The 33% Rule For Success

It makes sense to seek out a mentor. Every successful person has had at least one, but have you ever wondered why a successful person would even take that person on to mentor? Furthermore, there are a lot of people who simply just give out free information to others. They start blogs, Facebook groups, and produce instructional YouTube videos. But why?

This is just part of the 33% rule for success.

Successful people have realized along their journey that they should be spending time with people who are doing the things you want to be doing someday, people who are your peers, and those who aren’t where you are yet.

Spend Time with People Not on Your Level

So many of us get wrapped up in our own problems and don’t take a minute to step outside of our situation, take a look around, and get our bearings. By spending time with people in your industry who aren’t quite at the place you are, you tend to gain a sense of humble humility. You also get a sense that you are further ahead than from where you came. This will give you a slight boost in your perceived ability to handle problems. I specifically use the word “perceived” because I believe we have an unlimited internal resource for thinking critically and solving problems. However, many of us just don’t ‘think’ we do. By spending 33% of your time with people who aren’t where you are, mentoring and coaching them, you’ll gain a lot of confidence.

Compete with Your Peers

The second third of our time should be spent with people who are on the same level that we are. Just imagine going to the gym and working out with only people who weren’t quite at your level of physical fitness. Eventually, you wouldn’t try as hard. You wouldn’t put out that much effort. Spending time with people who are on your level sparks the competitive side and you’ll exert more time, effort, and resources to beat them. This is healthy for professional growth as well.

Get a Mentor

The other 33% of people that we should spend time with are people that are doing the things that we want to be doing…people who are a couple of levels above where we are currently. This gives us something to strive for and continue growing. Furthermore, you gain valuable insight on how to get there. The human brain only learns by making mistakes. That’s a commonly accepted fact by scientists across many fields of biology. Sam Walton once said that it isn’t a rule that says that these mistakes have to be their own. So many people who are doing what you want to be doing or are at the level of success, income, independence, etc. have already made the mistakes. You can cheat experience by learning from their mistakes instead.

If you aren’t reaching out to pull people up that aren’t quite on your level yet, start. If you aren’t getting competitive with your peers or you don’t have a mentor or two, it’s time to get busy. By grounding yourself and focusing on the present, while learning from the past, and being excited for the future, your future self will be so much further ahead than if you don’t.

To understand more about the mentor-student relationship of a highly effective team, read about the corporate atmosphere on our website.