Finding the Right Mentor

Finding the right mentor can mean the difference between you reaching your goals in record time or finding yourself in the exact same spot 12 months from now feeling like you wasted yet another year being frustrated. These days, having a coach is widely accepted, however, what most people don’t talk about is how to find the right coach for you.

Having a mentor who really gets you can help immensely because:

• They see your blind spots and areas to improve that you can’t see yourself.
• They will push you outside your comfort zone – some of the best money I have made resulted from doing things that my coach suggested but that I didn’t feel comfortable with initially.
• You will accomplish more with a mentor than you can on your own – having a mentor is like putting your business and life on warp speed. You will stop wasting time procrastinating and you will start making decisions as you move forward faster.
• They will hold you accountable and be your biggest fan – Everyone needs a cheerleader. After all, it’s natural to have ups and downs and having someone there to encourage you can make all of the difference. Being  accountable to someone makes a huge difference. I accomplish exponentially more when I am accountable to a coach.

The trick, however, is to find the right mentor for you. Like in dating, just because they are nice doesn’t mean that they are right for you.

Here is what I look for whenever I am picking a mentor:

• Get clear on where you and what kind of help you need (don’t take a class on how to sell if you don’t even know what you’re selling).
• Pay attention to personality. What type of coaching style do you respond to best? Do you want a coach who is nurturing, feisty or aggressive? To get the most out of the relationship, you need to feel completely comfortable with him or her as a person.
• How do they work and is it a good fit for you?  Do they offer group coaching or one-on-one? Are their sessions held in person or on the phone? How often do you have access to them?
• Are they available for additional questions?  Some coaches are only available at specific appointment times. Others are available for quick questions on implementation that may arise between sessions.
• Do they provide templates and systems? Part of the reason to work with a mentor is to gain the shortcuts to success. Will they provide templates and systems relative to what you do that will save you time and money? Often this feature alone can be worth the cost of hiring a coach.
• Do they hold you accountable? Are you just having a nice chat every now and then with ideas on what to do, or are you being held accountable for acting upon them?  Talking about good things for your business is one thing. Taking action on them is another.
• Can you be completely honest with them?  To get results, you have to be willing to be honest about what you are doing and what you are not doing. You need to trust your mentor enough to open up to them and take in what they have to say.

Any way you look at it, having a mentor is the best investment that you will ever make in yourself and your business. All of the big leaps I have made in my business are directly related to working with mentors.