We May All Want To Consider Getting a Mentor

Over my past few months of self reflection, I've come to the conclusion that I was not the biggest fan of taking advice from others. I would always try to do things myself, figure everything out on my own and when it came to constructive criticism or feedback... forget about it. I didn't want to hear anyone telling me how I could do something better or teaching me information that, in reality, benefited me. I'm not sure the root of this trait but I've decided to dig it up. It can no longer take shelter here because I know there are a number of things I don't know and other people can easily help me learn them.

In Solution 40: Seek a Mentor/Be a Mentor, Scott mentions a lifestyle created by Scott Niswonger. This "vision" as he calls it, is to "learn, earn and return", meaning we, as people, should learn from other people, earn relationships by spending time with other people and return by giving back to the community. This strategy seems like it would easily create a tremendous balance in anyone's life... I mean, how could it not?

When the word mentor comes up, my mind always go to the fourth grade when the "troubled" kids were each assigned one to help them. That was the base of my understanding of what a mentor was. I didn't grasp the concept that anyone who needed help with anything could be in need of a mentor. Now that I do, I believe one would be good for me. The other ways Scott mentions you can learn from others are through YouTube, teachers and books. Books have always been my go-to mentor even though I never looked at it that way. I guess when you don't fancy being told what to do or how to do it, the author is taken out of the equation and it just leaves a magical book that was... written on it's own?

YouTube has always been a great source of mentors as well. There are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people on there who help people learn new things every day. With this method you don't even need to reach out to a mentor personally, you can just binge watch their art and be led in an entire new direction in life. You can have hundreds of mentors this way at the simple click of a few buttons. When it comes to teachers, I guess I've never looked at them as mentors either but that's exactly who they are. They educate the youth and help them navigate through the years of school with ease. There seems to be mentors everywhere we turn our heads when we look at it from this perspective. How great it that?

The time will also come when we have to return the energy by being a mentor to others. Whether we're signed up for this role, someone asks us for guidance, or we're just helping because we feel called to, there are plenty of ways we can embody this position.

This chapter reminds me of the concept of being financially literate and abundant. Learning would be the knowledge of finances from people who are already in the position that you want to be in. There is a lot about money that they don't teach you in school that you will only learn from people who have it. With earning, you have to spend your time and energy getting familiar with and doing things to make the money. The returning part correlates with donating. In all the books I've read and the YouTube videos I've watched on finances they've mentioned how important donating is. No matter how much you donate, it helps maintain the balance of the energy that is money. It's one of those things where you get what you give. It all makes "cents".

What I Learned About Myself

I am actually not opposed to the idea of having someone guide me through life. Now that I'm looking at things from a different angle, I see it would benefit me in many different ways. Life might be a lot easier with some direction from someone who knows how to get where I'm trying to go.

What I Learned About the World

Mentors are not limited to a selected group of people. Anyone can have a mentor in any area of their life.

From This Day Forward

I will always seek guidance from people no matter who they are. I know I don't have it all figured out and I'm not too ashamed to ask for help.

Finding a mentor is definitely on my to do list now because there is so much to learn and learning from someone might be more efficient then doing all the research myself. 10 Solutions Down, 61 to go.