Before you can find a mentor you need to figure out what you value in your life. A mentor can help you figure how to live the life you want to live, but the leg work to figure out what that is is always on you. To figure out what you want to do, it’s easier to first figure out what you don’t want to do. To accomplish this you just need to try things. Take every opportunity you can and bust ass constantly.
The truth is, it is not easy to decide what you want to do with your life, probably next to impossible. The only thing you can do is continuously learn, grow, and learn to not do things you hate. You have to get to know yourself and trust yourself. Once you do that you are ready for a career mentor. A mentor is not a teacher, and not even a coach. They are not your superior, just someone who is on a similar journey, only a little bit further ahead. They can offer feedback, insights, and assistance because they have successfully navigated where you’ve been.
But it’s not one-sided. You have to show that you can create value for them. Create a blog, create a podcast, offer to work to work for the potential mentor—prove that you can offer something to them, that you have a similar value system, and that you are worth mentoring. You can find a mentor on your own and the best way is often someone you can work for. But organizations can also be very valuable.
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Firstly to find/approach a mentor you need to –
Look at those you admire /can learn from / have the experience [with respect to the ‘area/field’ you want guidance for ] – Ideally start identifying such people around you :- who you already know and trust, as friends, other family members, business associates, colleagues, seniors , teachers etc. – Or get introduced to people who you don’t know personally but you look up to in your field – Or maybe some one experienced and retired , who can guide you – or anyone who could help you. Make a list. Once you have this – then start contacting them and see who best fits your requirement.
You could also look online for potential mentors as – job boards [portals], and sites as:- Linked- in, Quora etc. Also Search for mentors/coaches on the Internet. There are specific sites that have coaches/mentors registered online. Mention specifically on ‘what you are looking for’ i.e. area where you need mentoring’ in search/communication. Note – There are paid and free mentoring /coaching services but it depends on what you are looking at.
Approach them as :- Once you identify the mentor , you could approach the him/her by:- talking to him/her in person or calling him when s/he is free, or you could write an email /text explaining what help you need and request if you could mutually discuss this.
Mentoring relationship is based on ‘trust’. Here are also Some suggestions to to check if mentoring relationship is moving in the right direction:-
Be clear on “why and what” you are looking at from the mentoring relationship. In short one would have to be clear on ‘expectations’ from a mentoring relationship – so review the areas. Accordingly look for the right mentor for you.
If you are unsure on way mentoring is going to head – then start with pilot sessions for mentoring At end of pilot sessions you and mentor can evaluate if this is working for both of you and also check if you need to modify areas of mentoring etc. Thereafter decide on the mentoring relationship based on this. Mentor or no mentor though, the key is to just do things! Take every opportunity you can and learn to not do things you hate. Enjoy your life.
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