The best source for mentors that’s often overlooked
As an exercise for a class I’m taking, I asked my friends recently what they were most likely to ask me for advice about (if anything).
This is one thing they were all curious about: How did I go from flat broke to a six figure income within a month?
I always answer that question the same way: I read the book Secrets of Six Figure Women. Within weeks of reading it, I had my first client sign a contract for 100K for a 12 month retainer.
Yeah, I know that sounds like BS, but it’s true.
Here’s the full story:
About 6 years ago, I was unemployed, in debt, and living in my friend’s attic in rural New Jersey.
At a major crossroads in life, I had no idea how to move forward. So I spent 3 months in the woods, with nothing to do but read (we had no tv) and think about what truly mattered to me.
I finally decided that my first priority at the age of 36 was not to find a new boyfriend after my recently failed engagement and try again to build a nuclear family.
And it also was was not my first priority to continue pursuing my dream job while living like a starving artist.
My top priority, I discovered, was to have a baby. This was the one thing that I knew, if I did not at least try, I would look back on with regret on my deathbed.
So, now that my goal was clear, there was only a few small problems:
I was single. And broke. And homeless.
I decided to tackle the most urgent problem first: money. I sat down and made a detailed budget of exactly how much I’d need to make a year in order to have a child by myself and still afford to live well (by my own standards: in my own apartment rather than my mother’s basement).
That figure turned out to be right around 100K. (Life ain’t cheap in Santa Monica, CA!)
I googled women making six figures. I bought Secrets of Six Figure Women. I read it. I took the author’s advice. About 3 weeks later a ran into an old friend who connected me with my first six figure client. I made a good pitch. I closed the deal. And then I started building my new life.
Now, whenever I meet a woman who wants to make more money but doesn’t know how, I recommend this book to her.
And as I’m sharing this with you, I’m realizing something striking:
Many of our most invaluable mentors will always be people we never met.
That’s because we can learn almost anything from books. There is always someone who has figured out before us how to accomplish our current goals. We are blessed to be able to learn from each other’s mistakes, research, insights and advice — all with one click on Amazon.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I want to give a special shout out to females authors who have mentored women through their books, like the woman who wrote Secrets of Six Figure Women, Barbara Stanney.
Thanks, Barbara!
I now have a beautiful four year old son who is the love of my life. And we live very well.
Some day I will pay it forward with a book of my own. I’m not sure yet what it will be about, but I hope it will help at least one woman change her life.
Originally published at medium.com