Today we continue on with identifying how to make a significant impact on how quickly you learn and overcome obstacles. We’re examining my experience with learning how to ski (correctly) this season and taking those key lessons and applying it to our business and personal lives.

(If you missed the first part of this lesson, click here to check it out…it really lays the foundation for what I’m covering here today in Part 2.)

My 2nd major lesson was how critically important it was that I had a mentor…and to continuing having a mentor. Actually, I had many mentors over the years (hired ski instructors). And all of them were helpful to me at the time.

But the one who really made a difference for me was my mom-in-law. We worked together to figure out what adjustments were needed. She was knowledgeable from skiing for well over 30 years, and that certainly helped.

But even she had certain tips and exercises that didn’t work for me, that worked for her. It took the two of us together putting our heads into what would work for ME.

There’s no way she could know and experience what it was that I was experiencing. She couldn’t do it for me. So I had to use my own mind, feeling things out for myself, and then applying what she and my former instructors had taught me in previous lessons.

It was from that process that I had one of my biggest “Ah-ha”s (epiphanies) yet that made THE difference in my terrible left hand turns just a couple Sunday’s ago.

I figured out that I wasn’t leaning into my left turns. If anything, I was leaning away from them.

It was uncomfortable and even a bit scary when I started working on this new approach…leaning in hard, even over-exaggerating at first, to begin teaching my body to trust this technique. But it made all the difference in my confidence and comfort in my turns.

You might be wondering, “Okay Christine…so how does this “mentor”  lesson apply to our big topic here…which is overcoming obstacles and learning anything fast?”

Anyone who has ever worked with a coach or mentor in their life (at any age), knows that the fastest way to learn is to be guided by someone who has done it before, or even better, is doing it NOW.

That certainly sounds like common sense when we think of learning a new sport.

But what about learning new skill-sets related to work, or starting a new business?

The fact is, it’s just as helpful and important to have a mentor for learning new work-related skill-sets and/or starting a new business.

Let’s face it…it can be easy to get distracted by things that will only slow you down, or hinder you, when you’re doing something new.

Years ago I hired a personal trainer when I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t seeing any progressive difference in my body, when I was working out like a mad woman. He gave me one of the best analogy’s I’ve ever heard…

He told me that the way I was working out, “was like training for a marathon by practicing sprints, hurdles, the 400 meter, and running 10 miles.” As fast as I was putting on muscle (from lifting heavy weights), I was chewing it up with the other types of exercise I was doing at the same time.

He showed me exactly what I needed to do, to get the results I’d been wanting for the past 2 years. I lost 50 pounds in less than 12 months after receiving his mentor-ship and guidance.

(And by the way, this wasn’t one of those “personal trainers” that spent every workout with me, pushing me, and showing me what to do every time I came into the gym. He laid out what I was doing wrong, showed me what I needed to do, and then let me move forward and take action on my own.)

Find a mentor who has been there, done that, and even better, who is doing it now. They can help you get from where you’re at, to where you want to go in a fraction of the time it would take you to figure it out on your own. But just remember…they can’t do it for you

That’s all for today’s lesson. And if you joined me for Part 1, then you know we’ve got one more MAJOR lesson to go…perhaps the biggest lesson of all three.  This is a BIG one…you don’t want to miss it! So I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

In the meantime, don’t just “go back to work” or whatever it was that you were doing before reading this. Take just a minute or two, and think about what your big take-away was here today…and more importantly how you can apply it to your life.

What one actionable item can you take today (write it down now) that will move you closer to the results you want? Maybe it’s reaching out to a mentor you’ve not tapped into yet for wisdom or guidance (send an email, make a phone call). Maybe it’s blocking out an hour later today to research who is knowledgeable in what it is that you’re wanting to overcome or learn. Whatever it might be, write it down now, block out time for it now (unless you’re going to do it right now), and then be sure to follow through on it later. Because you and I both know, it’s that important to you.

See you tomorrow!

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