It's Never to Late to Raise the Bar

Three years ago, I found myself standing in the lobby of a hotel in Orlando wondering if, at this stage of my life, I had any business trying to learn an entirely new craft.

I had joined the National Speakers Association and traveled to its national convention with one purpose: to raise my bar. I had spent decades telling stories about my life as an artist—the bumps, bruises, failures and occasional triumphs—but I wanted to understand what separated someone who simply tells a good story from someone who can truly move an audience.

Then, almost on cue, I bumped into Dr. Nido Qubein.  Nido was surrounded by colleagues, yet he spotted me, welcomed me into the group and even invited me to dinner. What he gave me that evening was more than advice about speaking. He allowed me to experience a community and a profession he has spent a lifetime helping shape.

I watched. I listened. And I learned.

Find people worth watching.
I've discovered that some of our greatest mentors may never know they are mentoring us.  One of mine died years before I ever heard his voice.  Jim Rohn has become an almost daily companion in my studio. As I paint, I frequently listen to recordings of this Idaho farm boy who went broke in his early thirties and ultimately became one of America's great teachers of personal development.  His wisdom is wonderfully simple.

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”  That one stopped me. So did his challenge to become a millionaire, not simply for the money, but because of what you must become in order to achieve it.  Rohn wasn't really talking about money. He was talking about transformation.

It's never too late to become the student again.
Sometimes while listening to Rohn, I've caught myself wondering, Where was this fellow when I was 30?  Then I realize that's probably the wrong question.  Would I have listened?

Back then I was consumed with surviving the proverbial starving-artist syndrome, raising a family, building a business and trying to prove that I could make a living with a paintbrush. Perhaps I needed those years before I was ready to understand what Rohn was teaching.

Today his words land differently.  “Why? Why not? Why not now? Why not you?”  At this stage of life, those aren't motivational slogans to me. They're a reminder that growth doesn't have an expiration date. As long as we're willing to remain curious, there is another bar to raise.

Eventually, someone begins watching you.
A few years ago, another mentor, professional speaker Chuck Gallagher, challenged me to write—and to write often. That encouragement eventually became this weekly article, The ART of Making a Difference.

I didn't begin writing because I thought I had all the answers. Quite the opposite.  I wanted to share what I was seeing, what stirred me, and occasionally a lesson someone else had taught me that might offer you a fresh perspective.

Perhaps that's how mentoring really works.  Nido influenced me by welcoming me in. Jim Rohn mentors me through recordings made decades ago. Chuck nudged me to put my own thoughts on paper. And now I realize something else.  While we're busy watching those ahead of us, someone behind us may be watching too.

The Takeaway
Find people who make you want to raise your bar. Study them, listen carefully and remain teachable regardless of your age or accomplishments.  But don't stop there. Live in such a way that what you learn becomes worth passing along.

Because somewhere along life's journey, we move almost imperceptibly from student to teacher.