Do You Have A Mentor?

The dictionary defines a blueprint as: "A detailed plan of action. A model or prototype."

So what does a blueprint have to do with a having a mentor? When you are struggling in your personal life or in your career, it helps to be able to turn to someone whom you admire and trust - someone whom has traveled down the road you're traveling - and done so successfully.

Having a mentor doesn't mean you're a failure or make you a lesser person. It makes you a smarter person - smart enough to realize that you don't have all of the answers and smart enough to seek out someone who can help you solve or deal with your problems and/or difficulties.

Heck, even Bill Gates has a mentor. It's true. Bill Gates's mentor is none other than Warren Buffett - one of the greatest living stock market investors and, like Bill Gates, a multi-billionaire. Warren Buffett's mentor was a gentleman named Ben Graham. Graham was an influential economist and is generally referred to as the "Father of Modern Security Analysis." So if you're seeking excellence in life and in business, try to find someone who already excels in that field and ask that person to be your mentor.

If for some reason that person refuses or is unavailable to mentor you, don't take it personally, because not everyone wants or has the time to be a mentor, or they may be already be mentoring one or more individuals and are unable to take on any more mentees. However, you can still learn from this individual by reading his books, listening to his tapes and watching his videos. Do this judiciously, and before long, you'll actually find yourself starting to think like this individual.

Once you get to that point, when you find yourself in a jam, simply ask yourself what that person would do in your particular situation and proceed accordingly.

Can you have more than one mentor? Absolutely! Having multiple mentors and a variety of social networks will actually expand your ability to develop alliances.

In closing, it is certainly no accident that most highly successful people have mentors. So finding yourself a mentor could be one of the most important things you ever do.

Author Andrew Rondeau is an award-winning management specialist and the owner of the brand new management website http://GreatManagement.org