“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”
-Confucius
Do you ever find yourself shocked and indignant at the price of certain services? Take, for example, heart surgery. Did you know that heart surgery in the United States can cost over $100,000? Pretty steep, but don’t worry … YouTube has tons of heart surgery videos you can view for free. Watch and learn, and soon you’ll be ready to perform the surgery yourself. Talk about savings!
Why are you looking at me like that?? You do this all the time - we all do. Ok, maybe (hopefully?!) not this exactly, but some version of it. Any time we choose to take a big leap into uncharted territory in our lives without enlisting the help of a qualified coach/mentor/teacher, we unwittingly engage in a kind of YouTube DIY surgery. Things like your career or finances or relationships may seem insignificant compared to your vital organs, but probably not so much when you consider the serious impact they have on your life. They might not be life-or-death significant, but they aren’t exactly small potatoes either.
We are constantly investing resources - time, money, energy - in things that don’t contribute to our success (I’m looking at you, gym membership used once back in the 1900s/nightly Netflix ultra-marathon/real tears shed at a sporting event). If we redirect those same resources toward using expert guidance to achieve our goals, we can realize more and better results, faster, and with way less struggle. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know. How can you possibly expect to draw yourself a road map to a place you’ve never been? Some of the highest achievers on this planet - Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Mark Zuckerberg, Serena Williams - attribute some measure of their success to a coach or mentor that helped them along the way. They got to where they are today in part because they made the wise decision to invest in themselves.
Note that I used the word invest - that was intentional. When you’re truly ready to make big strides in some area of your life, be it business, health, finances, what-have-you, you need to step up and commit some resources to your endeavor. Not only will you reap substantial rewards from personalized attention tailored to your goals/abilities/challenges, you will also be much more inclined to show up for yourself and hold yourself accountable if you have a little “skin in the game”. Think about it — you want to take your business to the next level, so you sign up for a free webinar. And then you work all day, and evening rolls around, and it’s almost time to tune in to your webinar … and then … what’s that? A new season of Orange is the New Black?? Ten riveting episodes later you’ve devised a genius plan for what you’ll do when you find yourself in a prison riot, but completely forgotten about your plans to improve your business (unless, of course, you happen to be in the criminal justice business).
Now imagine you’ve decided to take your business to the next level, and you’ve hired your very own coach to help you. Same work day, same evening rolling around … but this time you have an actual appointment with a real human who is expecting you to pick up your phone and call her. And you know she’s going to ask about the progress you’ve made this week. Suddenly the odds of you slipping into that tv coma are looking pretty slim.
If what you seek is a new way to braid your hair or a recipe for mermaid toast, by all means consult Pinterest — no need for professional guidance. But if you’re feeling like it’s time to make a big shift in some area of your life, do yourself a huge favor and get some help.
Start here:
Figure out what you want and why you want it. Hint: what you want right now could simply be … to figure out what you want.
Find someone who has mastered the area of life that you want to improve. An Olympic swimmer is no doubt a great athlete, but maybe not the best person to help you train for a marathon. Choose wisely.
Make sure that person is a good fit for you. Is it someone you respect? Admire? Can you be honest with them? Will they be honest with you??
Bring it! Your coach can and will help you, but only to the extent that you are willing to participate in your own success.
Now close Pinterest and get ready to show yourself and the universe you’re serious about elevating your game! The mermaid toast can wait.