As I stated in my Introduction a while ago, I have just recently moved to a new area for work and have been here now for about 3 months. Previous to moving I was in the process of building some relationships with some individuals who had been extremely successful in business in hopes of eventually asking one of them to perhaps be somewhat of a business mentor. They all had qualities in which I respected and not only built successful businesses but created successful brands as well. They were able to think outside the box and capitalize in industries that most would look at and think were overcrowded. Now that I have moved away I am affraid that even though I will hopefully see these individuals occasionally when I visit, I will not be able to ask for their help and expertise.
Since I have moved, I have been keeping my eyes open for individuals who perhaps I could approach with the same request, but I am finding it VERY difficult. It took me years to spot these individuals in my previous location, and I have found that everyone I have come across since I have moved has been better at LOOKING successful than actually BEING successful. A quality I look for in a mentor is someone who has positioned themselves where I want to be, and after several months of searching have yet to see this. Most of them have just traded their jobs for jobs in which their name is on the door. I want someone who has thought outside the box and created their success from the ground up.I want a mentor who is living fastlane, and does what they want in life and has earned the means to have what they want in life. I work extremely hard, and hope that a mentor can perhaps insure I don't make make mistakes that a lot of entrepreneurs who are new to industries make so that I can give myself the best chance possible of succeeding. I will move forward with my goals, mentor or no mentor, I just feel that if I am going to fly to the moon having someone who has been to space before can add value and insite that I myself would aquire through mistakes and hard taught lessons. I also have found that a mentor is good to bring me back down to earth. I have a LOT of good friends, but I have very few that I respect their business prowess. They all work very hard, but they are not smart about how they work. Because of this they all tend to just agree with me when I am bouncing ideas off of them. I need someone to tell me "THAT IDEA SUCKS" or "YES THAT COULD WORK, BUT CONSIDER THIS....".
So I guess my question is, does anyone have any advice on how to go about finding someone of this caliber that I can surround myself with? I would prefer not to have someone who is a "Professional Mentor" or does it as a living, just someone who has succeeded and would enjoy sharing their accumulated knowledge. Ideally, I would love a situation that I could help my mentor out in some way as well, I don't like getting anything for free and have no problem earning their knowledge. Either through my experience and know how, or some other task related way. My educational background is in Finance and Healthcare Management, but my work experience is in Marketing, Sales, and Medical Devices (Mgt, not sales for Medical Devices). I also have a VERY strong background in fitness and nutrition, and am currently a Certified Personal Trainer but I have never used my certification other than personal knowledge. I have been a workout junkie for YEARS, and have competed in various body building categories with quite a bit of success. I actually developed a fitness related website that was doing quite well a couple years ago, but then realized that talking fitness with others all day every day was taking away from my love of the topic, so I let my partner take over running it.
I should probably give some background on my current endevours as well. I am currently in the process of starting two businesses (as well as working my 9-5 ). The first business I have been thinking about for several years now, and only after reading MFL did I decide the time would never be perfect and to just start taking action and hope all the stars lined up so that at least when opportunity did show itself I would be ready to jump on it. The business is clothing/apparel related, but targets a niche market, but will hopefully be appealing to several other markets once I use my polarizing marketing plan that I have developed. I am currently teaching myself how to use Wordpress and various graphic design software programs. This I will admit has been a definite learning process, but I am getting better day by day and should have the website where it needs to be when the product is ready to launch. I am also in the process of procuring some business space, which sounds very minor, but this will play a major roll in how the product is marketed. The second business I am involved with right now is a relationship/sales company that facilitates an already existing relationship between two groups and makes both their lives easier so I am very confident in the ability to market this business as well. I know I should just focus on one project at a time, but this one was actually brought to me by someone who had the idea and the connections necessary, but lacked the knowledge to pull of the business together so he asked me to partner with him and eventually this business will be almost completely automated and has the potential to be passive income.
Since I have moved, I have been keeping my eyes open for individuals who perhaps I could approach with the same request, but I am finding it VERY difficult. It took me years to spot these individuals in my previous location, and I have found that everyone I have come across since I have moved has been better at LOOKING successful than actually BEING successful. A quality I look for in a mentor is someone who has positioned themselves where I want to be, and after several months of searching have yet to see this. Most of them have just traded their jobs for jobs in which their name is on the door. I want someone who has thought outside the box and created their success from the ground up.I want a mentor who is living fastlane, and does what they want in life and has earned the means to have what they want in life. I work extremely hard, and hope that a mentor can perhaps insure I don't make make mistakes that a lot of entrepreneurs who are new to industries make so that I can give myself the best chance possible of succeeding. I will move forward with my goals, mentor or no mentor, I just feel that if I am going to fly to the moon having someone who has been to space before can add value and insite that I myself would aquire through mistakes and hard taught lessons. I also have found that a mentor is good to bring me back down to earth. I have a LOT of good friends, but I have very few that I respect their business prowess. They all work very hard, but they are not smart about how they work. Because of this they all tend to just agree with me when I am bouncing ideas off of them. I need someone to tell me "THAT IDEA SUCKS" or "YES THAT COULD WORK, BUT CONSIDER THIS....".
So I guess my question is, does anyone have any advice on how to go about finding someone of this caliber that I can surround myself with? I would prefer not to have someone who is a "Professional Mentor" or does it as a living, just someone who has succeeded and would enjoy sharing their accumulated knowledge. Ideally, I would love a situation that I could help my mentor out in some way as well, I don't like getting anything for free and have no problem earning their knowledge. Either through my experience and know how, or some other task related way. My educational background is in Finance and Healthcare Management, but my work experience is in Marketing, Sales, and Medical Devices (Mgt, not sales for Medical Devices). I also have a VERY strong background in fitness and nutrition, and am currently a Certified Personal Trainer but I have never used my certification other than personal knowledge. I have been a workout junkie for YEARS, and have competed in various body building categories with quite a bit of success. I actually developed a fitness related website that was doing quite well a couple years ago, but then realized that talking fitness with others all day every day was taking away from my love of the topic, so I let my partner take over running it.
I should probably give some background on my current endevours as well. I am currently in the process of starting two businesses (as well as working my 9-5 ). The first business I have been thinking about for several years now, and only after reading MFL did I decide the time would never be perfect and to just start taking action and hope all the stars lined up so that at least when opportunity did show itself I would be ready to jump on it. The business is clothing/apparel related, but targets a niche market, but will hopefully be appealing to several other markets once I use my polarizing marketing plan that I have developed. I am currently teaching myself how to use Wordpress and various graphic design software programs. This I will admit has been a definite learning process, but I am getting better day by day and should have the website where it needs to be when the product is ready to launch. I am also in the process of procuring some business space, which sounds very minor, but this will play a major roll in how the product is marketed. The second business I am involved with right now is a relationship/sales company that facilitates an already existing relationship between two groups and makes both their lives easier so I am very confident in the ability to market this business as well. I know I should just focus on one project at a time, but this one was actually brought to me by someone who had the idea and the connections necessary, but lacked the knowledge to pull of the business together so he asked me to partner with him and eventually this business will be almost completely automated and has the potential to be passive income.
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