Yoda and Gandalf are two of the most well loved characters in modern storytelling. I believe that the reason they are so well loved is because they point to a character that we seek and look for in our own lives. I’m talking about the power of the mentor. Yoda is a phenomenal mentor for Luke Skywalker and teaches him the way of the Jedi. Without Yoda, the story cannot take place because he helps to shape the hero with his wisdom, knowledge and experience. Gandalf plays the same role for many characters in the phenomenal Lord of The Rings series. His ideas, courage and philosophy help the fellowship to win the battle against evil and destroy the one ring.
How empowered could we become if we had our own Yoda or Gandalf. Someone to help us navigate the great adventure that we call life? I think that if you can find people who can play this role in your life it can have a profound influence on you.
I’ve spent the evening tonight listening to the thoughts of the late great Jim Rohn. He has so many amazing insights into the principles and fundamentals of a successful life that I find truly inspirational. His thoughts are simple ones that yield great results when respected and followed.
I consider Jim Rohn to be one of my mentors in that I listen to his ideas and try and apply the things that I believe will take my life in the direction I want it to go. This practice of listening to these people through audio books, you tube and reading books has really began to help me see the world in a completely different way to the view that I took only a few short years ago.
I have others who I appreciate in the same way as Jim Rohn. People like Eric Thomas Steven Covey, Elliot Hulse, Antony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Tom Venuto, Craig Bannatyne, Maxwell Maltz, Chris Lopez and the list goes on and on. These are successful people whose message has touched me and helped shaped my current paradigm.
However, my progress is accelerating even further since I made the decision to invest in a personal mentor. Someone who I sit down and have sessions with about my goals and ambitions. I can safely say that these experiences and others like it do have the potential to change your life. Here are seven of the top reasons why.
1 Accountability: Mentors allow you to start walking your talk and taking action. In the past I have found myself to be a dreamer and a procrastinator. My mentor does not allow me to stop with the just the vision. I then have to go away and take consistent action towards my goals.
2 Experience: My mentor has real life experience of the life that I would like to lead. He is involved in the industry I would like to join, and he has a lifestyle that appeals to me and is more in alignment with what I want for myself and my family. Therefore, he can clear up misconceptions that I have and give me real world insight into the challenges and opportunities that will come my way.
3 Inspiration: My mentor inspires me. Simple as that. Not through cheesy over the top pump you up type motivation, but through allowing me to glimpse in my imagination at what might be possible and then validating the fact that I can make this happen. He affirms my belief even when I have none in myself. This is what I sometimes need. Most people around me would be so sceptical if I told them my goals. My mentor hints that my current goals are only scratching the surface of my potential.
4.Personalised advice: Because my mentor knows my life situation, it allows for his advice to be tailor made for me. The sessions are so valuable because he understands me so well. As time has gone on, the sessions have improved in quality because of relationship has developed so much. He knows when to pour on some pressure and when to back away and let me marinate on something. He understands my next step because he has seen the progress I have made and where I still need to develop and grow.
5. Challenging: I still remember our first session together. We had spoken on the phone back and forth a couple of times, but this was our first session where I was asked some really challenging questions. He forced me to think in a way that I had never had to before in a conversation. Some of the questions were so challenging that I had no answer and this was the key for me. I knew then that I was making the right choice for my personal progress. My insight into myself and others is developing at a really quick rate now.
6. Association: They say that you are the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with. I realised really quickly that there was no-one within my inner circle who had done what I’m planning to do before. Conversations in my inner circle of the possibility of owning business or self built ventures would not yield positive ideas. I was locked by my fear and lack of understanding.Therefore I subconsciously started searching for someone who could act as my mentor and expose me to another way of living. Just the knowledge that there are so many people out there living life on their own terms acted as a major mindset shift for me. It is helping me to shift from the mindset of an employee, to the mindset of an entrepreneur.
7. Belief: This is a huge factor for me. My mentor gives me the belief that I can accomplish whatever I choose. This is such an empowering experience. When you have someone telling you consistently that you can do it, the message starts to stick. I’ve found that it is now affecting the choices I make in all areas of my life including starting this blog that I’m so proud of. Every person who likes a post or becomes a follower shows me that I am already living life the way I want to in my own small way. My mentor has shown me the value of embracing and mastering the small steps first in order to take on bigger more ambitious projects in the future. My belief is blossoming, my health has improved, I have more regular contact with my mother and brother. I’m becoming confident, grounded and most importantly happy. I can say without question that finding a great mentor has been one of the great blessings of my life.
My invitation to you would be to think carefully about whether you need a mentor in your life to help you with any life or career goals that you have. It’s so important to find someone who you connect with and feel that you can trust. I believe that as children we all have mentors in some shape or form but we forget that as adults we are just big children who still need advice, encouragement and validation. If it is something that you have been considering but have remained undecided, I would recommend it wholeheartedly. I know that I will have mentors now for the rest of my life.
I wish you the best.
Body mind heart spirit 