Have you ever thought of having a mentor in your life?
Ok, let’s first explain what a mentor is, for those who might not know.
A mentor is someone who gets into your life to guide and help you in areas that you are less experienced. He models positive behaviours. He is a helper that helps you have the potential to grow through the relationship that you have.
To sum it up, a mentor provides knowledge, insight, support, guidance, and open doors for you.
Not so many people think having a mentor is important. But it is actually vital, especially for high school kids who are still figuring out what to do in life when they complete school.
You are young and inexperienced in most of the things in life; therefore you need someone to guide, support and help you – a mentor.
Even as a new entrepreneur, you need a mentor, simply because you cannot figure everything out yourself in the world of entrepreneurship. You need someone to hold your hand, especially in the early days of your entrepreneurial journey.
Mark Zuckerberg – the founder of Facebook is a successful young entrepreneur, but do you know that he was also mentored? Yes! In his early ages Mark was mentored by Steve Jobs – the co-founder of Apple. Steve was also mentored by Mike Markkula – one of Apple’s earliest investors.
The same goes for software engineer Eric Schmidt who mentored Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google.
From the outside, all these successful entrepreneurs seem like they figured it all out on their own and walked this journey alone, but they all actually sought out mentors who were older and wiser than them in their early days. They will all tell you that they didn’t become successful on their own.
So, what are the benefits of having a mentor?
- You get experience beyond your years
A seasoned mentor can challenge you to think in ways that you never thought of, because they’ve seen more of the world than you have.
- You get networks beyond your experience
In business, knowing the right people is important. But even if you are good at networking, you might not be able to get in touch with the right people, simply because you would have just started. So, you will need someone who’s been at it for a while to connect you.
- You get insights beyond your knowledge
Every new entrepreneur needs an insightful advice from an experienced entrepreneur. They will share their knowledge, wisdom and experience with you.
