Last week, my mentor and friend Joel Brown, asked me to speak at one of his Circle Of Influence, Mastermind sessions.

What I thought would be a routine call with me sharing blogging tips, turned into a mini pep talk. I want to share the same advice with you because I know it can help you.

That advice is this: Never forget where you came from.

We all start somewhere.

On the mastermind call, I told the story of how I was a spoilt brat that had come to a crossroads in life. I was searching for what was next when I met Joel Brown for the first time in Perth. I’d followed his blog, Addicted2Success, for many years after a friend of a friend, Dave Nelson, introduced me to it.

Through a series of strange events, I started writing inspiring content for Joel’s blog. This was peculiar because I hated writing and saw myself as useless with the English language. None the less, I just got started with no plan in mind.

My online following through Addicted2Success soon became much larger than I expected. I started writing for other websites but always made sure Addicted2Success was at the center of everything.

Why acknowledge the source of your success?

Because without it you’d have nothing. Without being grateful for the good fortune you have been given, you’d become someone who thinks they did it all on their own.

None of us did it alone. We all had help whether we admit it or not. Without Joel’s help, I’d be nowhere and inspiring nobody.

That’s why every podcast interview I do, every guest post I do, I never forget where I came from.

It doesn’t matter what you start with.

I shared a story on the mastermind call that is not well known. Joel started his now infamous blog by writing other people’s ideas in his own voice and adding his thoughts to it.

“He didn’t start as some enlightened genius: he started with nothing”

He to came from nowhere and had help. A man named Jordan Belfort and another man named Tony Robbins inspired him. They were the catalyst for him reaching hundreds of millions of people through his content and blog.

Just like me, he also never forgets where he came from. He also points back to these early influences as being how he got his big break.

The secret to every successful person is they never forget where they came from.

They never forget what it was like to be broke. They never forget how bad their talent was in the beginning. They never forget how much they hated their 9-5 job.

“By not forgetting where you came from, you ensure you never go backward. You ensure you always remain grateful and humble so you can keep doing what you love”

Loyalty is never forgotten.

Sure I’ve had many opportunities to forget where I came from. I could produce content for any website I want yet I still remain loyal to the cause, and the people who helped me. This loyalty is never forgotten. When an opportunity comes up that is in your field, these people your loyal to remember you.

Loyalty is so rare and that’s why it’s not forgotten. The opportunities you’re missing may be caused by the fact that you’re not building in-depth, loyal relationships with people who’ve helped and mentored you.

Pay it forward.

Remembering where you came from is not enough. Once you reach some level of success, you must pay it forward. Otherwise, it’s a one-way street and your ego takes over. Great mentors like Joel have taught me that leaders breed more inspirational leaders.

If you’ve had your chance in the spotlight, help others get theirs. You don’t need to spend that much of your free time either. There are a few people I mentor and it’s mostly done through short email messages. It takes me no time at all. The growth these mentees’ have received has impressed me.

Seeing them grow has allowed me to grow at the same time. Their growth keeps me focused on the idea that any of us can achieve phenomenal results.

Where you came from is the inspiration.

Only seeing the success stops all of us from pursuing our own passions. When you share where you’ve come from, you show us how incredibly straightforward it can be. Success looks complicated until we see where our heroes started.

It’s how people get their big break that gives us the strategies and tools to do the same. You may think where you’ve come from isn’t that crucial: It is.

We need to see the tipping point in your success to see the same in our own success. Your beginning has more golden nuggets than you could possibly ever imagine and it’s your duty to share them with us. It’s your duty to duplicate your success in others.

It’s your duty to pay it forward and never forget where you came from.

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