If you’re a student, a business owner, an entrepreneur, or anybody who wants to be successful, you need a mentor.
Today, I’m going to talk to you about the 7 reasons why every single person on this planet should have a mentor. So without further ado, let’s roll into it.
You Need A Mentor
Today, I’m going to share a few gold nuggets that will really help some of you.
To start, I want to tell you guys a funny story.
As a kid, I grew up in a household where we didn’t really get to do a whole lot of outdoor stuff. I did a lot of biking and a lot of outdoor sports, but I didn’t do a lot of camping and fishing. So, when I became an adult, it was something I took a major interest in, from my late teens to my early 20s.
My dad wasn’t much of a camping and fishing guy, so I had to learn how to do it myself. I didn’t have any mentors. I didn’t have any guides, and I didn’t have anybody to lead me or prevent me from getting into some of the trouble and the dangers that come with being outdoors.
So, when I was in my early 20s, I got together with my cousins (who were like my brothers), and we decided to go on a camping trip. The bad part was that we went on this trip late at night — we decided to leave at about 6:00 in the evening.
Naively, we thought that it was only going to take us about 45 minutes to get to where we were going. Along the way, we ended up stopping at a few places, had to get more gas, had some other things happen, and when we ended up getting to the place where we were camping, it was nighttime.
We grabbed all of our stuff, and realized that we were going to have to trek through the woods — about a mile and a half — to our camping spot… in the dark.
… A camping disaster...
Thankfully, we had some flashlights. But we had no idea where we were going or what we were doing. And if we’d had a mentor, if we’d had a guide and somebody to lead us along the way, we could have avoided some of the dangers, some of the paranoia, and some of the fears that we developed while going on this camping trip.
We started walking through the woods down towards the water, but it was pitch-black. Even with flashlights, we couldn’t really see ahead of us. We were walking back and forth across the woods, trying to find our way down to the water. After about two hours of wandering, we finally decided to give up and just call it a night.
By this time it was around 2 or 3 in the morning. And throughout the next hours, we were freaking out. We were worried about being eaten by a bear or a mountain lion, or being bitten by a snake that we didn’t see in the middle of the night… or something even crazier crawling into our sleeping bags.
There was a lot of fear; a lot of paranoia. And we were in quite a bit of danger, because we were so young and didn’t have a mentor with us.
If I’d had a mentor, I would have been able to get to the water earlier in the day, with the right supplies. We could have avoided a lot of the pitfalls that we went through on that camping trip.
7 Reasons Why You Need A Mentor
That camping trip, overall, was a nightmare. But if we’d had an adult with us who was more experienced, they could have led us, and we would have had a much better camping trip.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I learned a lot of lessons, and it was a lot of fun, but I could have gotten to my destination a lot quicker with a mentor.
So, there are 7 reasons why you need a mentor, and they all relate to my story of going camping.
1. Danger
The number-one reason why you need a mentor is because of danger. There are a lot of dangers out there that you can prevent — similar to me being eaten by a bear in the middle of the woods at night.
There are businesses that you need to stay away from, there are people that you need to stay away from, there are mistakes that you need to avoid, there are tax liabilities… there are all kinds of dangers in business. A mentor is going to help you to avoid those dangers, and help you keep yourself out of trouble.
They’ll help keep you from losing your business, losing your reputation, and losing your passion and your dream. That is something that I want to protect you from, and that’s why you need a mentor.
2. Direction
The second reason is having a direction.
We could have avoided wandering through the woods, and being lost and scared, if we’d just had somebody to give us direction. So, in your business, as much as you think you have it all figured out, you can get to your destination a lot quicker with the right direction.
There are a lot of people out there who have experience and have been through this before, like my mentor, Larry. They can help you take shortcuts.
It’s not about taking shortcuts through life, but taking shortcuts that will help you avoid some of the dangers, get to your destination quicker, and keep going in the right direction.
That’s what a mentor is going to be really good at doing: helping you stay in the right direction, and not letting you go off a random path, like we did on our camping trip.
3. Compassion
A great mentor is going to show you compassion.
They’re going to understand your background. They’re going to understand the type of person you are. They’re going to understand your strengths. They’re going to understand your weaknesses, and they’re going to be there for you in all the areas of your life and business that you may not be strong in.
Your mentor will point you in the right direction to avoid danger, and they’re always going to show you compassion. They’re going to genuinely care about you.
4. Validation
The fourth reason you need a mentor is: validation.
A mentor is like a guide when you’re going through the woods: if you have a great guide, they’re going to understand, and have experience where you don’t. They’re going to be able to validate you when you’re crossing over the right path.
It’s not just about avoiding the bad path, but also about showing you the right path, giving you the right direction, and giving you validation when you’re making those wins.
5. Advocacy
When you have a great mentor, they’re your advocate. The fact that you have somebody willing to come along with you on your journey through the woods is everything.
Even through all the scary parts, your mentor is coming along with you as your advocate. They’re taking that risk.
Going out in the woods in the middle of the night is probably not a smart move for somebody who’s in their early 20s, with very little experience. But if you have an advocate, they’re going to teach you to leave earlier and prepare better.
A mentor is going to invest their time, their money, and their interest in you as a person. That person being an advocate for you is incredibly important.
6. Objectivity
You know that saying: “When you’re too close to the forest, you can’t see the trees?” It’s true.
When I was wandering through the woods, I was so focused on not being eaten by a bear that I couldn’t focus on where I was actually going, what was the right direction. I just wanted to survive and make it through the night.
So, what a mentor is going to help you do is have objectivity about the situation. They’re going to be able to assess the surroundings, assess your situation, and give you the best possible advice for a better outcome.
Your mentor will help you break through those areas you’re stuck in by being objective. It’s so important to have that in your life.
7. Love
Love is the most important reason why you need a mentor.
These guys or gals are going to be a friend. That’s what I needed in the middle of the night: a friend. Someone who knew the right direction and could help me through it, and just be there with me, so I didn’t feel like I was alone.
You need somebody who is going to love you and be there for you.
The right mentor isn’t just going to be there to criticize you and to tell you what you’re doing wrong — they’re going to tell you what you’re doing right. They’re going to help you along the journey. They’re going to make you feel like you’re not alone.
Find Your Mentor!
If you need a mentor, if you need help, please reach out to me.
That’s what my purpose in life is: to mentor as many people possible. I have a program called Meek Mentors. You can go to meekmentors.com to check it out.
I want to help you along your journey, no matter what phase you’re in. If you’re at the very beginning and you just need some assistance and guidance, I want to be there for you.
And if I’m not the right person for you, I can connect you with other people who are. That’s part of finding a great mentor as well: they have connections, and a network of people that they can connect with you. So, even if my mentor wasn’t willing to go out with me into the woods and my guide, they would know somebody that’s an expert and can help.
Thank you guys so much for tuning in to this video with me today. I really appreciate you. Please don’t forget to hit the like button and hit subscribe. Share this with a friend or somebody you care about. And as always, keep looking up.