“Do You Have A Mentor? Who Is In Your Network?”
It’s a little late, I’m a little tired, but I’ve added this video into my training modules because ecommerce isn’t static and neither is your business. If you aren’t moving forward, your career or your business is dying. The right mindset the right network will explode your career, or your business, especially the online portion, and it will take you to the next level.
This, for me, is a big one. This one hits home. Your circle of influence. Here is a quick exercise, a pretty well-known exercise, grab a pen and paper while I mute my phone. Write down the five closest people to you in your life. Circle the ones that are going to get your career or your business to the next level. How many did you circle? All 5? 3? 2? A single one, or none?
For me, ‘none’ was the answer for a very, very long time. While I have loving parents and family and friends, none of them were going to get my business to the next level, they simply just don’t know how to help. So I needed a mentor. I needed to change my social following. I cut out celebrities and singers and actors and athletes and things that consumed too much of my time, my social feeds and my mind share. I began following business pages, entrepreneurs, other digital marketers and ecommerce professionals, even leaders in other industries.
Kevin Hart is super motivational, I know I said I cut out celebrities, but he’s somewhat of an exception to the rule, because he pushes you to stay positive, stay fit and stay active. Grant Cardone, you need to follow this guy. Not only is he a real estate titan, he is arguably the best sales person on earth. He will motivate you help you keep your mind right. You don’t have to know someone right out of the gate. It’s going to take time. You can’t go out on a street corner or a grocery store and just find a business leader or a mentor that’s going to get you to the next level. Where I found success was by starting to follow the right people, then see who they recommend in their videos or blogs or websites, whether it was someone else to follow or a book that I should read.
Eventually I ended up attending events by Daymond John, Grant Cardone, Peng Joon, Russell Brunson, and you know what you find there? People exactly like yourself. People looking to get to the next level. People who have made investments in themselves, and decided that right now is the time. Your circle of influence just expanded. These people will not be your best friends or family that were in your initial five that you wrote down, however they are now part of your professional network, perhaps even will become a part of your mastermind, whom you can poll anytime you’re stuck. What’s important is bouncing ideas off of these people will help replace any negativity that exists in your life from others who are close to you.
Negativity that serves nothing more than a distraction. I’ve dealt with it all my life from my closest friends and even family. It’s negativity masked as concern. You can’t take that job it’s in another city, it’s a big dangerous place. You can’t quit your stable job for that new start-up or that new company, because that’s too risky. You definitely can’t start your own business, because you’ll never make it.
Even now, 15 years in and a few million dollars later, I’ve told my closest friends about my training program and this video series, and the response I got was, “Isn’t stuff like that just available on YouTube for free? It’s never going to work.” So now, I don’t even tell certain friends and family members when I attend conferences and events. I tell them after I’ve returned home, that I was just away for work for three or four days and that’s it. Reason why? Excitement – your momentum – your forward outlook – have all been taken away by announcing that you’ll be attending Adobe Summit, SXSW, Phocuswright, 10X Conference, Daymond John’s Success Formula Training, Funnel Hacking Live… I would announce that I’m going to an exciting event to the wrong people, and I would get, “Well the problem with that is…”, “It’s probably not going to work for X number of reasons…”, “With tickets and airline and hotel, that’s a lot of money wasted…Are you sure?”
Avoid negative people as best you can. If they are close friends or family, avoid negative topics. Don’t talk about work. Never give up. See possibilities, not problems. Take risks. The only way to fail in business is to quit. You have to be willing to be bad at something long enough to become good at it. Every business is a people business. Focus on the right people. If you want to stay in the right frame of mind for your business, you need to surround yourself with the right people, even if it is only online at first. Use me.
Follow me. Stay on top of what I am doing and wherever I am in the world. I make time as best I can to reply to every message I receive. I’ll help keep you motivated and inspired as best I can. Keep up the good work. Go be great.
