Mentors and Friends...

A few months ago I realized that I needed to have some mentorship in my life. I became suddenly aware that I was not surrounding myself with people who were further ahead of where I was and that I needed that. I wanted to have someone I could bounce ideas off of and get some insight. I wanted to be stimulated and be challenged. I decided that I may even benefit from someone asking some hard questions.

It is good for a business owner to be around other business owners who are moving forward. If you hang around people who are always struggling you start to feel that life should be a struggle. If you spend time with debaters and those who are looking for conflict you will waste time fighting and arguing. If you hang out with people who are in lack, you will always think there is not enough and have a scarcity mentality. But when you are around those that are always looking for solutions you start to become a solution finder, and when you intentionally spend time with creative people you will become more creative. So I set out to find some good role models.

It is an amazing thing that when you make room for something new in your life and start thinking about that it just seems to find you. When the student is ready the teacher appears.

So new mentors are finding their way into my life. A really great couple began investing time into me. Nice, sharp business people whom I respect and admire. And then I realized I had another opportunity in an old friend I had not considered. He is very successful and busy so I did not think to bother him. Yet he seems to really enjoy investing time in me. This man is a real entrepreneur. Hard core. He started with nothing. He worked real hard and took some risks. He made mistakes, he recovered and learned. He got good in his market. He built relationships along the way. He was buying and selling hotels long before it was popular to do so. He has seen people come and go. His wisdom is staggering.

This week I had a tremendous opportunity to just sit at his feet and listen. He shared a few thoughts on what it means to be an entrepreneur. He said, “Kerry there is probably only 5% of the population who are entrepreneurs or even less. Expect to be misunderstood. They are not going to get it. You have taken the hard road, but it is a worthwhile road. You are going to make it.” That conversation made my week, and I had a pretty good week… But that is the stuff that matters.

When you are out doing something different and wondering if you are going about it right, or if you are making the right choices. There is no road map out there for the entrepreneur. Pioneering something is not often profitable at first. Only when you perfect your offering and establish your self-worth do you begin to get paid. Each step seems hard, yet looking back it was so precious. Remembering where you came from to stay humble and yet looking forward to where you are going to stay focused. Good friends who encourage you along the way are really important.

Wherever you are in life, think about where you want to be. Now who do you know that is closer to that place? Go find a new friend and learn some new things. You will be glad that you did.

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry