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Last week, I had lunch with someone who has quietly played a huge role in my life for the last fourteen years, Stuart Ross.
Stuart has spent more than 30 years building, scaling and advising businesses. He works with founders, CEOs and leadership teams, helping them turn ambition into clear strategy, disciplined execution and measurable results.
But to me, he has simply been a mentor.
I first met Stuart fourteen years ago at a networking event. At that time, life looked very different for me.
I was painting and decorating for a living. I had a dream of becoming a coach and speaker, but it was little more than an idea at that stage.
The truth was that I was struggling.
I was £40,000 in debt.
I had been through two failed marriages.
I was living back at my mum’s house in Nottingham and trying to figure out how to rebuild my life.
From the outside, it may have looked like I was trying to build something new. But internally, I was full of doubt.
At that networking event, Stuart and I connected. There was something about the conversation that felt natural and genuine. After that first meeting, he began offering advice and guidance.
And he has continued to do so ever since.
One meeting in particular stands out in my memory as clearly as if it happened yesterday.
Stuart said something that changed the direction of my life.
He said, very calmly and directly:
“If you want to succeed, you need to stop decorating and focus on building the business.”
At the time, that was a terrifying thought.
Decorating was my income. It was my safety net. Walking away from that security felt incredibly risky.
But deep down, I knew he was right.
You cannot build something great while treating it like a side project.
So I made the decision.
I stopped decorating and committed fully to building my coaching and speaking business.
Looking back now, that was the turning point.
Sometimes in life, progress doesn’t come from doing more things. It comes from having the courage to focus on the one thing that really matters.
Today, my life looks very different.
I am very happily married.
I run a successful business that I genuinely love.
I have no debt and money in the bank.
And I now have the privilege of mentoring and coaching other people on their own journeys.
It feels like life has come full circle.
And when I reflect on that journey, I often ask myself a simple question:
Where would I be today if I had never met Stuart Ross?
The truth is, certain people enter your life at exactly the right time.
They see something in you that you may not yet see in yourself.
They challenge you.
They encourage you.
They guide you.
And sometimes one piece of advice from the right person can change the entire trajectory of your life.
Three Key Learnings
1. The right mentor can accelerate your life. Good advice at the right moment can save years of trial and error.
2. Focus creates breakthroughs. You cannot build something extraordinary while treating it as a part-time ambition.
3. Success is rarely a solo journey. Behind every successful person are people who believed in them when things were uncertain.
Stuart has given me fourteen years of support, guidance and honest advice. All of it freely given, simply because he believed in helping someone trying to build something meaningful.
For that, I am deeply grateful.
Stuart, thank you.
Your advice, encouragement and belief made a bigger difference than you may ever realise.
Thoughts for the Week
- Who has helped shape your journey? Take a moment to thank someone who made a difference.
- Is there something in your life you are treating as a “side project” that deserves your full focus?
- Who could you encourage or mentor today? Your advice might be the turning point in someone else’s life.
Well, that’s it for this week.
Have a wonderful week ahead and keep believing.
Warm regards
John
https://jdmindcoach.com/product/off-the-wall-how-to-develop-world-class-mental-resilience/
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