You are living the dream! You’ve successfully left the rat race and now doing what you want to do. You’re living your life on your terms, not someone else’s. You’ve worked hard to get to that point. You set a goal and you’ve accomplished it.
Congratulations! You are in minority because most people give up along the way. They use excuses as to why they are not where they want to be. They do things that keeps them in the rat race. They think it’s an overnight process and when the going gets rough they go back to their old life of dreaming instead of doing. If I got a dollar from every person that says they want to do something different with their life but then give me an excuse as to why they haven’t yet, I’d be depositing truckloads of dollar bills to the bank.
As you know, it comes down to self-discipline, being clear on where you are going, creating a plan and then doing the work.
It’s also a continual process. Those that are doing what they love to do are constantly investing in themselves as they know it’s about learning from those ahead. They also know it’s about sharing their knowledge with those that are working on getting to where they are.
It’s a continual circle of learning from those ahead of you.
Today, thanks to the internet anyone can have a virtual mentor. That someone that inspires you, that gives you hope and equip you with information. But nothing beats one-on-one mentoring.
That’s why I’m a huge proponent of that when you get to this step you should bring a mentee in under your wing just like someone (hopefully) brought you under their wing.
Coaching and mentoring are two different things. I think it was Bill Gates who said: “Everyone should have a coach!” And yes, I agree with that. I would not be where I am today without a coach and knowing that every successful person invest in coaching you should too. But I’d like to add to his statement that everyone should have a mentor as well.
I’m an optimist and believe that every person, with the right support, can make their dream a reality. I think that with coaching, mentoring and being held accountable every person can get there.
At some point a person needs to invest in themselves beyond what can be found for free and when you get to a certain level you understand the value of someone’s time. That said, when you are starting out you may be hesitant to invest in yourself because you never have and therefore never experienced the return on investment of doing so. Plus, for some it simply comes down to having to choose between putting food on the table or investing in themselves.
Which is why I’m starting a community called the Dream Now Project. A volunteer based community of “mentors” and “mentee’s” – a place to give back and a place to connect. If you’re either looking for a mentor or want to be one, you can join HERE. Note: I’m building the project slowly as my time to devote to this is extremely limited but my vision is for it to be a vibrant place of people helping each other move forward and get that head start through free mentoring.
Remember to give back and pay it forward to those that could use that one person believing in them. After all, we don’t get to the top alone.
To read all the posts in this series on how to leave the rat race click HERE.
