Nowadays in the digital world we live in we need mentors more than ever in business as much as in personal life. If we are lucky we meet some great mentors throughout our lives. They tend to stand out even if only with the benefit of hindsight in later life. Our parents, teachers, and family are usually our first mentors. As children we have zero life experience so need to rely on theirs. Later in life when we start focussing on specific things we start seeking out mentors.
Mentors can show up at any point in life. Most recently for me was in my late forties after I’d been laid off and was trying to get a foothold in the world of digital business. There is a wealth of information on the subject out there in the online world but that can be more hindrance than help. One of the ways mentors can help is to show you a path through the overwhelm information overload can cause. Internet startup mentors made a huge difference for me.
If someone has achieved whatever it is you want to achieve they have a wealth of experience gained the hard way. They’ve made mistakes and can help you avoid them. They’ve tried things that worked and things that didn’t. Without them you will inevitably do the same. They have insights that go beyond anything you can learn from books or formal education. Mentors will be the first to admit that mentors helped get them to where they wanted to be. The old adage – if you could do it yourself you probably would have – is very true.
Why Mentors Are The Glue
When I was learning to play guitar, the lessons I took were invaluable in teaching me the foundations. Mentors however – friends who had been playing for years usually – taught me how to be a guitarist. They introduced me to players I’d never heard of and showed me all sorts of things that would have taken me forever to learn without them.
They inspired me when I was ready to give up, gave constructive criticism when it was warranted and flattery when it was earned. I had scale diagrams all over my bedroom walls and a shelf full of books but these guys – none of whom would have considered themselves as mentors were the glue that tied it all together.
Later when I joined bands and started recording demos I looked for mentors on the technical side of things. These days I have tracked down online mentors who can help me to make better recordings with my new computer software.
As I say at the time I never thought of these people as mentors I wasn’t even familiar with the term. It was only in my quest to make an income online that I came across some people who had actually created an organised mentoring platform. They had even called their organisation Six Figure Mentors (SFM). They have made a huge impact on my life over the last 6 years. In the process I have come to fully understand the meaning and power of mentorship.
Getting You Through The Overwhelm
You see, as with learning a musical instrument or pretty much anything you want to learn cold, hard information is everywhere. But it can only take you so far. In my case it took me into and out of a series of dead end online business opportunities, franchises and scams. SFM took me out of the “make money online” rabbit hole and into the world of professional internet marketing.
The Voice Of Experience
They showed me how to stop looking for shortcuts. To focus instead on learning how to use the internet to provide value to other people. When I learned that money is an inevitable by product of doing this rather than the goal, things changed drastically.
This wasn’t an overnight change. It involved work on my own mindset as much as learning systems, business models and nuts and bolts of the internet marketing process. But they had created a step by step modular programme based on their own journey from newbies to mega successful internet entrepreneurs. Importantly fo me they also offered business partnerships at various levels. The ability to earn as I learned was key to me at the time. Earning form WHAT I was learning was a revelation.
One of the things that all successful people learn is to surround themselves with successful people. People who have achieved or are working hard to achieve. To this end SFM was set up as a community platform. This is not a dry, teacher/pupil environment. It’s very much an interactive – we are all in this together – situation. This carries through online training and live events and workshops. Members mastermind together, collaborate and encourage each other. There’s a two way interaction between the community and founders. I’ve made some very good friends here I’d never have met otherwise.
Simple But Hard
The lifestyle thats possible with a digital business is very attractive. The benefits include complete location freedom a lot of time freedom and genuinely infinite earning potential. But that has been overplayed over the years. There are countless books, videos and courses out there that will tell you how easy and simple it is to embrace “the laptop lifestyle”. The truth is that it is much simpler than you would imagine but not as easy as falling off a log.
Working a 9-5 job for 40 years is hard. Climbing corporate ladders is hard. Commuting for hours is hard. Sitting at home creating videos, blog posts and ads is not hard when you know how. It is however a completely different world – a completely different mindset than most people – even now – are used to. Its a lifestyle I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. But I would absolutely encourage you to do it with help from mentors and as part of an amazing community of like minded people. SFM are the best in the game in my experience.
You can learn all about them by doing what I did six years ago and registering for their introductory video series on the link below.
