3 Ways to Use Mentorship to Your Advantage

I don't tend to believe in shortcuts. 

But this one would have saved me thousands of dollars and years ...

If I'd only followed Jeff Walker's advice earlier. 

Here's what Jeff said about the power of getting mentored:

When you learn from a trained professional, it's amazing how quickly you can progress.

Other successful people have sought out mentors too--even when they're at the top of their game! That's how they keep growing and keep beating their competition. 

Warren Buffett mentored Bill Gates and helped him understand banking, among other things. Sir Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson and helped him launch Virgin Atlantic. 

To learn from the best mentors, I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and spent hundreds of hours with them. I know how powerful it can be to stand on the shoulders of giants--and to have the giants lift you up even higher. 

Here are three ways to learn from mentors and put your company and professional growth on steroids:

1. Visit who you want to become.

Without seeing the best--what's truly possible--you won't know what opportunities you're missing, or what problems you're ignoring. Whatever industry you're in, find the best company or leader and learn from them. Here's what you should do: 

  • Reach out to them. Tell them how you've learned from them and how they've changed your life. Most people will really appreciate that and be a lot more open to meeting up, which leads to my next point ... 

  • Ask if you could spend time with them in person. That's how you breathe the air they breathe and think the way they think. It's also how you start building a relationship with them.

  • Ask them a ton of good questions so that you truly understand why and how they became successful. I'd also ask them questions about what you're not doing that you should. 

This is something you want to do all the time. Once you find one role model, find 10 more models and visit one per month! 

2. Hire mentors to coach you.

If you find an amazing mentor, hire them to help you out even more. This sounds expensive but it's not. Just think about how this will supercharge your business and save you months if not years of work! 

You don't have to hire a mentor full time. Even a few hours per month can make a huge difference. For example, if you can't afford to hire a $100,000 COO full time, get him to coach you twice a month. 

3. Copy the fundamentals of the best.

Now, experts aren't just amazing because they can do or see things others can't. It's also because they NAIL the basics day in and day out. Michael Jordan said that his secret was practicing the fundamentals of basketball better than everyone else, and that's true for business too. (Jordan also has a mentor: Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach.)

When my mentor Al Levi taught me the fundamentals of leadership--delegating, creating systems, and leading meetings--my business transformed overnight. We went from 30 employees to 250 in under two years.  

Reach out to a mentor now 

Most people think they can figure things out on their own, and they end up making mistakes that they could have avoided with a mentor's help. Or they spend years and years building a business when they could have taken way less time. 

Don't try to learn everything yourself. Find a great mentor today: Do some digging, ask for recommendations, pull someone out of retirement. All you have to do is ask for help! 

When I was the only man in the truck, I never thought I'd work side by side with some of the world's best experts. But because I believe that I have a great product and business, I started asking and learning, and here I am.

TOMMY MELLO

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