made, they became who they are because of all the people in their life along the way. It’s amazing how these successful people, as you earn the right to get their attention and you follow their direction, will pay it forward, share their stories, and help you mentor up to become your best.
I trust this has been valuable. For your exercise, I would encourage you to start writing down some names of people that you would like to learn from that impressed you. Write down the reasons they impress you, and then search them out. Reach out, get ahold of them, and ask them for their time, because I guarantee you that if you put in the time and the persistence, they will give it to you. Take the lesson. It’s only one step forward to get you closer to where you want to be.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com