If you are reading this book, you most likely want to go down your own path that involves making a difference and having a career that you thoroughly enjoy. You also are most likely planning on making this happen by pursuing one of the 10 ways to earn money while simultaneously giving back to the world. If this is true, you have two main choices that you must decided between:
1) Traditional trial and error.
2) Paying for a trainer or coach.
Unfortunately, each of these choices is full of major potential setbacks and pitfalls that are simply unavoidable, no matter how hard you try to get around them.
The traditional “trial and error” approach takes up a lot of an individual’s time, and it can also prove to be incredibly frustrating. And, in many cases, it is disappointing to say the least. Trust me, this is a guy speaking from personal experience. I firmly believe in the “do it yourself” approach, and I have a tendency of being incredibly stubborn with this, sometimes to a fault. I would always choose to learn something myself rather than have someone else teach me.
If you choose to follow this path, you will wind up learning a lot from your mistakes and failures. You will face many different types of hardships, and you will have to figure out what works best for you. It is more than possible for you to be successful if you choose this tactic, but it may difficult. It may take awhile for you to get the swing of things, but once you do, you will be glad that you faced so many difficulties, as they will be learning experiences. However, the trial and error path may wind up costing you a lot more time and money than the coach or trainer path. You may miss many more opportunities, be substantially more stressed, and lose a lot of valuable time. This is just something that you must accept and decide if you think is worth it or not.
There is no one in this world that is able to successfully reach his or her full potential if they are constantly stuck in a vacuum. Everyone needs a mentor in order to help them succeed, and we all need people that support our visions, missions, and goals.
Despite this fact, many individuals choose to pursue the first path, simply because they are unwilling to invest money and time into their careers and personal selves. There are numerous reasons for this, one of which being a lack of money in the first place. But, generally speaking, the underlying reason is that most people lack confidence in their abilities. If you knew for a fact that investing in your career would allow you to accomplish all of your goals and dreams, wouldn’t you immediately make the decision to do so? Why then are more people not doing this?
It is important to also note that the second option, which is to obtain a trainer or coach, has its own downsides as well. Some of the programs that exist out there tend to be very overhyped, and they offer results that they simply will never be able to provide you with. They do the stereotypical nonsense of overpromising their services and then eventually under-delivering. Additionally, there are also many strategies that are currently being taught that have proven to be quite helpful for many people and their businesses, but may just not particularly be helpful for your specific needs. This is normal, and not uncommon in anyway. There is no way for you to control whether this happens or not, and it is an unfortunate risk that must be taken.
Sadly, I have personally met with and talked to many different people who have spent thousands of dollars on programs that just simply did not wind up working.
Don’t misunderstand what I am trying to tell you. Many of these programs truly are great and have great lessons, but it is impossible for them to successfully work with everyone. A lot of them have numerous examples of people who have improved their lives, impacts, and careers just from participating in their coaching or training sessions. At the same token, you do not want to be one of those people that spend outrageous amounts of money on products or services that wind up doing nothing for you. I understand this, as well, and I genuinely hope that you never have to go through this.
I get what you’re thinking: so far, both of these options sound incredibly unappealing.
You don’t want to be that person that is constantly practicing trial and error and always wasting their precious time and hard earned money attempting to figure out all of the answers to life on their own. At the same time, you do not want to be one of those people that are always wasting their money on every single new workshop and service that comes their way, especially if you are only able to successfully use a fraction of what you have learned from them.
Now that this has been said, what exactly is a changemaker supposed to do when faced with this dilemma?
The best way to handle this is to create your own path that runs throughout the middle of both of these options. Let me further expand on this idea.
There is a perfect balance between implementing and learning, and for some, it is hard to reach. You don’t want to have to come up with everything on your own, but you also don’t want to have to only learn from others, and never have any original ideas. There is a fine line between both of these things.
If you truly want to be successful in your field, the fact of the matter is that you will need some guidance. Spend some money on training, invest in a mentor, and seek some support. It will be worth it in the end, I assure you.
But, while you are doing all of this, make sure that you are also experimenting and coming up with your own ideas. Make mistakes, see what works, and learn from all of your actions. Despite how imperfect it is, trial and error does have a place in all business endeavors. There is absolutely no replacement for what trial and error has the ability to teach you.
In order for this harmonious balance and formula to properly work, you need to know what programs are best suited for you and your needs. Chances are that you have already noticed that there are a million different programs for you to choose from. Making a decision on which one you want to try can be incredibly overwhelming.
The individuals who are in charge of these services will try to convince you to take part in their programs by selling you on all of the benefits that they claim to offer. They will attempt to get you to make a decision solely based off of whether you want to reap those benefits or not.
Naturally, there is nothing wrong with you learning about all of the different benefits that each service offers. This should be an obvious part of your decision, and you should take it into consideration. However, there is a much more important question that you should also be asking:
Is this even the right fit for me?
I have supplied you with a list of nine different things that you should consider whenever you are deciding whether or not you want to invest time and money into an individual such as a trainer, mentor, or coach.
Nine Things to Take Into Consideration
1) If your values align with theirs.
2) Whether you have overcome similar challenges.
3) If they have verifiable results that they can present you with.
4) If they are both experienced and educated.
5) If their past clients have been satisfied with their work.
6) The content of their program.
7) What their learning structure is.
8) What timing they offer.
9) What they guarantee with their services.
If your values align with theirs.
Do you and your mentor have the same type of values? For example, if you are a very liberal individual who cares deeply about the environment and is a borderline hippy, chances are that you would not mix well with someone who is deeply conservative and is a member of the republican tea party. As is expected, it may wind up being very difficult for you to accept and implement all of the advice and strategies that they present you with. Of course, this is obviously a very extreme example, but even small disagreements between values can wind up having big effects. You do not want to spend a lot of money, and then wind up realizing that you cannot even successfully get along with your mentor, never mind be open minded with what they have to tell you.
Whether you have overcome similar challenges.
Has your mentor struggled with hardships that are fairly similar to yours in the past? If they have not, it may be difficult for them to understand where you are coming from and provide accurate advice. Chances are that they will not mix with your personality well enough to truly wind up being helpful. They do not necessarily need to have had the exact same career that you were interested in, or have faced identical difficulties, but having similar challenges can prove to be incredibly useful.
If they have verifiable results that they can present you with.
Have they ever actually achieved all of the goals that you are looking to achieve, or do they only teach people how to follow their dreams? I personally would rather learn from someone who has first hand experience doing what I want to do, rather than listening to an individual who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about. I’m sure you are the same way to an extent. And, having an ample amount of money does not necessarily equate to having an ample amount of experience in the field that you are interested in. Think of how many marketers are amazing at making profits, but are unable to positively impact the world. Do you want to learn how to be one of these individuals? Or do you want to learn how to actually help others? You want to learn from someone who is actually successful in your mind, not just in his or hers. Look for people who do more than just make money, and choose to have them as your mentors. You do not want a typical businessman as your trainer.
If they are both experienced and educated.
Where exactly did they obtain their education? Are they merely repeating the same things that their professors previously taught them, or are they teaching you things that they managed to learn from real world experience? I personally would always prefer to learn from someone who has real world experience. I know that this is not always possible, and I know that some people do not have the same preferences. It is up to you to decide what you specifically want. If you do have the same preference, it will make your search a lot easier, as these people are always fewer and farther between.
If their past clients have been satisfied with their work.
Who have their clients previously been? Discover who their satisfied customers are, and see if you are similar to them and have the same expectations.
The content of their program.
Look at what the content of their program is. Are the strategies that they teach strategies that you can see yourself actually using? Do they teach practical things that are relevant to what you want to do with your life? If the answer to these questions is no, you may feel as if you are forcing solutions into your life that do not belong.
What their learning structure is.
Look at the structure of their program. Do you learn better in situations that are similar to a retreat, or do you like ongoing programs that take place over a larger period of time. A majority of individuals benefit from in person interaction. Unless you know for a fact that you are an exception, keep this in mind and look for services that offer you more things than just free downloads. Search for ones that include one on one meetings, and don’t settle for something that you know will not personally benefit you. You do not want to waste your money and time, I assure you.
What timing they offer.
Look at the timing that they offer. If you are just starting your company, make sure you are dealing with someone who specializes in start-ups. See if they offer long-term guidance, or if they only specialize in short-term advice. Whatever you select should match your personal specifications, and you should be thinking ahead before you invest any money.
What they guarantee with their services.
Do they offer any free deals, and do they give you the option of a free trial? Any mentor who genuinely cares about the success of his or her customers will offer free trials in order to reassure individuals that their programs will actually work for them. This is fairly standard in this industry, and it is actually starting to become uncommon for people not to do this.
I strongly encourage you to carefully read all 9 of these points. Glance at them again the next time that you are thinking about hiring a new coach, trainer, or mentor. Think about each point carefully, and consider if that person and their service is a good fit for each one of them.
I genuinely hope that these tips and guidelines will enable you to make smart business decisions.
I challenge you to make your own path in the business world, and to find a harmonious balance between trial and error and investing money into your career. It may be difficult to find this balance at first, but I promise that it will come with time.
Maybe if more individuals start to wander down this middle path, it will eventually turn into a well-worn road. This would pave the way for joy and success among clients, and would prevent failure, disappointment, and frustration. I hope that each and every one of you eventually gets to lead a life that consists of helping others, being passionate about your career, and feeling satisfied with what you do every day.
or go back to last chapter:
