You need to teach.

At some point in your life you need to recognize what your gift is and share it with others.  You may have more than one, but you have one for certain.  Everyone does.

My Dad And My Son

I have been taught, I have taught and I have missed opportunities for both.

As a father, I find that teaching opportunities present themselves with a unique clarity.  Fathers are naturally inclined to teach and find themselves in the midst of teaching moments regularly. Mothers are as well.

This doesn’t excuse everyone else from teaching.  It simply heightens my awareness of the importance of mentorship.

When I was young, I could throw a baseball.  I played baseball for years and excelled as an outfielder.  As I got older, I started to lose interest in playing and eventually quit to pursue other interests. 

During one game in high school I was called in to pitch. My team was getting smoked 13 to 2 and my coach was finally giving me an opportunity to pitch.  A request that I had made countless times over the years.  As an outfielder, it should have been pretty clear to anyone watching that I could throw.  That’s what you do in the outfield, among other things.  You throw.  I didn’t know how to “pitch”, but I could throw.  Anyway, this particular game, the pitcher on my team, who was getting rocked, was throwing junk.  Knuckle balls, sliders and curves.  So my fastball was significantly faster than his pitches.  I’d say the difference between my fastball and his pitches was at least 20 miles per hour.  A HUGE difference for the batters I was about to face.  I came in with nobody out and 3 innings left to play.  This means I had to get 3 outs 3 times to end the game and it takes 3 strikes to get someone out in a baseball game (for those of you unfamiliar with the game).  I stepped on the mound and after warming up I began my first official game as a high school pitcher.  27 pitches later, the game was over.  I threw 27 fastballs and struck out 9 guys in a row.  The crowd was yelling and my catcher was complaining about how his hand was hurting.  It was my 15 minutes of fame (one of them).

No one ever approached me and said, “hey kid, let me teach you how to pitch”.  I quit playing in college.

I don’t write this with any bitterness or regret.  I write this as a perfect example of an opportunity lost for mentorship.  I played sports at a pretty high level with a lot of guys who went pro.  It wasn’t physical talent that distinguished those that made it from those that didn’t.  It was mentorship and dedication.

Somewhere along the way, as choices needed to be made, most of these guys had a parent, a coach a teacher or even a complete stranger step in and nudge them with the right message at the right time and they took the necessary steps in the right direction.  It made the difference.

Don’t miss the point here. I believe wholeheartedly in the concept of personal accountability.  We are all responsible for our own success.  Personal accountability not withstanding, you have the power to change people’s lives.

Whatever your gift is, whatever your talent and abilities allow you to do well, you have an obligation to share it with others.  It matters not your age or station in life.  Not your race or gender or previous accomplishments or failures.

This blog, this online medium, is, in part, set up for the purpose of teaching others how to spread their word.

Some 20 years ago, I happened upon a couple of mentors that identified, in me, an ability to persuade, lead and communicate.  Two guys taught me how to sell, recruit and then build a business to sell and recruit.

I entered their lives by complete coincidence and happenstance.  They could have easily dismissed me or been distracted from helping me by other priorities.  For some reason they didn’t and I became successful.  I built a couple of recruiting businesses and sold them for millions of dollars.

I doing so, I have had the opportunity to teach many students to do what I do and I’ve had the opportunity to watch them grow and succeed.  It’s the most fulfilling thing I have ever done outside of being a father.

As I get older and reflect back on my life up to this point, it becomes more and more clear that I have an obligation to both seek out and provide mentorship whenever possible.

You do too.

Figure out what you want to teach and start teaching.  It could be a blog or an information product or some articles leading up to a book.  It could be speaking engagements or counseling.  There are countless ways that you can learn to leverage the internet to teach people and provide mentorship.

You can change people’s lives.

I spend a great deal of time talking to my children about entrepreneurship and the idea of finding a mentor in pursuit of their dreams.  I am passionate about them being able to support themselves and not having to depend on anyone else for their well being.

I refer to this as passion…my kids call it nagging

This idea of mentorship also applies to everything outside of the professional arena as well.

Hobbies, physical well being, spirituality, you name it, it works.

No matter what else you do, seek out a mentor for your passions and spend some time fulfilling your obligation to the rest of us to teach us what you know.

If I can help, let me know.