How I changed my life with FREE offline coaches and mentors

8 replies
Before I share my experience I am NOT trying to knock paying for coaches and mentors. If they are a good fit and have the proper experience it could really help you along. I just want to point out that if you do not have money for traditional coaching there are other alternatives. Further it is often non traditional coaching/mentors that gives you the best results.

Let me explain.
The best coaches/mentors that I ever had were NOT in the business of coaching. They were simply successful at something that I wanted to learn so I glued myself to them and did anything of value that I could and in exchange for being taken under their wing.

One particular mentor that came into my life named Vince was the most life changing. A retired insurance salesman that had been in the million dollar club for over a decade (selling 1 million+ insurance yearly). When I met this guy the best technology out there was the Mac IIsi If you made a change in a photoshop file it took 15 minutes to render!

I was young, had my first child and owned a small property maintenance company. My laborer shows up for work and tells me about this guy he met. He had done a bit of cleaning for him and the guy not only paid him well but GAVE HIM a computer so his 5 kids could use it. He had even volunteered to come to their home and show them how to use it. Back then this computer was worth money and not many people had one at home that I knew.

Seemed interesting so I went out of my way to meet him. Suffice it to say I was taken enough by his intellect, nature and willingness to help others that I made it a mission to be mentored by him. I immediately tried to figure out what can I do to be of value. He was 72 so I showed up every chance I had to lend a hand. I changed the brakes on his car, went with him to pick up those heavy computers that he bought, fixed and sold (yes they were heavy back then) and spent as much time in his presence as I could while feeding my family with my regular work.

He introduced me to Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and many other great writers. Through reading these books I understood why he placed so much value in giving to others. For me this was life changing. Think and Grow Rich became my new bible. He funded several ventures that involved sales so he could work by my side and teach me sales while we both made money (cars, computers, satellites) and took me from a guy that could not sell a cup of water in the desert to a guy that could sell ice to Eskimos.

My biggest ambition in life before meeting him was to own a scrap yard. He slowly educated me to the big picture. What will your life be like, who will you hang out with, how will you dress and smell, how will your children grow up in the environment you choose, how will different careers affect your marriage etc...

I became much more successful in my property maintenance business and from side ventures with him. It was not long before I had the money to buy a scrap yard and actually sat down with a seller. My mentors words and observations went through my head. Was this the life I wanted? I walked away and 3 years later I had graduated from college in computer sciences and database administration and began my new career and was hired by Alcatel, at that time a billion dollar telecommunications company. When I look back now I see how he slowly molded me into what I am. Constantly telling me "you could be a programmer", "you could be a top salesman" "wow your better and faster at fixing these computers now than I am". I had NEVER been told anything of the sort in the past. I grew up poor and everyone around me had traditional jobs. I though I was thinking out of the box wanting to by scrap cars for $50, them apart with my hands and sell parts at $50 each.

What should a coach/mentor like this cost?
What it cost me was a mutual friendship that is the finest I have ever had, making profits together and continued learning and conversations about subjects that were the most interesting I have had in my life. This is not someone that was for hire.
This breed of person believes that individuals that truly need and deserve their time will be revealed to them by their hunger to learn. Changing brakes in the rain was a small price to pay to get noticed!

He is NOT the only mentor I have had like this but certainly the one with the most impact. I would strongly encourage you to find the hidden coaches and mentors in your life. They can change everything.

There is one more very important thing I want to add.
I see this happen time and again.
As humans we get bits and pieces from different people.
The bits and pieces can be life changing if taken to heart.
Do NOT be one of those people that dismisses these hidden gems because later you find out the person sharing with you was NOT perfect.
Nobody is perfect. Do NOT bother looking for heroes! You will ALWAYS find a flaw that later will make you dismiss something that came from them that was truly valuable irrespective of their flaws. I see this here on warrior forum all the time and its sad. Everyone here has some value and everyone here can be a total let down on the wrong day. We should not so easily dismiss value.

There can be more wisdom some days in the words of a drunk or someone that lost everything than the best hired coach.
#changed #coaches #free #life #mentors #offline
  • Profile picture of the author umc
    Cool story. I can't say that I've had any real mentors, but I can identify with the fact that he introduced you to some legendary books. I guess you could say that I've been mentored in that way. I listen to great audiobooks and podcasts daily. Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Joe Polish, Dean Jackson, Dan Sullivan, Tim Conley, Jeremy & Jason of Internet Business Mastery, Pat Flynn, great interviews on podcasts like Eventual Millionaire and Entrepreneur On Fire, etc. Books like the E-Myth, Influence, Rich Dad Poor Dad, etc. All of these things help to shape my thinking and served to mentor me even though I never had a real person that peered into my life and offered real suggestions. All of the action and awareness has been self-reliant, but simply taking the opportunity to learn from the best really helps if you've got an open mind.
    Signature

    Simple "pay what you want" life coaching services online.
    Get out of your own way in business. It's personal. Click Here

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9321866].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
      Originally Posted by umc View Post

      Cool story. I can't say that I've had any real mentors, but I can identify with the fact that he introduced you to some legendary books. I guess you could say that I've been mentored in that way. I listen to great audiobooks and podcasts daily. Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Joe Polish, Dean Jackson, Dan Sullivan, Tim Conley, Jeremy & Jason of Internet Business Mastery, Pat Flynn, great interviews on podcasts like Eventual Millionaire and Entrepreneur On Fire, etc. Books like the E-Myth, Influence, Rich Dad Poor Dad, etc. All of these things help to shape my thinking and served to mentor me even though I never had a real person that peered into my life and offered real suggestions. All of the action and awareness has been self-reliant, but simply taking the opportunity to learn from the best really helps if you've got an open mind.
      An excellent list! We are fortunate in this day and age that you could be alone on an island and if you have an internet connection and some time could review the materials you suggested above and with time, reflection and action come out the other end with some great knowledge on how to achieve our life goals.
      Signature
      Ready to generate the next million in sales? The Next Million Agency
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9321875].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author umc
        Originally Posted by plessard View Post

        An excellent list! We are fortunate in this day and age that you could be alone on an island and if you have an internet connection and some time could review the materials you suggested above and with time, reflection and action come out the other end with some great knowledge on how to achieve our life goals.
        Yep, and the majority of what I posted is free. There are tons of great business podcasts, and other personal growth podcasts, that have really helped me to see life differently. Made a lot of difference for a poor kid that grew up with zero knowledge of how the world worked. The only thing I did know is how to work, which is sadly more than a lot of kids know today. There really are very few excuses in a world where so much is at your fingertips. It is all there for us to find and put to use.
        Signature

        Simple "pay what you want" life coaching services online.
        Get out of your own way in business. It's personal. Click Here

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9321887].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Marvin Johnston
    I also had a number of mentors to whom I owe a great deal. Kind of a shame I am a *REALLY* slow learner though, since all of them have passed on.

    The person I learned the most from was Dr. Harvey Wheeler (coauthor of "Failsafe" which some of you might remember.) Since I worked fairly closely with him for a number of years, I learned more by osmosis than by actual sit down and chat (although we did a lot of that as well.)

    Another person with a profound effect was my piano teacher. She had studied with some of the great teachers, and we did talk about that! The thing I learned there was the greats had a tremendous amount of self-discipline, and were somewhat impatient with students who didn't put forth their very best.

    And like the OP, each relationship (except for my piano teacher) started with me doing something for them first. I don't think it is possible to overestimate the value of giving first, especially with these types of people.

    One other thing I learned was they will see things in us that we might not see or recognize in ourselves.

    Marvin
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9321923].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author isaacsmithjones
    I completely agree with your point about dismissing valuable information due to a person's character flaws. Not liking, or not respecting a person, or something that they have said is no reason to assume that they have NOTHING of value to offer.

    By no means am I advocating Hitler, but as an extreme example, I'm sure we could learn a thing or two from him in the field of leadership. He was a brilliant leader - although he may have used those skills to lead people into an inadmirable cause.

    And I'd also like to point out that the flip-side of this is also true.

    Just because someone says/does something amazing, doesn't mean that we have to agree with them on everything. It always pays to do your research, and use your common sense. It can sometimes be very easy to blur the line between fact and opinion.
    Signature
    Why wait for sales to earn an affiliate commission?
    Earn up to £20 per phone call as a MyCallPartners.co.uk pay-per-call affiliate!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9321929].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author OdedHerbst
    Great outake on things, I couldn't agree more...

    I've had several mentors/coachers in the form of teachers and sport coaches and i believe you can learn something new from almost everyone,,, but sometimes you have to ask for it.

    Great post
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322686].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Recruitment Nick
    It's also worth remembering old lessons learned from "freebie mentors" that you may not have directly learned from. It's amazing how once you reach a certain level of experience these lessons can suddenly become more apt.

    When I first started in recruitment I (a couple of months in) sat next to our top sales person for a week. I was excited, thinking about how much I could learn from him, clever sales techniques, over coming objections, etc.

    But the reality at the time seemed different. He didn't seem to sell AT ALL. He would be chatting with candidates and clients alike about football (soccer), or his hobbies, or their hobbies, or their problems or his problems (often not related to what was being sold), and then maybe at the end of the call was a small, subtle sales message. I honestly didn't see the value - sales should have been hardcore right? Not just selling to friends. I decided then that his market must be easy, his contacts easier, etc. In short the lessons I could take away were lessons I wasn't ready for, until I reached a level of understanding about a sales process.

    I'm embarressed to admit just how long it took me to look back and realise the lessons that were there to be learned. About turning a sales call into a chat that you could lead, about how seeming like a person to the buyer can help your message, how positioning yourself as "just like them" can have a major impact on your relationship, how a sales message is best put into context by letting the customer complain about their problems and then subtley leading them to the solution.

    I needed to first learn how to sell in mechanical terms, before the art of how to frame that selling was a lesson I was ready for.

    Just because you haven't taken anything from listening to top people immediately doesn't mean that you should dismiss advice. It might be that you aren't yet on the level to be able to understand what you are being taught.
    Signature

    Always learning. Always drinking tea

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322848].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author linaterese
    Really cool story (:
    Signature

    Affiliate Links are not allowed!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322853].message }}

Trending Topics