Why Mentors Are Essential For Success

To achieve success in today's competitive global society you need help. You cannot do it alone. Nor can you do it by just getting a good education.

You need the help of others. You need to seek the help of people who are where you want to be in life and can help you get there as well.The people you identify with and learn from can have more of an impact on your success and happiness than perhaps any other factor. Your choice of role models, friends, and associates will ultimately determine the person you become and the things you will achieve.

Studies of successful men and women have shown that a person's choice of a "reference group" will influence and determine his or her level of success and accomplishment in life more than any other thing that he or she does. A reference group is defined as the group of people with whom you most identify. Because we are so strongly influenced by the attitudes, behaviors, and opinions of others, the people with whom we most identify and associate with most have a subtle power over our personalities, causing us to become more like them.

When I look back over the course of my life, I can recall many relationships that, in retrospect, were mentor-protégé relationships. One of the great blessings of my life is that so many men and women appeared when I needed them most. Much of what I have accomplished today was determined by the good advice and the good examples they gave me at moments in my life when I was particularly open and receptive to them.

The essence of the mentor-protégé relationship is; by finding people who are ahead of you in your life and career and opening up yourself to their input, advice, and guidance, you can save yourself many years and thousands of dollars in education cost to learn what you need to learn in order to become successful in your field.As adults we choose our mentors and then pattern our lives, as much as possible, after their instruction and example. To be successful, you must find people that you can learn from and who have already paid the price to learn the things that you need to learn to achieve your goals.The mentors you choose should be people you respect, admire and want to be like.

The advice you seek should be guidance regarding your character, personality, and specific ideas on how you can do your job better and faster. Remember, you can't figure it all out for yourself. You have to have the help of others. You have to find men and women who will guide you and advise you on the road of life, or you will take a long time getting anywhere, if you ever get there at all.The most wonderful thing about the mentor-protégé relationship is that successful people are very open to helping other people who want to be in business.

The key word is "Ask!" Don't be afraid to ask people for their guidance and ideas. Ask them for their opinions. If you can't ask them personally, read their books and articles, listen to their audio programs and attend their seminars.The most important thing to look for when choosing a mentor is character.

Look for a mentor who has the kind of character you admire and respect. Look for people who have high degrees of intelligence, integrity, judgment, and wisdom. The more you associate, even in your mind, with men and women who are advanced in the development of their character, the more you will tend to copy them and become like them.Another important quality you need to look for in a mentor is competence. This means that the person is extremely good at what he or she does. A person who is ahead of you on your career path and has a proven track record of knowledge, skills, and abilities that has enabled him or her to move ahead far more rapidly than his or her peers.

When you find a potential mentor, don't tackle him or her or make a nuisance of yourself. Instead, ask for ten minutes of his or her time, in person, to ask advice. Invite the person for a cup of coffee, nothing more. Remember, mentors are very busy people in their own lives, and they will not react favorably to someone trying to take up a lot of their time.

When you do meet with the person, tell him or her clearly that you are very eager to be more successful in your field and you would very much appreciate a little guidance that would help you move ahead. Ask for a specific answer to a question, or a specific book or audio program recommendation, or a specific idea that he or she feels has been helpful to him or her in the past.After the initial meeting, send or email a thank-you note to the person and express your gratitude and appreciation for taking the time to give you guidance. Mention that you hope you can call him or her again if you have another question.

Each month send your mentor a short note or email telling him or her about your progress and about what you are doing. Report back to him or her. There is nothing that makes a potential mentor more open to helping you than making it clear that the help is doing some good.

At this point you should arrange to meet with your mentor again, perhaps on a monthly basis, or even more often if possible.Once you have achieved success in your field, you should be willing to be a mentor to others who are younger and less experienced than you. The more open you are to helping others up the ladder of success, the more open others will be to helping you.

The fastest way to succeed in life is to receive the good advice and counsel of men and women who have spent years learning how to succeed ahead of you. When you do this on a regular and systematic basis, you will open up doors of opportunity and possibilities for you that today you cannot imagine. Your future will be unlimited.Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc.

All rights reserved worldwide.

By: Joe Love