Follow The Leader

This post is Day #24 in the 31 Days to a Better Work + Life Balance series.

Discouragement, indecision, weakness and times of feeling stuck happen to all of us at some point. Managing a lot of things can be tricky, especially when you're in the beginning years. How do you know when decisions are the right ones if you've never seen the results?

It's actually pretty simple: you find someone who's been there before. 

It's In The Bible

If you've read through the gospels, you know that Jesus chose 12 guys to follow him around and learn from Him. The disciples were kind of like his inner circle. He took the time to explain hard things to them. He patiently corrected them when they were way off. If you look at these guys' lives before they met him, they weren't exactly impressive. But Jesus was able to look at these average disciples and see what they couldn't see in themselves. He believed in them and challenged them accordingly. 

It can make such a big difference in our lives to have someone awesome to follow. If you have a mentor to teach you everything they know, you might be able to grow faster, be stronger and skip over big mistakes.

We also stay a lot more motivated because they show us what we could be in the future.

Find Your Influences

I try to keep on the lookout for those who are in the stage ahead of me. Since I work mostly online, I like to follow a lot of blogs and join online communities like the Influence Network. Joining neighborhood or church groups are awesome for this too. But maybe it means just subscribing to someone's feed or chatting with them on social media every once in awhile if you're limited on time.  Make that first move to find those who can lead you by the hand.

Take Notes

When I was first starting my design business, I used to soak up as much as I could from those who have been there. What resources did they use? What kept them motivated? Where did they find new customers? Many times I could find this info by reading blogs posts, ebooks and taking e-courses. But if all else fails, just ask. People love to give advice and share what they've learned, so let others help you.

Trust Your Guts

Just because you're learning from someone else, it doesn't mean you have to be their mini-me. Get creative and put your own spin on things. Use your strengths along with their great advice to move forward.