Knowledge 101: Mentors Are Key
Open yourself up to be a student even if you are a leader
Have you ever dreamed that you could have a tour guide to direct you on the right path towards changing your life? Do you feel like you’re giving your all but not getting ahead? Are you ready to become more strategic in your approach and leave your mark?
If you answered yes to the questions above, chances are you could greatly benefit from having a mentor.
Think about it, if you’re willing to give your time and your energy to something why shouldn’t it reap rewards? Just asking. The hard truth is, no matter how talented and committed you are, it is not possible to reach your next level without help.
You have learned that you cannot get to where you are trying to go alone. It’s not realistic. In other words, you have to have an appetite to be coached through the process of getting ahead in life.
Think of a person who is already doing what you want to do. Seek them out. What you look for you find. If you are a true fighter, it should not be difficult for you to reach out. Start learning to use your resources. That’s when you will start to turn your life around.
You may have been through a lot in your life and down on your luck, but your willpower helped you to bounce back and start anew. To put this more simply, at some point you believed that you have the right to have a good life and you made a decision to not stay where you were.
If you have experimented with struggle you know that pain is real yet you fought for where you are. It is not easy to keep going when you have been knocked down but it is only when you ignite your inner power and let go of what didn’t work out when you can see the cloud moving. It takes grit. It takes tenacity. And it will take you being hopeful and choosing to accept guidance so that you can evolve into something greater.
Most people will resist change. To get where you are trying to go, you cannot be one of them. Embrace change. The people who can help you create your ideal future are change agents. Period. They are adaptable and have become comfortable with opposition. They look beyond their fears. Instead of shrinking they refuse to retreat. They rise up with resilience. They swim through the pain of mistakes, and defeat. They swim through the stinging of not being liked. It’s a discomfort for them to settle for less. They move forward and keep swimming even when they are criticized. They do whatever it takes to live life to the fullest each and every day.
You know you should be out there in that arena swimming with the big fish. Look at your life and if you’re not getting the results that you want, you owe it to yourself to put a strategy in place to attract the right people and opportunities to you. Start thinking victory thoughts.
Most people who are successful right now had some bad breaks, and almost certainly had to go through something to get where they are. That’s just life. No one is immune from setbacks. There is also evidence that the greatest leaders of our time suffered great challenges throughout their life. Thus understand, there is no shortcut to get to where you want to be. Life is a process and there may be different roads that can get you where you want to be so you should remember that even though someone guides you they may not have the perfect formula for your ultimate success.
To that point, varied individual experiences are partly what makes a great mentor a person of value because they have been through the fire. They get it. There is an even greater advantage in having a mentor and that is that the person can help you to change your perspective.
They may also be able to prevent you from making some of the same errors in judgment that they made. To reach your destiny you have to be willing to trust and work with people so don’t allow your reluctance you hold you back. Teaming up with other leaders will help you to benefit from their skills, competences, experience and training which will help strengthen your learning, knowledge, ability and growth.
You have to trust the process even when you don’t understand. This is the time to be proactive so that you can step into a new level and become all that you have been called to be. You are in a fight for your dreams, for your future, and for your success.
No matter the obstacles, have faith in your ability. The most important thing that I will share with you is simply this, don’t waste time trying to win the wrong people over. The right person will show up at the right time and that person’s insight, knowledge, and expertise will be invaluable to you and help you to make an impact in this world.
“One person may not, whereas another person will. Your job is to find a person who will help you reach your goal.” — Germany Kent
It’s time to look towards the future. If you see that what you’re doing now won’t get you the life you want and how you want to live, time to rethink how you can sink up with the right people who can lead the way and help to take your career further. Now you have to do your part. Make an adjustment. Make the changes.
Train your mind to focus on the pain you’ll get if you don’t act. It literally means that you could possibly experience more losses than gains if you ‘re not steered properly. Seek and accept advice from people who see potential in you. There is a mentor out there who will believe in you, direct you, encourage you, support you, and inspire you way beyond what you feel or think is possible.
Energy, force and work will help you. Once you realize the importance of having a good mentor, you will develop a sense of determination that will allow you to become more coachable, trainable, and receptacle.
Eventually things will begin to reveal themselves to you. In this process you’ll develop incredible creativity and a blueprint for connecting with the right individuals. As you begin to believe it is possible to find the right mentor, you will stumble upon someone who is not jealous of you, who is not intimidated by you, and one who has the tools to equip you and empower you.
The brilliant history of every leader that you can think of in this moment is that each of them had someone who pushed them. The next important thing to understand is that all of us who have declared ourselves to be leaders are standing on the shoulders of someone else.
The important thing to realize is that life happens in seasons and at different crossroads you will need guidance for that particular time. So it is possible that a certain mentor gets you through a specific crossroad but then another mentor will help you along further in your journey. Meaning, you could possibly have multiple great mentors throughout your life. It is also of most importance that you understand that you are always in a position to be a mentor yourself.
The decision is really a no-brainer. Take action. Get a mentor, be a mentor.
