Remember the painful consequences you suffered after making an avoidable wrong choice? Maybe you were standing up in the front seat of a car, ignoring your father or mother’s warning to sit down and, as the car screeched to a halt, your forehead smacked against the dash. I bet you never stood up in a moving car again. Did you start heeding your parents’ advice (your first set of mentors)? Or did you then-and still today-need a good bump on the head to improve your ability to discern between right and wrong choices?
‘Don’t do that’
Do you seek wise counsel before making major choices in your life and business? Or do you find yourself making the same bad choices over and over again? A popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” What untruths do we believe that block us from being teachable?
Why do we react to a situation instead of responding to it? Responding requires thought and consideration of the consequences your actions will create.
Delegate wisely
Do you react to the mound of bills on your desk, or do you respond to it? Should you pay a financial adviser to come to your office and sort through your bills and have them tell you what’s owed and who to pay? Sorting and paying the bills is your job.
You can only delegate a responsibility after you know how to handle it yourself.
Some advice is free
Mine your advantages. If handling your finances is difficult, seek advice from those who have proven their survival abilities in the business world. Perhaps a patient of yours is a bank president who might take you under his or her wing and offer advice on monthly and yearly spreadsheets, savings, retirement, and investment options for your personal and corporate business.
Earned trust
If you are demonstrating fairness and consistency, your business partners and mentors will learn to trust you. Once you have earned their trust, other businesses will look forward to assisting you with your various needs.
Maybe business friends of your parents can aid you in locating, financing, constructing, equipping, and furnishing your new office. Surround yourself with mentors whose trust you have earned and whose value you recognize.
Deduct your way to wealth?
It might sound great when an office equipment salesperson tells you that costly-and desired-equipment can be written off as a tax deduction. It won’t take long to realize, however, that if the monthly payments exceed your monthly income, bankruptcy will be right around the corner.
If this has you asking: “You mean I don’t get to spend every dollar I make?” The simple answer is: no! The income your business generates is not all yours for the taking. Taxes and overhead are unavoidable. Learn the difference between a want and a need.
Are you ready for mentoring?
You might have taken bookkeeping in high school or college, but you probably weren’t making enough money at that time to put the knowledge into practice. You may now have your chiropractic license and be earning a salary, but you are still likely focused on the essentials of food, gas, car, and rental payments.
Hopefully, after you struck out on your own, you realized mentors are needed assets to help you move though life. Mentors help you recognize your weaknesses and transform them into strengths. A mentor’s value is inestimable-as long as you are teachable.
