I’ve recently gotten a mentor.
Which will be a one day 1:1 full intensive workshop to analyse my business and direction moving forward.
I put down my deposit but haven’t had the intensive workshop yet.
But…
What I can say is that from the 2×1 hour discovery calls I’ve had, I seemed to have gained so much value and insights on my gaps in my knowledge and shortcomings, which will save me a lot of time.
Also, I’ve had a sneak peek into the 50 page workbook which I have to complete before the one day workshop… and I can see an incredible amount of value from there.
Exploring the unknown
I guess at the start of my Youtube journey I had not even thought of coaching yet, I just wanted to reach 100k subs.
Also, I was experimenting with video styles, topics, etc. to see what would click. Following my curiosities. As the saying goes, throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.
This is what is the factor which stopped me from getting a coach.
But there came a point in time where I started to see the importance of having revenue outside of just Youtube AdSense…
And that’s when I started to think about coaching.
I brainstormed like mad…
But what ended up happening was that I became a bit lost in the desert…
And it led me to run around like a headless chicken trying out things which I see other people do, like clarity calls with no real end goal in mind and no idea what to do or how to close.
How did I end up in a position where I was acting out of straight incompetence?
How do I make sure this does not happen again?
How to gain clarity
Ok so maybe if I’m stuck on something, or if I’m new in a particular area, then a protocol I must follow is:
· Spend some time analysing the new venture
· ‘Begin with the end in mind’ – see where I want to take this. Just as if I was a grandmaster in chess – what are my next 10-15 moves?
· Have a rough idea of the A -> Z
· Find WHICH TYPE OF SPECIALIST is able to help me with my goal
· Examine CASE STUDIES of how people were able to be helped by the SPECIALIST
You NEED to know which SPECIALIST you will be able to HIRE to get you from where you are to where you want to go.
This is because in the future, when you’re a six-figure/year entrepreneur, and wanting to scale or do some new venture, then you need to be quick in knowing WHO IS ABLE TO HELP YOU/WHO YOU CAN HIRE.
In this case, the specialist I was after was a coaching specialist.
When you find this out, it will help you with your journey of NAVIGATING THE UNKNOWN.
Also, this is the true mindset of an entrepreneur.
Here is an exerpt from ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill:
“During the world war, a Chicago newspaper published certain editorials in which, among other statements, Henry Ford was called “an ignorant pacifist.” Mr. Ford objected to the statements, and brought suit against the paper for libeling him. When the suit was tried in the Courts, the attorneys for the paper pleaded justification, and placed Mr. Ford, himself, on the witness stand, for the purpose of proving to the jury that he was ignorant. The attorneys asked Mr. Ford a great variety of questions, all of them intended to prove, by his own evidence, that, while he might possess considerable specialized knowledge pertaining to the manufacture of automobiles, he was, in the main, ignorant.
Mr. Ford was plied with such questions as the following: “Who was Benedict Arnold?” and “How many soldiers did the British send over to America to put down the Rebellion of 1776?” In answer to the last question, Mr. Ford replied, “I do not know the exact number of soldiers the British sent over, but I have heard that it was a considerably larger number than ever went back.”
“Finally, Mr. Ford became tired of this line of questioning, and in reply to a particularly offensive question, he leaned over, pointed his finger at the lawyer who had asked the question, and said, “If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”
There certainly was good logic to that reply.
That answer floored the lawyer. Every person in the courtroom realized it was the answer, not of an ignorant man, but of a man of EDUCATION. Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action.
Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich”
There’s the answer!!
“Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it”
This is why Kiyosaki always says he likes hiring and being surrounded by a team of people smarter than he is in their respective areas.
This is leverage.
We talked about in property investing how leverage is powerful as a financial tool.
This is leverage of other people’s knowledge.
Same thing. The entrepreneurs who rise to the top know how to leverage BOTH.
So, if I’m exploring the unknown, here’s what I need to do:
· Come up with a list of things of what I think I need to do (to help build me from my A -> Z)
· Do some clarity calls. During the clarity calls you will get a lot of clarity as to what lies beyond you in the unknown. All the things you were blind to seeing because you had not yet traversed down that road.
· If the mentor seems appropriate and they can help you, then you can sign with them.
Tips to self:
· Do not be afraid of the clarity calls.
· This is exactly the exercise you were doing when looking for a property in Perth; you spoke to 10-20 different property managers to learn from them, and also to see if they were the right fit for you.
The purpose of this reflection is to see how, in the future, I can cut the time of wandering around in the unknown to clarity.
Because I feel like there needs to be a balance between exploring the unknown & getting mentorship.
Should have I gotten a mentor earlier?
As mentioned above, I think that if I implemented the steps above, then I should have come to the conclusion of getting a mentor earlier.
But I was only able to get a mentor now after all my failures and realising I needed one.
So yeah, that’s why I decided to get a mentor now and wrote this framework for myself to BALANCE;
Getting a mentor now
After 2×1 hour clarity calls I realised how much I didn’t know and the major gaps in my knowledge.
So I decided to go with a mentor
Exciting times.
The balance will change in the future
Wes Watson went from jail to multimillionaire in 5 years.
Man knows how to scale.
And I KNOW for a fact that he didn’t sit there in front of his computer like a nerd (like me) editing all his videos, designing his landing page, designing his email sequences, creating the platform for his online community.
No.
He is and example of what a true entrepreneur/CEO does; which is WORKING ON THE BUSINESS and not IN THE BUSINESS;
I.e. working on where he operates best (making vids, networking, etc.) while his TEAM who knows how to do the rest, do the rest.
Where am I trying to get at here
What I’m trying to say is that at some point in the journey, the time between me thinking of needing a service and me actually hiring that service will MINIMISE as I grow and have more capital to put into expanding the business.
Just be weary of this.
To have the intuitive understanding of knowing WHEN to get a mentor or HOW QUICKLY I should get a mentor relative to WHERE I CURRENTLY AM AT, MOMENTUM-WISE, FINANCIAL-WISE AND GROWTH-WISE IN MY BUSINESS