Learn From Those Who Have Gone Before

As the world evolves and changes, information continuously changes as well. Maintaining up with the latest trends and developments can be challenging, especially when we work in a field that is constantly changing. In order to remain ahead of the curve, we must learn from those who have gone before us.

As Grant Baldwin learned his way around the speaking business, he surrounded himself with people ahead of him and learned from them. As his popularity grew, he spoke to large crowds in arenas and stadiums.

He is also an entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, and a speaking coach. As the founder of The Speaker Lab, he helps people find and book speaking gigs. More than 500,000 people have heard Grant’s keynotes across 47 states. His earnings from 500+ paid engagements have exceeded $2 million. The Speaker Lab, a podcast he started in 2015, helps speakers gain clarity, confidence, and a clear path to impact. Additionally, he is the author of The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform, where he outlines his formula for public speaking success.

Having said that, let’s explore how to learn from those who have gone before you and live a fulfilled life.

The Benefits of Learning from Those Who Have Gone Before Us

• Save time and effort. We can save a lot of time and effort by learning from others’ mistakes and successes. Whenever we embark on a new project or face a new challenge, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
• Gain valuable insights and perspectives. The experiences and perspectives of people who have already achieved success in a particular field can be extremely valuable. By looking at things from a different angle, they can help us identify new possibilities.
• Get motivated and inspired. Successful people can offer a lot of inspiration and motivation if we learn about their journeys. In addition to showing us what is possible, it can provide us with the confidence we need to pursue our own goals.

How to Learn From Those Who Have Gone Before

To learn from those who have gone before us, follow these tips:

• Identify your mentors. Identify the people in your life who you admire and who have succeeded in the areas you are committed to. If you are interested in learning from them, contact them. You can also read articles they’ve written or listen to their podcasts.
• Ask questions. If you want to know about your mentor’s experiences, challenges, and advice, don’t be afraid to ask. Take advantage of their knowledge and insights as much as you can.
• Be open to feedback. You should be willing to listen to your mentors’ feedback and to make changes based on their recommendations. Don’t forget that they want you to succeed.
• Take action. Rather than just listening to your mentors, take action. Don’t hesitate to act on their advice. Learning and growing are best accomplished this way.

In different aspects of life, we can learn from those who have gone before us in the following ways:

• Business. In order to build a successful business, you can learn a lot from successful entrepreneurs. Attend their workshops, read their books, and watch their interviews. If you need advice, you can also contact them directly.
• Career. In order to advance your career, you can learn from those who have already succeeded in your field. Attend industry events, network with others in the industry, and talk to your mentors.
• Personal development. In areas such as health, fitness, relationships, and personal finance, you can learn from people who have already achieved success. Attend workshops and conferences, read books, watch videos, and listen to interviews.

Whether it is in your professional or personal life, learning from those who have gone before you is a key to success. We can gain valuable insights and perspectives, save time and effort, and get motivated and inspired by leveraging the knowledge and experience of others.

Furthermore, having these connections and contacts decreases the learning curve compared to simply going to Google and asking, “How do I save on taxes?” Who do I need to talk to?” If you know who you can trust, then things become significantly easier.

To learn from those who have gone before us, here are some additional tips:

Be selective.

Don’t try to learn from everyone. Choose mentors and resources that are relevant to your goals and interests.

For Grant, this is why he joined my Lifestyle Investor Mastermind in the first place because he knew we had several mutual friends and he wanted to learn more about investing from someone who was a step or two ahead of where he wanted to be.

Work hard while also enjoying a fulfilling life.

Set goals for yourself and be willing to work hard to achieve them. However, it is more important to remember who you are than what you do.

This is something that Grant and I believe wholeheartedly. “The who you and I are as husbands, as dads, as human beings, is way more important than any of the entrepreneurial crap that we do,” Grant elaborates. “Now, we both love the entrepreneurial stuff. It’s a ton of fun but I never want to do those things at the detriment of my role as a husband, as a dad, as a son, as a friend, as a human being.”

In other words, those things are really, really important. That is something that we both want to ensure our company is instilled with.

Join a community.

Support your community and get involved.

Since being a part of the Mastermind, Grant has invested in a number of deals. In the end, it was the networking that was more important. The reason he has been to find “people who are a step or two ahead of where you’re at, there are ways to get access to those people.”

Invest in long-term relationships.

I think having a long-term perspective on the ROI of relationships is important, especially when it comes to relationships with people that you don’t need anything from today but you want to build this relationship so that maybe at some point you need to ask them something, says Grant.

And, this is definitely true with your employees.

“Whatever your role is, we care more about that than what you bring to the table,” says Grant. “And when we do that and when you know that as a team member, then I think that you bring your best self and you bring your best self not only to the company, to your teammates, to the customers, the employees or the students that we work with. But you feel a lot more confident that my company has my back.”

Focus on the people you want to learn from.

Initially, Grant joined the Lifestyle Investor Mastermind because he believed I could teach him more about investing.

“I want to take some money off the table and invest and I’m not entirely sure what that looks like,” he elaborates. “So, here’s a guy that is new who is a step or two ahead of where I want to be, and clearly has like the same type of values, morals, and the same type of philosophy on just more than just investing, but just life.”

According to Grant, finding someone who’s doing something you want to do personally, professionally, recreationally, or whatever it is, and being able to learn from them is key to anyone’s success.