Mentoring Monday
By: Paula Farris
Tags: Mentor, Mentoring Matters, Mentoring

If you read my post from yesterday you know today in Mentoring Monday.

Today is the day I will be giving you advice. You don’t have to take my advice; I’m not forcing it on you, but I am offering you life changing information for free. Most of the suggestions I make can be tried for free also, so, really you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

What is a Mentor anyway?

When I think of the word Mentor I picture an older man or woman, gray haired, kind, and full of wisdom. That’s not exactly what a Mentor is, just what I picture.

Did you know a Mentor could actually be younger than you?

A Mentor is someone who has knowledge, but mostly wisdom about a subject that you want to master in your life.

It doesn’t matter what age the Mentor is, if they have experienced an area you need help in, and gained some wisdom from it, they could become your Mentor.

A Mentor shares their wisdom, mostly by modeling the behavior to the Mentee.

If the Mentor doesn’t “practice what they preach,” then they will not be a successful Mentor since the Mentee needs to see not only that they know how to do what they are teaching, but also that they do what they say. “Do as I say, not as I do,” does not make a successful Mentor/Mentee relationship.

“Mentee,” that’s a fun word. It makes me think of fresh and refreshing like wintergreen gum. If a Mentee puts in the time and effort to listen to and learn from their Mentor they can transform their life; it can become fresh and refreshing. (See what I did there? LOL)

But a Mentor/Mentee relationship must be based on trust.

See, if you don’t trust me, if you think I’m writing this blog just to write, if you think I have nothing of substance to say or that the things I say are things I don’t practice, you don’t trust me and you definitely won’t practice what I tell you to do.

A Mentor must be trusted in their area of expertise. If I were giving you advice on housekeeping, or fashion you should probably stop reading what I have to say. Those are not my areas of expertise. And while I might be pretty great at lots of things like parenting, creating fun activities for children out of random things I have laying around the house, and baking cookies, this blog is mostly focused on showing you how to Become Amazing.

I know I will always be Becoming Amazing, I have not arrived yet. I still have a lot to learn, but I have also invested more than 12 years of study in the personal development arena. I have read books, watched videos, attended seminars, and practiced the things I have been taught.

I have also preserved through some pretty tough times. And come through with a good attitude and a smile on my face willing to help others through their challenges. I hope you feel you can trust me, and if you aren’t there yet, I hope you give me the chance to win your trust.

A Mentor/Mentee relationship is usually long term.

I’m not someone who will disappear tomorrow or even next month. I have committed to post on this blog every day for 365 days and today is only day 25. We have a long way to go. I hope you will come along for the ride. (And I don’t plan to stop after a year, either.)

I mentioned yesterday that I am writing this blog to start a business with it. I won’t disappear after I start making money. I truly care about each one of you, even if we’ve never met. I want each person who reads this blog to come away with something that can help them, encourage them, change their life, whether or not they ever spend a dime on any of my products. I hope you trust me to keep my word in this area.

So what’s the difference between a Mentor and a Teacher or a Coach?

A Teacher imparts knowledge. They know how to do something; usually a certain subject or a skill and they teach you how to do whatever that is. According to Paula Marantz Cohen in a July 24, 2012 article called “Teaching vs. Mentoring” on the site AmericanScholar.com, “A subtle but important difference distinguishes mentors and teachers.

A teacher has greater knowledge than a student; a mentor has greater perspective.”

Like I said above, I’ve been through some stuff. And I came out the other side. My clothes may have been disheveled, I may have been a bit bloodied and bruised, my face may have been tear-stained, but I survived. And through it all I gained perspective. I gained the ability to know that even when things aren’t “alright” that doesn’t mean that I’m not.

I am Becoming Amazing and I want to share that insight with you.

A Coach focuses on helping you perfect a skill, like playing a sport, or learning a certain software program. Once the skill is mastered the relationship ends.

I hope to be so much more than a coach to my readers. I hope I can continually encourage to Become Amazing.

“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” (Zig Ziglar) I think you can! I believe in you. I believe that you have the ability to Become Amazing. I hope you trust me to Mentor you on your journey.