Mentors come in all Shapes and Sizes

Don’t wait for a teacher to appear. When you’re ready to be a student, teaching is available in many formats.

How many times have you heard this? “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Is that statement true? Maybe. Sometimes. However, I’ve learned not to bet on that kind of serendipity. When it happens, I’m in awe. I’ve had some really cool things occur that felt too perfectly timed to be coincidence. Then again, I have other times when I really want to learn something but I have to slog through bad advice and multiple trial and error sessions before I finally get the lesson.

My brother asked me a few weeks ago for my thoughts on mentorship. I’m hoping you might be interested too. I was recently talking with a woman who is on her own at 72. She can’t afford a decent house or apartment. She barely affords food and clothes. Of course, she could tell you all about what’s on television. When I looked at her I saw a mostly healthy, friendly, talkative lady who could be working at any number of jobs that she’d enjoy. She shouldn’t be spending all her time alone watching TV anyway. She’s too much of a people person. By being a Wal-Mart greeter, Cracker Barrel hostess, tour guide or home care companion she could solve two problems. Financial stability and loneliness. It’s clear she and most other Americans have never been told they don’t have to be victims. Financial Freedom is available for everyone. Upon deciding to change one’s life, whom would one talk to get better solutions?

I started writing down my thoughts and doing a little research and I ended up with way too much writing for one post. I might follow up in future posts with specific ways I’ve been mentored for financial freedom. For now, I’ll layout a framework of what mentoring can look like in the 21^st century.

Webster defines a mentor as a trusted counselor or guide. If you can find a mentor who embodies just what you are trying to learn and is willing to spend one on one time teaching you, by all means, jump on that opportunity. But there are many other ways to follow a trusted counselor or guide. I’ve listed some examples below:

• Classes/courses (not just school): I’ve taken some fantastic courses to learn specific things from people who already accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. In fact, I’m in the middle of a five-week class right now. Sue Anne Dunlevie teaches the basics in Successful Blogging School. I’ve been learning so much faster than I could from researching out each topic on my own. I may not get college credits for taking her class, but I get a streamlined, step-by-step guide on the latest tactics to start and grow a successful blog.
• Books: I read LOTS of books. Nonfiction books with specific how to knowledge, motivational books to inspire me to action and biographies of great achievers all line my bookshelves. I learn from the top experts in the fields that I’m interested in. They’ve compiled their best advice and experience into pages that I can review over and over. (Until it sinks in.) I’m reading Linchpin by Seth Godin this week.
• Events: I love live events. The energy in the room, the people I meet, the excellent speakers…all of it contributes to a unique learning experience and often new friends.
• Podcasts: Tom Bilyeu from Inside Quest recommends listening to podcasts at higher speed. That way I can learn more faster. I’m comfortable listening to most at 1.5x speed. That lets me get through more Eventual Millionaire, Ask Altucher, 10x Talk, Fizzle Show, SPI, I Love Marketing episodes.
• YouTube: I learn from Marie Forleo, Tom Bilyeu, Brendon Burchard, Eric Thomas on a regular basis. I also search ANY specific problem I’m struggling with from website coding to clogged drains and I find a “mentor” to walk me through my challenge.
• Blogs, magazines, newspapers, etc.: This one can be a time suck if I’m not careful. I believe it was Ryan Holiday who asks himself “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate AND important?” I’ve adopted that question for my own practice. I keep a sign near my desk with that question. In our age of information overload, it’s a constant battle.
• Masterminds, meetup groups: I’ve been in a couple masterminds that were okay but not exceptional. They fizzled out within a year. I like the concept of mutual support and learning, but all members need to be committed at a similar level. I’ve also been a part of some church groups that were very useful. When multiple people are engaged and energetic on a topic you can learn much faster. My favorite group to be part of in the past few years was a local Toastmasters chapter. Toastmasters is an international organization that helps people become better at public speaking. The clubs are very supportive and learning is self-paced. Mentorship is built into the program at Toastmasters. Within the organization you’ll always find someone just ahead of you on the road to mastering public speaking and everyone I met was eager to help.
• Coworkers: I’ve been blessed to work with some people over the years with various skills. Along the way I’ve tried to learn from some that were better in areas than I was. For example: Dave is great at establishing memorable relationships. After meeting someone he’ll follow up by sending them something unique that he picked out after hearing their interests and passions in the first meeting. Tom is great at connecting with people via his passion and energy combined with country-style story telling. Don is strong at hearing the long story and zeroing in on the one action that can be most effective the quickest. Joe is great at customer service and follow-through. Mabel is a wizard at making Excel produce any report I can think of.
• Coaches/Mentors: Traditionally, we think of mentors as one on one advisors. I’ve had some of these too. While in college I spent some time with a guy named Ray who talked to me about the power of compounding interest, the rule of 72 and the avenues I could go with my accounting degree. I wouldn’t have pegged him as a mentor since he was working in the machine shop at a factory, but I truly received valuable career advice from him. Early in my current career I spent a lot of time with Ed, a local CPA who helped me advance my knowledge, skills and position in the real world. I’ve spent time with some amazing pastors over the years who have taught me that it’s okay to question my faith and they helped me rethink some of my religious beliefs. However, I didn’t ask them about financial freedom. That wasn’t their area of expertise. Remember Jim Stovall’s advice, “Never accept a map from someone who hasn’t been where you want to go.”

I practice intentional learning. Darren Hardy recommends that each quarter you choose a topic you want to learn about. Then you get the five top books and three top audio programs on that topic and attend a seminar, workshop or conference. I loosely follow that model. My biggest challenge is staying focused on the topic I’ve chosen. I might pick a topic like investing or couponing or car buying or real estate or entrepreneurship or mental toughness if I’m learning financial freedom.

As you can see mentors come in all shapes and sizes. Be discerning in whom you accept counsel and guidance from, but know that the knowledge, skill or experience you seek is abundant. Don’t wait for a teacher to appear. When you’re ready to be a student, teaching is available in many formats.

There are many variables to financial freedom. You can master each challenge that comes at you on the journey. In the process of learning from and about that challenge you’ll free yourself to live the life you choose.