What do you do if your career goals as a mechanic aren't being understood by your mentors?

2 Seek feedback

The next step is to seek feedback from your mentors and others who can offer you valuable insights, advice, or support. Ask them about their own career paths, challenges, and successes. Listen to their opinions and perspectives on your goals and the industry. Try to understand their reasons and motivations for agreeing or disagreeing with your goals. Be open-minded and respectful, but also confident and assertive. Don't let negative or discouraging feedback derail you from your goals, but use it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

3 Find alternative sources of support

If your mentors are not able or willing to support your goals, you may need to find alternative sources of support. This could include other mechanics who share your goals or have achieved them, professional associations or networks, online forums or communities, mentors from other fields or industries, or friends and family. These sources can provide you with different perspectives, experiences, resources, or opportunities that can help you achieve your goals. You can also use them as sounding boards, accountability partners, or cheerleaders.

4 Take action

The final step is to take action towards your goals. This means setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives, creating a realistic and flexible action plan, and following through with your tasks and responsibilities. It also means seeking out learning opportunities, such as courses, workshops, certifications, or projects, that can help you develop or demonstrate your skills and knowledge. Additionally, it means building your network, reputation, and portfolio, by connecting with potential employers, clients, or partners, showcasing your work, and applying for jobs or contracts.

5 Review and adjust

As you work towards your goals, it's important to review and adjust them regularly. This means evaluating your results, feedback, and satisfaction, and identifying what's working and what's not. It also means adapting to changing circumstances, such as new trends, technologies, or demands in the industry. You may need to revise your goals, objectives, or action plan, or seek new sources of support or learning. Remember that your goals are not set in stone, but rather dynamic and evolving, and that you have the power and flexibility to shape your own career path.