This is the BIG mistake anyone looking for someone to "mentor them" makes.
All you need is to find someone who knows the very-next-thing you want to learn. Technically, anyone "a little bit further along" can be your mentor.
[THREAD] How To Find A Mentor (No Matter What Industry You're In)
I have attracted dozens of mentors since I was a teenager. As I've gotten older, I've realized these relationships were the secret to my growth.
Here's how to find mentors of your own ๐๐๐
This is the BIG mistake anyone looking for someone to "mentor them" makes.
All you need is to find someone who knows the very-next-thing you want to learn. Technically, anyone "a little bit further along" can be your mentor.
- Your co-worker with 1-2 yrs more experience is a mentor
- Your family friend who is always telling "war stories" is a mentor
- Your neighbor, cousin, aunt, uncle who has done what you're trying to do, can all be mentors
Mentorship isn't a formal agreement. You don't ask, "Will you be my mentor for life?"
The key is to ask 1 question. See if the person gives you guidance.
Take that guidance. Apply it. Go back and ask a 2nd question. See if they reciprocate.
Repeat.
Mentors want to share what they know with people who listen carefully & apply their wisdom.
Why?
It allows the mentor a "2nd chance" at walking their path, imagining what might have happened if they'd known what they know now, sooner
Mentors stop giving guidance when they feel the person they are trying to teach isn't listening.
After all, why keep trying to teach someone who *clearly* already has all the answers?
Shut up & listen
If you find someone generous enough to share what they know, it is your duty to honor the relationship by implementing the knowledge & prove their time wasn't wasted.
Don't take it for granted.
As a teenager, my 1st mentor was a pro World of Warcraft player. I sought him out b/c I wanted to go pro too.
1.5 years later, I had surpassed him and became one of the highest-ranked players in North America.
Mentorship = key
