Following up on the last post about mentors, lets look at some other ways you might find a mentor.
One thing you may have not thought of is that a mentor doesn’t even have to be someone you really know personally.
Maybe a mentor could be someone who is higher up in your industry. Someone who is published, has a fabulous website, newsletter, or line of products. What can you learn about them and their business from their blog, email newsletter, published articles or other public media? Can you look back through some of their old blog posts to see how they’ve grown? Can you send them an email asking a few questions? Do they offer online mentoring or online classes that can help you get to the next level?
Depending on your situation, your mentor may not even have to know they are being a mentor. If you look to everyone you work with, live with, and relate to during the day as someone who can teach you something about the kind of life you want to live or the kind of business you want to run, it’s easy to find a mentor everywhere. Just observe how they relate to others, engage in business situations and carry on in their regular duties. There is much that can be learned by simply observing the people around you.
Don’t forget books. I’ve taken to reading lots of memoirs written by successful, strong, smart women and I’m learning lots of things I had never considered before “meeting” these mentors. I’ve never met them face to face, and likely never will, but that’s not to say that I haven’t learned a great deal about myself, the world or business from them all the same.
Another way to find a mentor is to look at some of the successful people in your field and then look into who mentored THEM. Was is a professor, relative, co-worker or other business owner? Check into seeing if you can be mentored by that person. After all, they have a pretty good track record.
Keep in mind that you can have more than one mentor. You can have several all at once or you can learn from one mentor and then move on to another. Choose different mentors for different facets of your personal or business life. The idea is to learn as much as possible. What better way to do that than from multiple sources?
Remember to let people know you appreciate their mentorship. Even people who didn’t know they were doing it. Who wouldn’t want to get an email from someone expressing gratitude for setting the example, leading the way or in other ways influencing someone along the way?
Give it back. Don’t forget that while you are at one point on the path and your mentor is far ahead of you that there are still plenty of people on the path much farther back than you are. Be sure to reach back every now and then and mentor someone behind you. It’s almost guaranteed that you will learn as much as you teach.
Have you had the opportunity to be a mentor to someone? How did that affect you?
By: Vicki O’Dell, The Creative Goddess
You can find more of Vicki’s articles right here on her profile page!
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