How to find the Right Mentors in your Life?

It’s hard to succeed without proper mentorship in life.

Here are 3 big mistakes that I made in my life, when it came to finding mentors, that I would love for you all to learn from.

Mistake 1. I sought "aspirational" mentors

If you wish to start a company and I ask you, who would you want as a mentor, most will name the usual suspects.

The billionaires, the million-dollar startup founders, the ones in the limelight. That's the mistake I made as well.

If you seek a mentor who is far ahead of you, he/she will fail to help you.?Because he/she wouldn't know whether what they know is or isn't obvious to you.

They have experienced so much in life, that a lot of their learnings have been habits. They do not realize they learned it. They live them now.

So,

1. They will rarely share it, thinking it's so obvious.

2. You will constantly feel like a fool, for not understanding them

3. The relationship is doomed!

Lesson:

Seek mentors who are slightly ahead of you. Who would have recently experienced what you are going through right now. Or have the rare ability to speak to you in a language you understand.

Mistake 2: I sought "the one" mentor

Growing up, I found it so fascinating that the most successful people always said that this one mentor changed their life.

That one guy who has stuck with them all along.

I wanted to find that one mentor. The one who could solve everything. I realized that is unfair.

It is too much pressure on one person. You are setting them up for failure and yourself for disappointment.

Today, I have several mentors. For different fields.

I am able to draw the best from the best.

Lesson:

Have mentors. Several of them.

The ones whose judgment you trust, in their field of brilliance.

Why not have one for your career, one for your finance, one for relationships, and one for anything you want in addition.?

Mistake 3: I sought mentors who were like me

Humans are animals of association.

We love to spend time with people who are like us, who agree with us, endorse our point of view, think like us, and act like us.

I sought the same from my mentors.

Until I realized, that they see the problem the same way that I do. What they have is experience. What they lack is a different perspective.

Today, I seek people very different from me. They are so different from me that every conversation with them is like opening me to a whole new world.

They call me out, they are brutal yet honest, and they care about me but do not use empathy to ruin me.

Lesson:

Seek mentors who are different from you. They will show you a different side. They will ask questions you wouldn't ask otherwise. They will make you a better version of yourself, not just a bigger version of yourself.

Combine these 3 things

1. Seek mentors close to your experience levels

2. Seek multiple mentors in different areas

3. Seek mentors who are different from you

& it doesn't look so hard to find one.

Because now you are not looking for THE mentor. You are looking for a mentor.

A bad mentor tells.

A good mentor asks.

A great mentor listens.

If you found the article helpful, it would mean a lot to me for you to share this article, so that others can benefit from it as well.?

Thank you :)