Mentor and Mentee

Mentor encompasses not only something you do but also who you are. Every successful person has a mentor. Having a mentor does not necessarily mean sitting down with someone face to face, even though such contact proves very valuable. Your mentor may or may not even be aware of your relationship with them. Jim Rohn has served as my mentor for many years. I listen to his audio programs, read his books and attend his live performances. He travels with me in my car, inspires me while I do my daily exercise and even provides my bedtime story. Jim Rohn served as my inspiration and mentor without him even being aware of his impact on my life.

A mentor can be through books or audio as Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins and Dr Wayne Dyer are to me. Mentors can provide live interaction as my Toastmasters speech coaches do for me. Attending live seminars such as those presented by Dan Kennedy ( GKIC NoBS Colorado) or Jeff Combs (More Heart Than Talent) are extremely valuable. Your mentor may have lived in a prior period of time such as Napoleon Hill or Wallace Wattles. They still provide extremely valuable mentoring.

A mentor provides guidance, experience and wisdom. The top three percent of leaders possess three basic strengths.

The strength of leadership
The strength of self mastery
The strength of relationship

The strength of relationship directly relates to mentoring. Just as every successful person has at least one mentor, they also have the responsibility of mentoring their followers. One of the requirements of being accepted into my team is the agreement to assist newer members. Once a team member consistently earns over ten thousand dollars per month they must begin mentoring the newer team members to assist them in reaching that income goal. Passing along wisdom and shortening the learning curve establishes and promotes leadership skills.

Darin Hardy, publisher of Success magazine, visited his father’s mentor Mr. Abe. The elderly gentleman, Mr. Abe, was one of nine children born into abject poverty. He had worked very hard and amassed an incredible fortune; his financial statement served as his success scorecard. On this last day before he passed away, he spoke with Darin and Darin’s father about the many triumphs of his life. As Darin was leaving, Mr. Abe called him back into the room and grasped Darin’s arm. With a stern look on his face, Mr. Abe exclaimed to Darin, “Don’t miss the point like I did. I finally realize the most important thing in life is relationships. The most important things in life can never be recorded on a balance sheet. Don’t miss the point like I did.”
Mentorship and relationship travel hand in hand. The true value in life flows through accumulating wisdom and knowledge and then imparting that wisdom and knowledge to others. None of us are an island and none of us have either the time or the necessity to reinvent the wheel. We each learn for each other.

Select your mentors carefully. They will be shaping not only your life but the lives of those you mentor. The old saying “Birds of a feather flock together” depicts the fact that you will become similar to the people you have chosen to mentor you. We watch carefully the playmates of our children because we know the characteristics of their friends will influence them. How careful are you about the people with whom you choose to associate? Like it or not, they are influencing you and thereby mentoring you.

For more informative and thought provoking information, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com. Leave your contact information and let me assist you.

Dust Off Your Dreams

Yesterday is a cancelled check and tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is our current cash. Use today wisely.

How happy are you with your current work and financial situation? Today is a new day and the opportunity for a new beginning. When I was young, I had a list of 100 things I wanted to do and places I wanted to see. Over the years many of those items have been checked off the list. How about you? How is your list doing?

I wrote an article once called “Someday Isle.” Are you still living on Someday Isle? Someday I’ll do this or someday I’ll do that or someday I’ll go visit my dream vacation spot. Time keeps moving forward. What we do with our allotted time is under our control. If you temporarily are low on financial resources, that can be corrected. When you run out of time, it is all over.

Being broke or out of work is a temporary situation. Being poor is a state of mind. Revamp your mindset to prosperity and use the time and resources you have wisely to improve your life and financial situation.

You are only out of solutions when you decide that you are out of solutions.

Dust off your dreams and put the sparkle back in your eyes and your future.

This economic downturn has many people searching for solutions to put their financial future back on track. Start by honestly looking at your current financial situation. Make a detailed list of assets (things you own), liabilities (things you owe), and available income sources.

If your current income potential seems to fall short of meeting all of the bills you owe, then consider dusting off that dream of owning your own business. Starting a home based business can be done on a part time basis with very little cost. Not only does a home based business offer the potential of additional income but it remains the easiest way to set your own hours; you work whatever hours you have available.

Low start-up cost, flexible hours, no outside office cost since you work from your home, and the potential of additional income make owning a home based business an excellent solution. The home based business industry is the fastest growing industry in the world right now.

Selection of the ideal home based business for you presents the next issue. I suggest you consider the following factors:

1. Select a company you will be proud to represent – a company with integrity. You can check this through any number of governmental and internet sources. I suggest you choose a company incorporated in the United States rather than offshore. There may be a reason the company chose to move the main corporate office offshore – taxes or legal problems perhaps.

2. Select a product people really need in every economy such as marketing or financial education. Avoid the “flash in the pan” fad products. Even some lotions, potions, pills and juices will fade in popularity during the economic downturn.

3. Look for a compensation plan where you are NOT passing up any sales. Marketing time, effort and money becomes even more important for you and your new people especially at the start of a new business.

4. Look for products which are stand alone. People want versatile products; they want products they can use in a variety of ways. For instance marketing education and financial education can be used in many different ways for all economic levels.

“There is only one way to make a great deal of money, and that is in a business of your own,” said J. Paul Getty, oil tycoon.

Feel free to contact me for additional coaching and mentoring. My mission is to help.

Always Be Giving - Mentoring

Mentoring comes in many forms. In Toastmasters, mentoring may be a simple as encouraging someone to quell the stage fright and relax. The butterflies do not always flay in formation. Even seasoned speakers still have “stage nerves” from time to time.

Mentoring may be assisting someone to reduce the number of Uh, Ah, Oops, filler words such as “and “ or “so.” We each have unconscious filler words or phrases. A mentor will hear these words with objective “fresh ears.”

We may have unconscious mannerisms or repeating one specific gesture too frequently.

Many of you know that I currently work in financial education. I obviously enjoy finances; however, my college economics professor was as exciting as watching grass grow. We managed to stay awake most of the time in class by counting his series of mannerisms. He would run his fingers through his thinning hair, straighten his tie, adjust his horn rimmed glasses, fiddle with his pen and ruffle his papers. We counted how many of this series of mannerisms he indulged in each hour. The man was brilliant but certainly not an engaging speaker. He certainly would have benefitted from a Toastmasters mentor.

Gently assisting him to add vocal variety, reduce the mannerisms, and even add a dash of humor would have made his class for more palatable. Unfortunately, that did not occur in my 3 years of enduring his classes.

Have you ever witnessed a speaker who spoke in a monotone or used annoying gestures or was as entertaining as watching paint dry? All of us have observed a speaker who “ah’d” us to boredom. One of my fellow Toastmasters sent me this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThEAO0lt4Dw. You will recognize the speaker.

Mentors assist us in seeing ourselves as others will see us; however, a highly accomplished mentor will guide us as swiftly as we are ready to receive the information.

John Crosby’s statement is quite explicit, “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”

Mentoring is of tremendous value to the person receiving the feedback, but it is equally as valuable to the person providing the feedback. As I observe others, it also reminds me of so many things I choose to improve about my own speaking.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” said Maya Angelou. The benefit is absolutely mutual. The more you give to aid others, the more you gain. This world is not all about giving or all about receiving, it is about improving the lives of everyone we touch. As we help others grow, we also grow ourselves.

“In every art beginners must start with models of those who have practiced the same art before them. And it is not only a matter of looking at the drawings, paintings, musical compositions, and poems that have been and are being created; it is a matter of being drawn into the individual work of art, of realizing that it has been made by a real human being, and trying to discover the secret of its creation.” Ruth Whitman

Razor Thin Line

The difference between the results of the mediocre and the extremely successful is such a fine line. So much depends on receiving the right information at the right time and taking massive action.

We know that the right information is available to everyone in WMI and CCP. We also know you are receiving it at exactly the right time. Regardless of the business or job you currently hold, the crucial question is "What action are you taking? Are you playing the game? Even more important, Are you playing the game to win?

In my role as coach, mentor, sponsor and leader, the question is exactly how much support to provide. We have tremendous training, resources, and examples in the back office combined with extensive live support. I personally hold an additional live question and answer webinar every week.

In the past and currently, I wonder if I have unintentionally handicapped some of you by providing too much support. If I do too much of it for you, then you do not learn to be self-reliant and learn how to do it for yourselves. If I provide too little support then people feel overwhelmed, frustrated and lost. This is not only a fine line but it differs from person to person.

My goal is always to work with each person from their individual starting point. Your first two weeks in any new business will require more mentoring time. That is a basic fact which flows across all business, including new jobs. If you are taking the action, placing yourself into the training with focus. and receiving the information with an open mind, you will succeed.

Having your own business or even a job requires you to focus, learn and take action if you choose to prosper. The bottom line of everything is "You are responsible for your results." Now if that sounds harsh, maybe you will look deep in yourself and find out why that seems harsh. Every time I have taken less than full responsibility for all of my actions and results, my results have suffered.

I am here to coach, mentor, support, encourage and provide leadership. You are still doing the work on yourself and for yourself to insure your success.

I'll walk the razor thin line but you must walk it beside me if success is important to you.

Every struggle and learning curve helps you grow and take your life either up or down. It is your choice which direction you choose to go.