5 most valuable lessons my mentors taught me over the years which accelerated my self-development…
By: Edita Paliulionyte
Tags: Work Life Balance, Life Lessons, Mental Health Awareness, Sucess, Personal Development

5 most valuable lessons my mentors taught me over the years which accelerated my self-development, career progression, and overall confidence

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to meet and be mentored by a many influential people who have shared their years of experience with me. I would highly recommend finding a mentor as mentoring has the power to accelerate self-development, career progression, and overall confidence. A mentor is somebody who can help guide, advise, teach you through a problem or towards your goal — they will help you to stay on track with your ambitions and aspirations. Therefore, let’s explore the most valuable lessons my mentors and coaches taught me over the years.

1. Lead with integrity

One wise man once told me I was cursed with integrity. I’ve never heard this saying before and it gave me lots of food for thought. Is leading with integrity a curse or indeed a blessing?

Living by a certain code of ethics and individual set of values, being honest, sincere, treating other people fairly, with respect and expecting the same in return. I fully agree that for me, this is where the deep sense of satisfaction comes from. But in this modern world is integrity the luxury of the past?

We look at bigger corporations, executives and politicians who set business, political objectives for the rest of us to follow and their values might not align with ours. However, what I learned over the years is that transaction only has a meaning if we assign one. Therefore, for me, I am blessed to lead with integrity because I strongly believe that integrity is the key ingredient which bonds good people to good organizations.

2. Accept the past but fight for the future

The great thing about mistakes is that we all make them. No one is perfect. It’s how you deal with mistakes that matters as it shows your character. For some it will bring out insecurities and self-doubt. Beating yourself up for your mistakes won’t help you. When we don’t learn from our mistakes, we inflict unnecessary stress on ourselves and others, and we risk losing people’s confidence and trust in us.

For some, mistakes will mean reflection and subsequent growth, how things can be done differently next time. For others, it will motivate them to work harder and do better next time. It’s said that there are no mistakes, only lessons, and our biggest mistakes are our greatest source of learning.

3. Keep adding fizz to your bottle

I remember going to the face to face meeting with my coach at the time, I was so tired and miserable and it felt like I had the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Fifteen minutes into our meeting she said ’’Imagine a bottle of the best champagne. You open the bottle, you might drink a glass or two and if you leave the bottle open for few hours, there won’t be any fizz left when you come to drink it next time’’. This made me stop and think. The same applies to us all, if we keep pouring out of our bottles without topping them up with the fizz, the excitement, the thrill, new experiences, new achievements, we’ll soon run empty or even worse, we’ll run flat. It is also important to remember that it’s not only us who can top this fizz up. Some of us might lead very rewarding and active personal lives, but when it comes to work, there might not be any fizz left and after all, we spend the majority of our time at work. If you feel you are running out of fizz, surround yourself with others who can add some more fizz to your bottle. After all, life is flat without the bubbles.

4. You achieve things that you plan, not the ones you talk about

It’s important to manage your time well as the quality, not the quantity counts. To give yourself the best work-life balance you need to treat your time as the most valuable resource because let’s be honest - it is.

I’ve met many people over the years who had very blurred lines between work and personal life and I could sense their struggle. If I’m honest — I was one of them for many years. Until I started my own family. I had little luxury of extra time for myself, never mind work and I remembered the words of my coach — you achieve things that you plan, not the ones you talk about. This helped me with work-life balance and also visualization and accomplishment of my goals and aspirations not only at work but also in my personal life.

5. Find problems you enjoy solving

This one is not learned from a person, this is something I have read in a book and it stuck with me for a very long time. I hope it will with you too.

Every day we face problems in personal life or at work. Maybe you could do with losing some weight or your partner could be more kind or even better looking. At work we might face a difficult conversation, a challenge never experienced before, or a change. Even if you think you cope well with change, we are all creatures of habit deep down inside.

And every time we are faced with our problems in life, we solve them in whatever way we can, but the problems never end they just change or even get more challenging. Our life is about solving problems whatever they are and therefore if you find problems you enjoy solving you will have the satisfaction some people look for in life. The happiness lies in your enjoyment of the journey as you seek.

Over the years I have met various people who have shared their wisdom and life experience with me. My mentors supported me in my journey towards my goals and aspirations. I hope the lessons I have learned will also assist in your journey towards your personal development and goals.