By Rodger Constandse & John Fike

Are you setting out on a new venture or career path? Are you trying to reach a goal that is new or unfamiliar to you?

One of the best ways to ensure success and see that success happens sooner rather than later is to model someone that has already done what you are setting out to do.

Almost anything you want to do or achieve has already been done by someone else. Rather than forge your own path, making mistakes and delaying success along the way, why not study what those other people have done?

They’ve already made their mistakes and they’ve already found the road to success. It only makes sense to follow the same road.

This strategy is called “modeling” because you are modeling what someone else has done in order to achieve the kind of success he or she achieved.

By studying the activities and methods that have brought success to other people and doing the very same things yourself, you shortcut the learning process and speed up your success.

Modeling is Like Having a Recipe for Success

If you want to bake a chocolate cake like you remember grandma baking, wouldn’t you try to get your hands on the same recipe she used?

So follow the same tactic when trying to accomplish any other goal as well. If you want to start a business of some sort, find someone who has already built a successful enterprise of a similar sort. Find out what made them successful and model it in your own actions and behavior.
It’s true that you may not be able to find someone who has done exactly what you want to do, but you can certainly find someone who has done something very similar. You may even have to model two or three individuals in order to gain all the skill sets necessary for what you want to do.

There are two ways to employ modeling: you can ask someone to mentor you and walk you through the steps to success, or you can study a successful person’s habits, methods and beliefs by finding information on them.

Modeling through a Mentor

A mentor relationship is the best way to avoid pitfalls, because your mentor can show you what he would do differently if he were to start over again. A mentor also allows you to ask questions and get direct answers, and a mentor will often help you make tough decisions along the way.

However, mentoring may not be practical for you due to distance between you and your mentor, conflicting schedules or some other reason.

Modeling through Research

In this case, we turn to studying the individual or individuals through information sources. Success leaves clues for others to follow. Successful people often have articles or books published about them. Some write their own articles and books.

If you can’t find the information you need on your ideal model, see if you can schedule an interview with the person. This may sound unusual, but it’s not. It’s done all the time by people who need answers to questions.

Even if you have to pay for the individual’s time, you’ll make your money back by avoiding mistakes or learning more efficient ways to do what you want to do. I’ve heard of people paying anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for an hour of someone’s time.

An interview allows you to ask specific and pointed questions that you may have trouble finding answers to. Don’t be shy about asking for an interview; most people are flattered that someone thinks highly enough of them to ask for one.

Another way to gain information on a person you are modeling, especially if the person is a competitor, is to buy their product or service and see what makes if different from similar products or services provided by others.

If your model has a store front, web site or business office, go and see how they do things. How do they arrange their store? How does work flow in their office? How do they present their web site? How do they build their customer list?

Actually, you should do this whether you are modeling through research or mentoring, because they will give you an incredible amount of information about why your model was successful.

Tips for Effective Modeling

Here are some things to look for when modeling:

1) Habits & Behaviors

What does your model do every day or every week?

Figure out how those habits are related to his or her success and how you can implement them yourself.

Observation is the best way to learn this, because many times people don’t consciously connect their habits to their success.

2) Beliefs & Attitudes

Often the difference between success and failure lies in what a person believes about themselves, about others and about their industry.

You may be able to infer what your model believes by observing their actions and attitudes. Ask yourself, what would I have to believe in order to do what my model does?

3) Techniques & Strategies

What techniques and strategies does your model use that less successful people in the same field don’t use?

How can you develop or improve your own techniques and strategies based on what you learn about your model?

As you learn about the habits, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, techniques and strategies of your model, try imitating them as precisely as you can, even if it’s just for practice.

Writers often write out by hand articles, copy or literature by other writers in order to get a feel for how they write and discover what the other writer may be thinking when they are writing.

Many professional athletes started out in their chosen sport by mimicking the movements and techniques of professional athletes that they looked up to.

You can do the same, whether you’re modeling a sport, a hobby, a business or a career.

Look for Differences that Make a Difference

One of the most difficult things about modeling is learning to look for the things that make a difference.

Most people, even successful people, have habits, beliefs or strategies that don’t really make them successful but are just the way they choose to do things. Imitating those things will not increase your chances of success.

Discovering which things make a difference may take some digging.

For example, if your model takes time every morning to eat a doughnut and drink a cup of coffee every morning while reading the newspaper, it may be that he just happens to like doughnuts and coffee and reads the paper at the same time in order to save time.

Or, it may be that the sugar and caffeine give him the spark of energy he needs to launch his day and reading the newspaper is essential to decisions he makes each day. You won’t know which is the case until you do some research.

Who Can You Model?

Who can you model to improve your skills, habits and strategies in whatever venture or goal you are pursuing?

Don’t wait another day to start collecting information on that person and see what they do differently.