My Reality Check Bounced! - Jason Ryan Dorsey [41]
When the jury came back and took their seats, the foreman read the decision aloud, “Not guilty.” Jimmy had just earned his first acquittal in a jury trial, and he had had his Bar Card for less than one year! Most of his law school classmates had not yet earned the right to file papers unsupervised, and he had just won his first real case. When Dan found out the jury’s decision, he sent a mass e-mail to all the attorney’s in his vast network proudly notifying them that his twenty-six-year-old protégé had just made a name for himself.
You may be wondering how smart Jimmy was to accept an offer of no salary but the opportunity to bring in his own clients. At the time, his law school classmates teased him for not securing a safe, stable salary. But all Jimmy needed was a chance to prove himself and a high-performing tag team. His first year is not over yet, but so far it appears he’ll earn more money than any graduate at his competitive law school—and he’ll also make some evening news shows.
Not bad for a C– graduate. All it took was plugging in and building a tag team that pulled him toward his dreams.
* * *
BOUNCED: I can’t make it because I don’t have the right connections.
CASHED: I can make it because the right connections are right under my nose!
* * *
TWO STEPS TOWARD BUILDING A TAG TEAM
In your own way, you are in the same real-world hit-or-miss position in which Jimmy began. You steer toward your future based on your dreams, the risks you’re willing to take, what you learn along the way, and the people you surround yourself with to help you get there. You can try to travel the long road to your Future Picture alone, but when you’re alone you’re limited to your own individual talents, resilience, and abilities.
If you’re brave enough to have a vision for your future greater than you alone can create, you will need a tag team who can help you get there. Your tag team enhances your knowledge, abilities, resilience, and talents and pushes you toward greater success as if reaching your dreams were a team sport. So where do you start?
Step 1: Find a Mentor
You begin to build your tag team by finding a mentor whom you trust, respect, and can count on. This mentor becomes the cornerstone of your tag team. Besides offering expertise and real-world contacts, your mentor must believe in you, possibly even more than you believe in yourself! Having a mentor who strongly believes in you makes a huge difference when life’s not going your way. His unwavering belief inspires your belief. His wisdom guides your decisions. His contacts open doors you could not otherwise unlock. His previous success guides your future success.
Your mentor is your primary go-to resource when you have a big life question, simply need someone to listen, or feel overwhelmed. He keeps you focused on your priorities and usually has a gift for seeing the big picture when you see only frustration.
Your mentor stands by your side through the good and the bad. He doesn’t give up on you when you fall on your face or when you land on your feet. Most likely, he has done both. He will not abandon you when your mouth outruns your abilities. But he will allow you to fail, so you can learn the tough lessons you need to move ahead. Your mentor knows that shaping your future helps shape his own legacy.
Mentors understand the power of a legacy, because they usually have had their own mentors. I know that all of my mentors have had their own mentors. In fact, one of my oldest mentors called me to share his excitement at finding a new mentor.