So in this next section, we want to take a closer look at why you need a mentor in your life and the importance of having that mentor or mentors. And let's revisit what a mentor is. A mentor is a source of wisdom. A mentor is someone who is already experienced in your field or industry and has a wealth of knowledge that they want to provide you. So you don't make the same mistakes they've made. Or you can go into a certain direction that they know will benefit you that's in line with the goals you've set for yourself.

Also, they help you with growth and development. They're almost like a parent to you. Yes, they have a source of wisdom and with that source of wisdom, they take on the role of helping you go throughout the steps to become more than you are to Today, they help you with that growing process. Again, a mentor takes a long range view of your growth and development. They're not here just to help you with a few things today, and a few things perhaps tomorrow. It's a relationship that builds over time.

Your mentor may be someone you continue to have a relationship for years to come, because they've taken a vested interest in helping you go from good to great. Also, a mentor helps you see the destination but does not give you the detailed map to get there. Your mentor is a guide, a teacher, but they're not there to tell you exactly what to do. After all, this is your life. And of course they respect that. When it comes time for you to make decisions.

They may help you weigh each decision so you can make the best choice possible and a mentor offers encouragement and cheerleading, but not how to advice. Mentors are there to boost you so that you have the confidence to go after the goals you set in life. So let's look at 10 reasons why you need a mentor. Number one, mentors provide information and knowledge. Well, we already talked about this mentors or usually very experienced in their fields, or just experienced adults. And through that experience, they are able to impart their knowledge and wisdom to you.

Number two, mentors can see where we need to improve, when we often cannot see that. Again, mentors have been there done that sometimes we can't really take a step back and look at ourselves from another perspective. However, a mentor can because after all, they are not us. And with that wisdom that they hold They can see where you might be going in the wrong direction or the right direction and point out what areas that you need to focus on for improvement. Three, mentors stimulate our personal and professional growth. Mentors again, as we just said, they're cheerleaders in a sense, they want to push us in the right direction so that we become better tomorrow than we are today.

Mentors are a sort of catalyst to make change happen. For mentors offer encouragement, and help keep us going. You know, there are going to be times when we run into certain challenges, and we might second guess ourselves and doubt Are we really going to be successful or not? And have we made the right decision. Mentors keep us on the right path and help us push forward through the difficult times. Five mentors Or disciplinarians, that create unnecessary boundaries that we cannot set for ourselves.

So if we're going in the wrong direction, or we're making decisions that maybe aren't in in our best interest, or we're participating in some sort of behavior, that's not beneficial for us, a mentor can step back and let us know. Point blank, what you're doing is not in your best interest. Stop doing this, instead, start doing something else. There's that parent relationship. Six mentors are sounding boards, so we can bounce ideas off them for an unfiltered opinion. Mentors are going to help us make better decisions because when we have ideas, we can run those ideas across a mentor, and they're going to be truthful with us.

Is this a good idea? Or is it a bad idea and what changes should be made seven mentors are trusted advisors. You know, these days we can't always trust people in our industry. It's a competitive world. However your mentor is in no way your competition. They're here for the sole purpose of building relationship and helping you in one form or fashion.

Eight mentors can become connectors. Now, since a mentor is already established in their industry, they probably already have a vast network and several connections they know a lot of people. Now that's great for you, especially regarding our previous core lesson on networking. Mentors can help you connect with other people who in turn can help you back. Nine we can learn from mentors experiences and mistakes. Other people's mistakes and other people's experiences are such a valuable information because they can either put us on the right direction Even better, they can prevent us from making certain mistakes and mistakes can be costly.

They can cost money and time. Wouldn't you want to be able to stop a mistake before it happens. And number 10 mentors are free, which makes them priceless in more ways than one mentors. Motivation is not to get something from you at least nothing monetary, you shouldn't ever pay a mentor for their time. The real reason they're helping you is because, well, they want they have this connection to you. They want to build a relationship.

They want to help someone who is going to go through a similar process that they went through. Remember, one of the core needs that people have is to help others and that's a mentor. However, there are some misconceptions that you want to keep in mind regarding mentors. Number one, it's a misconception to believe that men Turing is about me that it's all a one way street that you who is being mentor just get get gets. And the mentor just gives gives gives, it's a relationship and remit. Remember, relationships are two way streets, you want to somehow give back to your mentor.

It's a misconception to think that being mentored is more passive than active. It's not just you listening to a mentor and taking in information, you need to act on that information. This is crucial. Remember, an idea is worthless without action, so be prepared to act. It's a misconception to think that you need to wait for a mentor to find you. This almost never happens.

You need to be again, proactive, go out, seek out a mentor, build a relationship, because if you don't, you just might not find a mentor. And finally, the fourth misconception is that you should ask someone up front to be mentored. Don't ever do that. That's incredibly awkward. Never say, will you be my mentor. Mentoring is a serious relationship.

There's a big responsibility on both sides of the relationship. To be a mentor, you really need to put in a lot of effort and focus on you the mentee. So don't just ask someone to be a mentor, you need to build that relationship up. And we're going to talk about that soon, which is our next topic, how to find the right mentor. So let's recap about the importance of mentors. We looked quickly at what a mentors role is.

We looked at 10 reasons of why to have a mentor. And we looked at some of the misconceptions. So having said that, let's get ready for the next section, which is about how to find your mentor