You pretending that you have it all figured out is costing you massive momentum in the business cheerleader category.
And forget about the short skirts and pom-poms.
These cheerleaders aren’t distracting you from the game. They are the old guys in the TV box calling the play-by-play.
They’re the guys who have coached and played the game.
Sure they criticize and shake their head at you fumbling a wide-open touchdown. Sure they argue about how much effort you are really putting in.
But they want you to succeed.
And there is nothing that puts these guys in a worse mood than hearing that you think you have it all figured out.
And it’s not all about the words that you are using.
- It’s how you listen when they are talking.
- It’s how you answer the questions they ask you.
- It’s how you follow-up on the advice they give you.
If you are a bull-headed entrepreneur, chances are that you need to get better at asking for help.
You need to stop pretending you have it all figured it out and start purposefully asking other people to help you figure it out together.
And, oh by the way, this is different than you putting a guilt trip on anyone within 30 feet of your sales pitch. That friends and family nuclear bomb you drop when things get especially tough.
And it’s not too hard to learn how to do.
Start your conversations differently.
Start with stating the basic premise: “I don’t have it all figured out, but…” or “I am not sure this is right, but…” and then explain yourself.
You may not fully understand it right now, but don’t forget how startling de-motivating it is try to help someone who has a great idea but the lack of good sense to know how to take criticism.
Talented mentors can propel your business in a direction you only dreamed about previously.
- They know important people you don’t know.
- They know important business facts you don’t know.
- They know important life lessons that you haven’t experienced yet.
They know failure. They know pain. They know loss.
They know how to help you.
But they aren’t going to force you to listen to them. They’ll just move on to the entrepreneur standing next to you.
Don’t be too selfishly stubborn to ask for help.
It’s an attitude thing.
