The Importance of Mentors and How to Find Them

Mentors are crucial to success in any endeavour.

In the last few months I've been asked more and more about mentors. Mostly it's along the lines of, "You're so lucky to have found such a great mentor! How did you do that?"

You have to first ask yourself what is it that you really want to do with your life? Imagine you had $1 Million in the bank, and didn't have any work or study commitments, what would you really want to do?

Once you know that, look for people who have done what you want to do, and that's a good place to start when looking for your mentors.

If you're anything like me, you'll find them speaking in front of a room somewhere, or writing a book, or giving an interview. So go to seminars and talks in your areas of interest. Look for my post on How to Meet Key People for how to approach these people.

You should also be conscious of knowing that your goal is to outgrow your mentors. Once you've learned what you can from them, you will find a new one. 'When the student is ready, the teacher magically appears.'

I currently work for one of my mentors, but it took 3 years of building the relationship and demonstrating my capabilities before he took me on board.

I believe Barack Obama is an inspiration to our generation. He makes me think about the impact I can make on the world. You can see his Address to Students here.

Take the opportunity to leave me a comment below, and you will feel good all day long!

Google "Greatest Networker in the World" and you'll find me!

Thank you to everyone for your support of my blog.

Thanks to you I am on the first page of Google for "Greatest Networker in the World"!!!

Let's see if together we can take out the Number 1 Spot!

Make your goal not to compete with anyone else but yourself. Be the very best you can be. Be all that you can be, so you can have whatever you want, and make the greatest impact on other people's lives. "You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough."

You can help me win the Google race by clicking on 'comments' below, go ahead and support the team by sharing your thoughts now!

To Your Success,



-Francis McCarthy

3 Brian Tracy Trainings & 2 books in 1 week?

I've got a big challenge this week!

I've been put into an intensive training for my role as Business Development Manager with Wealth Empowerment Institute (Accredited Licensee of Brian Tracy International).

The courses I've been given to complete by the end of next week are:

• Advanced Selling Skills
• Strategic Planning for the Sales Professional
• High Performance Leadership

and I've also been assigned to read 2 books:

• The Psychology of Selling
• The Art of Closing the Sale

These programs and books have been written by Brian Tracy, the world's leading authority on
Strategic Selling, Leadership, and Personal Success.

I've read about 20 pages of The Psychology of Selling, and it's been a great read so far.

I've also completed 2 of the 10 modules of Strategic Planning for the Sales Professional.

Will I be able to get through all the material by the end of next week?

It's nothing compared to the 60,000 books that Brian Tracy has read, however I think it will be a challenge with all the work and uni study I have to do as well.

For more information about Brian Tracy's books and programs, visit www.briantracy.net.au

A Week in the Life of The Greatest Networker

When people ask me, "What do you do?", I often respond, "Depends which day you ask!".

I have so many ventures going on that it's pretty hard to pin it down to one, so I thought I'd just list for you my schedule for next week and you might get some idea of what I do.

Monday 20 July:

8:30am - 5:00pm Certificate III (Sales) Training with Brian Tracy International.
6:00pm Brian Tracy seminar for Bayside Council

Tuesday 21 July:

1:00pm Business Meeting
4:00pm R & D Grants meeting - education Brian Tracy

7:00pm Bryce Perron (of Perth) Telecom Business Overview and Training

Wednesday 22 July

7:00am Business Breakfast
8:45am - 12:30pm Uni - New Venture Creation info session
- Conference Call
3:00pm Bryce Perron (mentor) meeting

Thursday 23 July

9:30 - 10:30am Uni - Social Entrepreneurship
3:30pm Brian Tracy JV meeting
5:30 - 7:30pm Social Entrepreneurship

Friday 24th July

-Consulting meeting
12:30 - 3:30pm Uni - Global Entrepreneurship
2:00pm - 5:00pm ACN International Training - Melbourne Convention Centre.

Saturday 25th July

9:00am - 5:00pm ACN International Training

Sunday 26th July

9:00am - 1:00pm ACN International Training

7 Quotes and Thoughts to Live By

1. A wise man once said that his goal in life was to be the dumbest person in the room at all times.

If you surround yourself with people who are highly talented, and in some respects smarter than you, then you will always be learning. Don't try to be a big fish in a small pond.

2. Most great leaders were great followers first.

Finding a mentor is one of the smartest things you can do.

3. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

-Proverbs 23.7

4. The 80/20 Rule:

This concept is now thought of as common knowledge, however when you consider the implications of this statement, you will see how profound an impact it can have on your life:

"20% of your activities produce 80% of your results."

Most people think there is not enough time in the day, when really, if 80% of what you're doing is 'filler' - then what you really need to do is to trim the fat! Some people's daily agenda is on the verge of morbidly obese. Focus on the 20% of high value activities and your productivity will soar.


5. "It is better to be thought of as fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."


6.

"I believe I am always divinely guided.
I believe I will always take the right turn of the road.
I believe God will always make a way where there is no way."

- Dr Norman Vincent Peale


7. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Give it all you've got, because there are no re-runs.


Let me know if you need anything.


To Your Success,


-Francis McCarthy

Be Bold: How to Meet Key People

Have you ever had an opportunity to meet someone who you know could've been beneficial to your career, and not taken it? Kinda chickened out and walked off? That sucks, right? After reading this, you won't let that happen again...

In networking, fortune favours the brave. People of value actually want to be engaged. Successful people love to mentor. So don't be a wallflower. You want to go up to the most important person in the room and introduce yourself. They could be the keynote speaker, professor, winning student at a competition, whatever the case may be.

Remember this when you attend any event: All the money is made in the first three rows. Do not hang out at the back with the cool kids. You'll always find the most ambitious, successful people in the front three rows (or, of course, at the front of the room speaking at the event). Not only that, the speaker is much more likely to notice you there, and you'll have a better chance of asking questions, and making an impression that will actually have them remember you the next day when you follow up. That's because there might have been 50 or more people there, most of whom just go up after the event and say, "Thanks Mr Johnson, that was great, " and grab Johnson's business card.

What you want to do, if the speaker is someone you want to meet with, is tell them in one sentence what you do and what you want (eg. "I'm starting a business and would like some advice) and ask them what's the best way to get in touch with them. Usually they'll say e-mail me at moneyman@thebank.com as they hand you their card. So e-mail them and set up a time from there. Some tips:

In the subject line, you can loosely follow this format, "Their name, your name, event name"

ie. "Brian, Fred Jones, Springfield Uni seminar". Then in the body of the e-mail, write, for example,

Brian,

Thank you for coming out to do the speech for our class at Springfield Uni last night. I really like that you were so open about your experiences as a young entrepreneur.

I am studying Entrepreneurship at Springfield, and have just started a new student magazine business. I would really appreciate it if I could meet with you over lunch to run my ideas past you and get some advice. I'm free from Wednesday - Friday from 11:30am - 1:30pm this week, or alternatively we could meet next week if possible. Please let me know which day would be best for you.

Thank you again.

Regards,



-Fred Jones



This will get a response almost all of the time.

Building 1 or 2 high value, high quality relationships will be worth more to you in the long-term than 30 or 40 low-value / no value associations. So be strategic in your networking. Be bold enough to approach people you look up to. They'll help take you to where you want to go.

Let me know if you need anything.


-Francis McCarthy

How to Be a Great Conversationalist

Usually when two people are having a conversation , you have one person talking, and the other person waiting to talk.

The best conversationalists listen 90% of the time and talk 10.

It is so uncommon for people to come across somebody who actively listens to what they have to say, that when you do that for people, they will remember you.

When talking to people and building relationships with them, remember that everyone's favourite topic of conversation is themselves.

It is a common misconception that to be a popular person, or a person of influence, that you must be interesting. If you want to Win Friends and Influence People**, always focus on being interested, rather than interesting.

Take a genuine interest in people and let them tell you what they are passionate about - it will likely be the first time in a long time that someone has given them a chance to be heard.

It is better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

There is true wisdom in the art of saying more with less.



**How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is the greatest book of all time on people skills, except of course, for the Bible.


Let me know what you think and hit me up with a comment :)