Something weird is happening to me this week. I’m not sure what it is but I’m starting to see things differently.
You see – I was in the shower a few days ago, like every morning, and I was looking at the controls. We have a horizontal silver bar going across and at one end you twist to turn the water on and at the other you twist to adjust the temperature.
Now the plumber was very keen to tell us when he had installed it, some time ago, that there was a little button on the temperature one, that as long as we didn’t press it – would make sure the water always stayed below a certain temperature (scalding) and then children would always be safe in the shower as it could never get too hot.
Alternatively if we wanted a hotter shower – we should press the button and go for it, hoping that no-one in the house turned on a cold tap or flushed a toilet, or we might get burnt!
Now, I have always known about this button and as the kids are now a lot older, I often find the button pressed and very hot water coming at me.
Theoretically – I have always known about the matching button on the other side. At least I have noticed there was one, but I actually thought it was just a design feature to match the temperature one. I never thought it was a real button. Until Monday.
I suddenly had an urge to see if I could press the button and see what happened. So I did. And quickly realised it was a REAL button and it made the water come out faster.
Oh, for goodness sake!
I have long hair – my daughter has longer hair. A greater force of water is quite handy when washing copious amounts of hair. And I never knew that was there, FOR YEARS, because no one told me.
And then I realised how reflective of life in general and business in particular, that is.
As an entrepreneur you just get on with it. Most of us have not been to Uni and done a ‘business degree’ or had any formal training. You just kind of work it out yourself as you go along. At first you have to – again, most of us don’t start a business with a few hundred grand in the bank and the ability to hire other people. So, you work it out for yourself, or you work out a workaround – and you get things done.
And then one day – you are in a position where every last penny is not the most important thing anymore – TIME is. And so you start outsourcing the bits you don’t love (accounts, answering the phone to sales calls from India) and if you have worked out that you can’t do it all alone, you look for a mentor or mentors to help you.
You see a mentor can shave weeks, months, or years off your journey. They have ‘been there and done that’, and I am very fortunate to have 3 fantastic mentors in my business, (for public speaking, digital and for personal development).
My mentors have helped me accelerate my public speaking skills so that I can now go and stand on stage – with no notice, no notes and no AV and speak for 30 minutes, 90 minutes or all day – on subjects I know quite a bit about, and make sales from stage. I can scale a social media business from 2 of us to 14 of us in a little less than 2 years. And I am clearer about what makes me happy and why I am doing what I do (helping others, travelling, making a difference).
Which is why I started my Leading Women in Business Dream Board – a mastermind group for women (don’t worry men – that’s coming soon), who run their own business and don’t want to relearn how to make a wheel. The women in the group are generally early stages of their business (0-3 years) and want to achieve in months, rather than years. They understand that when you have the experience of others who are further along their journey than you, it can massively benefit you. And not only that, but that you no longer feel alone.
One lady joined our group last month DAYS into starting her business and a week before a major conference. Through the power of the Mastermind, we were able to outline a plan for her to maximise her time at the 3 day conference, and I can’t wait to hear how it went on the 25th of this month, at our next meeting.
Feel free to come along to a session with no obligation for a long term commitment. If you are looking for support, ideas, and practical steps to move your business along quicker and easier than battling on alone – I invite you to attend and see for yourself the power of a mastermind. Or go find a mastermind elsewhere that you think will fit with you. But for goodness sake – stop trying to do everything on your own. You just WON’T work it out as quickly.
If only the plumber would have told me about the other button……..