Stuart Zadel emphasises the importance of mentorship by narrating a personal story of success.
This is a story of now mentorship has changed my life for the better. Read it, analyse it, and share it. Who knows? You might help someone be successful by what you do.
Years ago, I was at the beach with my friend Wayne. We started throwing a ball to each other at a short distance, and then steadily increased the distance as well as the intensity.
As the distance between us increased, Wayne’s throws became more erratic and his arm began to hurt.
I kept hitting him in the chest with each throw.
Still more distance led to more pain and Wayne’s throws became more inaccurate and unpredictable.
I kept hitting him in the chest with each throw.
As Wayne’s arm started to give out and his throws became increasingly erratic he began to lose motivation and would have likely soon quit. It was not fun for him anymore.
At that point, I stepped in and showed him how to throw.
You see, I played baseball from a young age and became a very good pitcher. But trust me, it didn’t start out that way though!
Despite having a strong arm, my control and accuracy was very unpredictable and my arm often hurt. I remember pelting many unsuspecting vehicles in the car park behind first base, let me tell you!
That’s when an expert pitching coach saw I had potential and stepped in to show me how to throw properly. It made all the difference. Within two years, I was confidently striking batters out at will. Now that was fun!
I taught Wayne the same techniques and the change was dramatic. It clearly surprised and delighted him too as his accuracy, control and power improved instantly. More importantly, his arm stopped hurting. He was able to continue and it became fun again.
Then he said to me, ‘Why didn’t you show me that earlier?’
I said to him, ‘You hadn’t had enough pain yet’.
I needed him to know ‘his way wasn’t working’ and to experience a little pain. This would either see him quit, or give him the motivation to change. He willingly changed when shown a better way.
WHAT’S MENTORSHIP ABOUT?
So why am I telling you this story now? It’s certainly not to impress you. But to impress upon you the importance of having the right mentors to help you.
It doesn’t matter if it’s baseball, property investing or any other area of life you could name. It’s always better, faster, and cheaper in the long run to learn the right techniques from an experienced mentor, not to mention, more fun.
That is basically why I do what I do. It is just so rewarding to see people, often with no prior experience, succeed wildly, beyond what they ever thought possible – with the right knowledge and guidance.
I have been fortunate to seek out many of the best mentors in the world, and I feel almost honour bound to pass on what I have learned.
The greatest gift you can give a mentor is to succeed wildly with what they have taught you, and then, when the time is right, help others do the same.
But the challenge with many people is that unfortunately, they can take a lot of pain. That’s why they are often slow to change, if ever, or they just accept their lot in life as this is ‘as good as it gets’.
Like Wayne, if your way is not working, if you’ve had enough pain and you desire an immediate change, seek to get educated by someone who’s already been there.
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