Mentoring is a very important part of what we “engage” in our daily life. Whether or not we even realize it at times, we are all serving as a mentor to a colleague or a student, or perhaps we seek out a mentor to help us with challenges we encounter in our daily lives. We often have a system of support in our personal and professional lives, and this system has a tremendous impact.

At a certain point in time, we hit rock bottom and nothing seems to work out regardless of how hard we try to make ends work. A failed job application, bills piling up while we have no money, fear, anxiety, failure and all these seem to eat you up. Without a single doubt, life can be tough sometimes. In such moments often times all we need is someone to guide us through so that we rejuvenate our energy and get back to our feet. When what we do doesn’t seem to work, we could use someone who has ever been through what we are experiencing and has no doubt overcome it all. Thus; they have the experience and expertise we need.

Mentors have a pivotal role to play in our life in general. Whether you are enrolled in a pre-service program, working as an intern, a CEO, a fresh graduate, a student, a parent, a teacher and so on. We all go through various experiences in our roles or positions that we cannot go through it on our own.  Even a new employee often gets a more experienced person as a mentor to help guide them through any transitions along the way as they are adopting the new working environment. Mentors can really help you find your place and be confident despite your current situation. Simply put, no matter where you are in your life, you don’t need to go it alone.

If you are lucky enough to meet with your mentor one-on-one, share your goals, ask for their input and advice, benefit from their introductions, networks and most importantly from their constructive feedback. It’s invaluable to have a mentor whose journey is complementary to yours and who is personally invested in your success. Mentors should also be willing to open-up and be  honest about their experiences so you can truly learn from them. 

Now that you are lucky enough to meet someone who offers or accepts to be your mentor, what next? Maintain that relationship. If the questions is how, then one simple thing you should do to maintain your relationship with your mentor is to Communicate. Constantly check on your mentor every few weeks and if they are busy, at least do it in every few months to keep them informed about how your career or life is progressing in general. Most importantly, let them know how their advice and perspective have affected your career, as they invariably have for the better.

If you do this, then best believe you won’t have to feel the burden all by yourself. Someone out there is willing to help you walk through your journey by being available, listening to you and give you solid advice on how to go about stuff. Remember, you don’t have to go through it by yourself. 

We launched the Beautiful Together Mentorship Program for mainly this reason, to connect you to world class mentors so that you don’t have to walk alone. We want you to learn from their journeys, life lessons, and experiences so that you can do better, be better and explode into the fullest potential of yourself. 

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