“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.”—Shawn Hitchcock
This quote is right on when it comes to my experience with mentors. When I doubted or didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted or how I was going to do it, my mentors helped me to refocus on where I wanted to be and how to get there.
They could do this because they had already been through the process themselves and had come out on the other side. I was just fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of their years of experience and wisdom.
In fact, I had placed myself there intentionally.
You need to do the same.
In fact, the day I decided to take a huge financial leap of faith to hire a successful mentor and coach, my life changed completely.
See, I had come to this realization:
You don’t know all this, and you need to find someone who does.
I have had many mentors and coaches along the way, and here are some of the biggest things I have learned:
Mentors are people who have already walked the path before me and can share their lessons and help me to avoid certain pitfalls.
- Mentors give me the map to get me where I want to go—I can model them.
- Mentors keep me encouraged, hopeful, and accountable.
- Investing in mentors gives me skin in the game, which makes me take much bigger action.
- Mentors push and stretch me so I do the things that, on my own, I may have been too scared to do.
- Mentors help me see a bigger vision for myself and believe in me.
In addition to having mentors, I am also part of a mastermind group; in fact, I have been part of masterminds for years.
In these groups, participants challenge each other to set and accomplish goals as well as being catalysts for growth. (The mastermind groups I lead as part of my Impact Academy have encouraged many members to get to the next level of success.)
But, when it comes to finding a mentor, where do you start?
- First, know what you’re looking for.
- Once you know what you want, start your search where you are–look to colleagues who already are where you want to be, or look to your existing networks for references.
- If you’re not finding what you need, broaden your search online.
- Look for resources geared toward your chosen destination. (In my case, I was looking for people who had started their own businesses successfully online. In other words, I did my homework.)
- Be ready to invest your time, money, and resources into making the mentor relationship work.
Know what you want, then be willing to invest in yourself to get it. Having a mentor or coach is worth it. Every penny.
Don’t underestimate the importance of this investment.
Mentors and coaches were instrumental in my life and business. I know it’s cliché to say, but there is no way I could have gotten where I am today without the help of mentors and coaches in my life and journey.
It’s because I realized that no one who is truly successful got there alone.
I knew I needed to believe in myself enough to invest in my own dreams.
So, I just did it. And you can do it too.
