The beauty and power of having a mentor and being a mentor
They say you become the average of the 5 people you hang around with the most. So if you want to be successful hang out with people who are successful.
You need a mentor
The power of having mentors completely changed my life.
Not only did I learn that there are people that actually succeeded in what I want to do, but that there are people who actually want to support me in what I do and help me avoid the mistakes that they have made early on.
Having mentors in my life changed the way I live my life, approach problems and gave me the freedom to ask for help. Rather than taking a lot of time figuring out everything for myself. I simply approach my mentors in helping me learn quicker and ask for valuable advice or feedback rather than struggling on my own.
Turning to your mentor for advice would most likely result in the best advice you can ask for. We often ask the wrong people for advice and end with advice that really is just plain bad advice. Because the people we ask do not necessarily know anything about the topic, have not experienced the struggle or just haven’t had the success you wish to achieve in a certain field.
For me having mentors I gained the confidence that success is possible. I opened myself up to failure knowing that my mentors have also experienced failure and that it’s simply part of succeeding and should be embraced.
Where do you find a mentor?
There are different types of mentors.
There are physical mentors you have in your life that you can speak to on a more consistent basis which you can find through mentorship and leadership programs or people in your life.
One of the biggest mentors in my life is family. And is someone I constantly speak to. It is the wisest person I know and the person I go to the most in life when struck by the storms I experience in life.
The alternative, which is also something I do. I simply follow people I admire and who have experience and achieve success on social media, their podcasts or read their books and absorb any content that they put out there.
Your mentor does not always need to know that they are your mentor. Learning from them from a distance is still a great way to learn and you can always try and make contact with them.
You are not your mentor
As I have mentioned I have many different mentors. I have a mentor that teaches me about life and about God and who shares his experiences with me and who listens to me. I have mentors whose podcasts and content I absorb like a sponge in water about business, finance, nutrition and health.
They all have different stories and different experiences. Each one is in a different field and from each one I can learn something different.
Something I learned early on is that you are not your mentor!
Although you can try and emulate a lot of habits, tricks, trades and characteristics. You should never try to BE them. They experience life in a different lens.Their situations are different and their goals and dreams are different. You will always fall short of who they are because you can never be who they are, you can only be who you are.
I encourage you to learn from them, emulate them but always be the awesome person that you were created to be.
Become a mentor
Regardless of your success, achievements and status you can also be a mentor. The great thing about being a mentor is that age and titles do not matter. Being a mentor is sharing your experiences with others and helping them carve their own way. Oftentimes it is simply listening and letting someone know that you are there for them.
So go out their and be a mentor yourself
Time for action!
My encouragement to you is to find your mentors, and identify the ones you already have. Also to realize that you are most likely already a mentor to someone else and to take the responsibility seriously.
You have the opportunity to impact someone’s life in a very positive way.
“If you hang around the barbershop long enough, sooner or later you’re gonna get a haircut.” — Denzel Washington
