The Map for Success

Tony Robbins introduced me to the concept of modeling. If there is something you want to achieve then find someone else who has already achieved it and model after him/her. Modeling will shortcut your learning curve and give you a template for how to achieve a particular goal. Modeling provides you a map to follow. The map will show you how to get from point A to point B in the shortest time, shortest distance, etc. Without a map you’d would have to experiment and through trial and error you would eventually get to your destination.

If you were to land in a city new to you a map would be very helpful. A map of the wrong city would be disastrous however. If you land in New York city and you’re reading a map from Detroit then no matter how fast you drive you’ll probably never get to your destination.

We all have a magical destination of where we’d like to be in terms of wealth, career, finances, etc. We’ll call this destination Disneyland. If you want to go to Disneyland you need to find someone with a map to Disneyland. Someone who’s never been to Disneyland would probably not have the map and give you wrong directions. It would be pointless to ask someone who’s never been to Disneyland to give you directions to it.

As obvious as this appears to be we seem to do it wrong all the time. Who do you get your personal finance guidance from? Your brother? your uncle? your coworkers? Well let me ask you, is your brother, uncle, or coworker in Disneyland? Are they in the financial nirvana you would like to achieve or are they as broke as you are?

I see it all the time. “My brother/uncle/coworker told me real estate is going up/going down/going sideways”. “He/she said it is a good/bad/terrible time to invest in real estate”. Yet if you ask your “expert” advisers you will probably find they’ve never done any real estate investment.

I know I know, you’re smarter than that. You get your financial advice from Money magazine, Yahoo, etc. I mean Money magazine surely has expert tips on how to get wealthy right? Let me ask you again, are the reporters/writers of those magazines in the financial nirvana you would like to be in? Are they wealthy? Or are they just in the rat race like you? Do you know people that follow their advice and are they in Disneyland or well on their way there?

Choose your mentors wisely. If you want to go to Disneyland find someone who’s been there and ask them for the map. It is only when you have the right map that you can truly make progress towards your goal of getting to point B.