It seems these days that everyone who meets someone else more successful wants an immediate mentor. There is a misconception out there as to what mentors do and what good advice can do for you. One common rule to follow in order to not make a fool of yourself is to understand that real money isn’t made overnight, its made with hard work and dedication. Asking a successful person “What do you do?” with the hopes of hearing that they work for some MLM pyramid scheme like Primerica or 5linx is very unlikely but instead expect a very vague answer as most wealthy people have their hands into many things and typically won’t tell you how they made their money but rather something they are working on, even though it may not have made them any money yet.
It becomes highly difficult to find the right people to help you, guide you and offer you sound advice but what if you do fall on a few of these people in your lifetime?
Here are 5 basic rules to follow when finally meeting the one that will take a moment and talk to you:
1. DO NOT sell your ideas
One common mistake made by many dreamers is that they often wish they would meet the one rich guy that will take an idea they have and help them launch it. Often they will bring up their idea in the first conversation and give away all their plans while indirectly asking the person if they would interested in helping launch it. There two main problems here, the first one being that the person you’re pitching doesn’t know you nor care about your idea, as you have nothing more than an idea and nothing keeps that person from taking your idea and simply going forward on their own. The second problem is that successful wealthy people don’t do business with random people they meet on the street and definitely don’t do business on day one with someone that has nothing to show for themselves yet. Even if you idea is good, it will most likely end on death ears. Value the person’s time too, as they are most likely very busy and therefore are being generous with their time.
2. DO NOT Contradict.
When asking for advice, please remember that you asked a question and now will get an answer, therefore you must listen and not argue. If you knew it all to begin with, then why did you ask the question. Many people often have a too much self confidence and therefore start to question everything they hear and state their opinion as to hearing otherwise by others. You asked for an answer, we gave you one. We didn’t give you the answer, we gave you one answer and really don’t care about what you have heard previously. You can ask us to expand on that if you need clarification.
3 ASK relevant questions only
Ask questions that are relevant to what you have been told. Asking a lawyer if he knows the path to medical school is simply stupid. Ask questions that the mentor would be able to answer. A good example would be that you are trying to launch a website design company and yet meet a very successful business owner, so perhaps relevant questions regarding his use of web designs and the role they play in his everyday business.
4. DO NOT get to nosy.
Asking questions like ” How much do you make?” or asking very dumb questions like ” How much do you pay a month for your Ferrari?” are simply arrogant and ignorant, without mentioning a huge turn off for your mentor. Do not ask details that are personal as they will most likely never be shared. Remember that real wealthy people don’t brag about things, they simply go about their day in an ordinary fashion.
5. Ball is in your court.
Once you receive ALL of this wonderful information and all the advice you can handle, the ball is now in your court and therefore requires you to run with it and act upon it. Do not expect anyone to hold your hand, it is your success and it is in your hands but keep in mind that there was no point in speaking to the person you spoke to if you don’t act upon the new information you have learned. Also keep in mind that if the second time you meet this person you are asking all the same things and really haven’t acted upon anything, they might cut their losses and assume you are a waste of their time.
Those are the TOP 5 things to NOT do when you meet the right person that is going to take time and help you..
