★ Rich Habit #14: Seeking Out Success Mentors

This is part of our Rich Habits series, by best-selling author Tom Corley. Be sure to check out all previous habits we’ve covered!

In order to be successful, we must walk in the footsteps of the wealthy. The fastest, most effective way to do this is to find a success mentor. Success mentors regularly and actively participate in our success by teaching us what to do and what not to do. They share with us valuable life lessons they learned either from their own mentor or from the school of hard knocks. Finding a success mentor is one of the best and least painful ways to become rich. Successful people find mentors for many different aspects of their lives. Unsuccessful people do not.

Where to find success mentors:

  1. Parents – Parents are often the only opportunity any of us have at having a success mentor in life. This is why parenting is so important. Parents need to be success mentors to their children. They need to teach their children good daily success habits. If they don’t, it is likely their children will struggle in life financially.
  2. Teachers – Good teachers are good mentors. Teachers can reinforce the mentoring children receive at home from their parents or step in to provide the much-needed success mentoring absent at home.
  3. Supervisors – For those not fortunate enough to have had parents or teachers who provided success mentoring, finding someone at work who can act as a mentor will ensure success in life. Find someone at work who you admire, trust and respect and kindly ask them to be your mentor. This person should be at least two levels above you.
  4. Reading – Many successful people attribute their success in life to self-help authors such as Dale Carnegie, Earl Nightingale, Og Mandino or Jack Canfield. Books can take the place of real-life success mentors. (For financial mentors, check out Rockstar Finance's book recommendations)
  5. School of Hard Knocks – When you learn good daily success habits through the school of hard knocks you are essentially your own mentor. You teach yourself what not to do. You learn from your mistakes and failures. This is the hard way because those mistakes and failures cost you in both time, money and emotion.

Understanding failure is more important than understanding success. If you want to succeed in life you must learn what not to do.

There are two ways to learn what not to do when pursuing a dream or something you are passionate about:

  1. The Easy Way – Find a success mentor and learn from their mistakes and failures.
  2. The Hard Way – Taking action and learning through the school of hard knocks what works and what doesn’t work. This is the hard way because it is an emotional rollercoaster – negative emotions one day when things go wrong, and positive emotions the other when things go right. The Hard Way requires an enormous amount of persistence and patience.

Look for success mentors at work, in non-profit organizations, in trade groups, business groups, charities, etc. They can also be found in books or in mastermind groups. A mastermind group is typically five or six individuals who meet physically or virtually once a week to share best practices and advice, and to help you troubleshoot problems.

In Summary

Successful people find mentors for many different aspects of their lives. Unsuccessful people do not. Find someone you admire, trust and respect and kindly ask them to be your mentor.