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Author who studies millionaires: Here's how mentors fast-track success

Thanks to the success of my first book, "Rich Habits," I began to receive frequent emails from individuals around the world, asking me to be their mentor.

But I'm one person running three businesses. I knew it was impossible to be a mentor to everyone. So, when I sought to write my second book, "Rich Kids," I wanted to write a book that served one of the most important needs of success-minded individuals: the need to be mentored.

Mentorship, I learned from my Rich Habits Study, was one of the Rich Habits of self-made millionaires. Long before they became rich, the self-made millionaires in my study found people to mentor them.

Mentors fast-track success. They take the success learning curve from a lifetime down to just 12 years, according to my research data.

What does that mean? It means if you want to get rich before you get old, find mentors.

Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio in a scene from the film 'The Karate Kid', 1984,
Columbia Pictures | Getty Images
Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio in a scene from the film 'The Karate Kid', 1984,

Timothy Kim, a self-made millionaire, chronicles explains how he spent $70,000 on mentorship over the course of six months. Kim is like many of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study who were fanatical about seeking out mentors.

And they are happy to pay for that mentorship.

I do a lot of speaking engagements around the world (my favorite is the Wealth Retreat in Australia). Many of the organizations that pay me to speak charge upwards of $10,000 per participant for a five-day session. The attendees are always individuals who are pursuing wealth or who are already wealthy.

These attendees are willing to pay such large seminar fees because they believe in investing in the advice and support mentorship offers. Their hope is that they will learn something or meet someone at these events that will help take them to the next level.

And if those event hosts do their job, that's exactly what happens.

Success always requires an investment in your time and money. It's a fact that will never change. And mentorship is one of the best investments you can make because it puts you in touch with individuals who have already figured it out. True success mentors know what to do and what not to do. As a result, they reduce the risk of failure and increase the odds for success. They fast-track success.

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Don't miss: 31-year-old self-made millionaire: I spent $70,000 on mentorship in 6 months—here's why it was worth it

This article originally appeared on Rich Habits.