We All Need a Mentor

It's true...we really do.  We all need a mentor to help us succeed.  There are plenty of them out there and they come in lots of shapes and sizes.  Some you have heard about and some you haven't.  Some are people whom you never realized.  It's these people you can learn from that will change your life forever.  When you are lucky enough to realize that you have found a mentor make sure you are ready to learn everything you possibly can. 

I was on the plane the other day sitting next to a rather smart and well-educated gentleman; I think he was a PhD or something.  But we started taking about mentors and a comment came up about Anthony Robins, a well known motivational speaker.  He is also a seminar guy; meaning he does or at least used to hold seminars all over the country and around the world for that matter.  I have personally heard Mr. Robins speak and WOW -- he was great!  The point is we all have to have a mentor.  For instance Mr. Robins is great; you don't have to listen to him everyday but only when you need to hear him.  I have heard Zig Ziglar speak more times than I can count, and he has been giving the same basic speech for about 50 years.  I actually was lucky enough at one of the events I was speaking at to follow him on stage. I ended up seeing Mr. Ziglar at lunch and if you don't know me I seize every opportunity I can to learn more. I walked up to Mr. Ziglar asked him if he wanted to join me for lunch, you know what he said - yes.  I was amazed, but it was also one of the best lunches I ever had and he is truly an amazing man. 

So, you never know when and where or who your next mentor is but you need to be on the look out to learn as much as you can from as many people as you can.  When I was young I used to work for a few seminar companies.  Yes, they have stigmas but there is no better place to learn.  I was one of the people that helped you register when you attended a seminar.  The luxury was that I got to travel with the person giving the seminar.  These seminars were on a variety of topics, and at that time my favorite was real estate.  I can remember being on planes with the speaker and driving them crazy with questions so I could learn everything I could on the topic.  Some would be thrilled to share their information with me and some would be annoyed.  Oh well, that was their loss.  You can be sure that you would feel sorry for the speakers who got stuck in a car with me for a two hour drive between cities; I would ask them questions until they couldn't take it anymore.  But I sure learned a lot during those summers. 

Now to my good fortune. I would clearly say hands down that my best mentor would be my Uncle Jack, WOW! This guy is a wealth of knowledge and experience, both personally and professionally.  You see, you want to find someone who is one willing to share with you and who really cares in your growth and development.  Someone that takes ownership in what you accomplish.  My uncle has been there every step of the way.  Yes, I have made many mistakes and as my mentor he has even let me make some mistakes.  Some of these mistakes were small some were big, but all of them I learned from immensely. 

I guess one reason I take the time to share all of these stories I write and strategies is because I care. I spend a great deal of time trying to give back and help all those who wish to learn.  Sure, I get some people that are skeptics, those who don't want to learn, that develop all sorts of wild ideas, but I don't do what I do for them. I do what I do for people like you; someone who may be reading what I write so that they have the "tools" and the information to help themselves.  I don't think I am writing anything top secret, in fact all I am doing is passing on the same information I learned from someone else at some point in my life - paying it forward. You should do the same thing.  If you learn something that really helps, and you find someone else facing the same situation, then you should do everything you can to help them.  If we all do that we will all be better people. 

So, at the end of the day if you want to take that next step in your personal development or your financial life you need to find a mentor that you are open to learning from and one that has and will continue to make a difference in your life.  Open your heart for change and you will receive it.