Great Athletes Have One. So Should You
We were thinking about mentors and coaches recently. In our discussion, we defined them as follows:
A mentor is an informal advisor. A coach also offers advice, but in a more formal way because you’re paying for their services.
We’ve both had a number of mentors and coaches in our lives. Both have been immensely valuable! That’s what prompted our discussion.
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Going where you haven’t gone before
However, since we don’t pay for the services of our mentors, we don’t talk to them as much. After all, we don’t want to abuse the privilege. We’ve talked with our coaches much more frequently, usually every week in fact. It’s part of the agreement we had with them when we signed on for their services.
We love the quote by Bill McCartney, former coach of the University of Colorado. He said,
“Coaching is taking a player where he can’t take himself.”
It seems that behind every great athlete is a great coach – from Michael Jordan to Michael Phelps and a bunch of other outstanding performers not necessarily named Michael!
What a coach can do for you
In this age of personal branding, a coach can do the same for us – take us where we can’t take ourselves. We’ve found that our coaches save us time – we get where we want to be faster because they help us identify what’s most important.
BIGG Success is our baby! We’re very close to it. Our coaches bring us that outside, objective point-of-view that is necessary to help us move forward intelligently.
We work for ourselves. A coach gives us someone to whom to be accountable. We’ve found that it keeps us on our toes. We work ON our business more than we would otherwise because we’re forced to prepare for our weekly sessions. It’s like having homework!
Our coaches also ask us questions that we’re not asking ourselves. We’ve found ourselves looking at our business and careers in new ways – ways we wouldn’t have uncovered on our own to go back to the quote.
How to find a coach that’s right for you
Along the way, we’ve learned a thing or two about finding a great coach. Now we look for someone who has reached a level we want to reach. For example, we recently attended a convention for people with online shows likeThe BIGG Success Show. We met a man who is very successful with his show. We’re talking with him about coaching us so we can understand how to replicate his success.
Another coach we’ve had, Liz Strauss, was referred to us by a mutual friend. We started following her blog and saw that she was hosting a conference. We attended her conference and got to know her more. We hired her to coach us. She’s been incredibly helpful in pushing us to a higher level.
Mentors are valued advisors that contribute to your success. Coaching is still catching on. Athletes figured it out a long time ago. Now the rest of us are getting it. It takes a small investment to hire a coach, but there are BIGG payoffs for those who do!
We are coaches too! We help entrepreneurs grow their brand. Learn more.
