Ep 218 | We All Need a Mentor

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today I want to tell you a story, something that recently I had experienced, and I thought maybe you could benefit from this story as well. So I have a business in mind. I have something I'd like to start in 2024, something that I think many of us need. And I'm sure everyone at the No Days Off Nation will hear about it soon enough. As soon as I get the darn thing organized, structured, have my plan in place and begin to execute. I was sharing this idea with a financial planner I work with. Somebody that I believe is absolutely brilliant. And when I shared my idea with her, she said, you have to talk to my friend Sean. I didn't know why she wanted me to talk to Sean, but when she says to speak with someone, you do. And so I got on the phone with Sean, got on Zoom with Sean, and learned a little bit more about Sean. Sean happens to be an early-stage venture capitalist. And he says, hey, so-and-so told me, you know, you have a good idea, something you're working on. I'd love to hear about it. So I said, you know, what the heck? So I started telling Sean about my plan or what I have in mind, where I think there's a need. It's in the financial service world and, and how I have to capitalize on this opportunity in the first half of 2024. And then I'm going to do it. I just haven't figured out exactly the steps to take. So Sean begins to ask me questions. Now, I don't know Sean from anybody. I just, I know he's got quite a resume. I know he's had a lot of success in starting companies and supporting founders of companies. I have no, you know, at that moment had no thought of partnering with Sean or anybody for that matter with respect to this business. But Sean starts more or less ask me questions and says, you know, what would the crawl version of this company look like? So crawl, walk, run. What would the 0 to 1, you know, what's the crawl version of this company look like? And I start giving them, you know, what my thinking small rendition of it might look like, what my thinking bigger version of it might look like. And he says, that's great. And then Sean says to me, well, what do you think about maybe testing this by targeting 20 specific customers, getting feedback, seeing which tweaks you need to make, and how you may build this company from there? I said, yeah, that's a really good idea. Then he said, you know, how could you further test your hypothesis? I hear that you say there's a need here. How could you further test it? And we start dialoguing around that. Then he says, what about other businesses? Like who you could partner with that, that may already have a toe in the water with respect to what you want to do. Is there a partnership opportunity for you to where you don't have to build it from the ground up, but instead you partner with somebody who already has the infrastructure and you build upon that? I'm like, ah, that's a really good idea. I got to think about that. And then Sean, in closing out our conversation, he says, Hey, would it help you if you shoot me an email every couple of weeks that lists kind of what you've got going on, what's on your mind, where you won over the past couple of weeks, where you had some struggles and what needs or assistance, what asks you may have? I said, Sean, you know what? That'd be really cool. I'd appreciate that. And I got off of Zoom and I'm like, wow, that was a pretty good call. I mean, he asked me a number of questions and Got me thinking about things in a different, from a different perspective. And then it hit me. Every single thing that Sean said to me, I actually turned around and already coached people on myself. In other words, Sean was giving me all of my content right back. Sean was mentoring me. And, and it was kind of this light bulb moment. Uh, I am certainly not too good for a mentor. I don't think any of us are. But you know, sometimes I go through life thinking, you know, I'm not seeking a mentor in this or seeking a coach in that. And my discovery is that we all need mentors. We all need mentors to get through roadblocks. Whether we know it or not, there are people in this world that care about what we're doing, that have more experience in specific things than we do. That in simply engaging just in conversation or letting them ask questions will chart, will help you chart a different path or a different course. What Sean did for me was invaluable. And it was funny because I wasn't seeking a mentor, but my discovery was we all need mentors in all aspects of life. What's a mentor do? A mentor is just an experienced or more knowledgeable individual. Who gives you guidance, who gives you support, who gives you advice. And usually this more experienced individual who's helping, in my case, a less experienced individual develop my skills and my knowledge and my understanding, they benefit from giving back or from deepening in a relationship. I think for Sean, from Sean's perspective, my guess is he wants to deepen our relationship and who knows where things can go. So he gains by giving and I gain insights based on his experiences and his expertise. So the focusing question for you today, given my story and just my thoughts around our need for mentors, where in your life right now are you actually in need of guidance, but you have not been purposeful in seeking it from an individual? Sure. Maybe you've listened to a podcast, maybe you've read a book, but is there an individual or individuals missing in your life right now that would help you get to the next level? I'm not necessarily asking for a formal relationship. I'm not saying you need to employ a coach. I'm just saying, is there anybody that you know or do not know, but could be connected to that can in fact help you get to that next level? Today. There may be one thing you're not seeing that's impeding your ability to grow. So the challenge for you, go find that person or those persons today. Take action today. Take action this week. Overcome the obstacle and grow, grow at an even faster pace than you presently are today. That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.