Mentors for every mood

Professor Dumbledore tells Harry Potter that it’s our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities. Don’t we all yearn for someone who makes us feel our mind is a wood to be ignited and not an empty vessel to be filled? What happens when you wake up one morning and realise you are surging ahead like a rudderless ship? Then a mentor comes into your life, like a knight in shining armour, to guide you towards your goals and aspirations.

We all need a mentor in every aspect of our life, be it spiritual, vocational, personal etc. The one who sees our weaknesses and makes them a springboard to develop our skills. A mentor tells you to tread a path in the right way without feeling lost as to why you chose that journey in the first place.

Anyone can walk the path, but few know how to walk with diligence and determination. Only a mentor can steer you in that direction. A mentor can be anyone you look up to and you emulate their ideas to motivate you into shaping your life.

How often are we productive, focused and mindfully involved? Edward De Bono, a psychologist devised a parallel thinking method to aid us in our decisions. He can be a mentor to anyone who struggles with decision making. He said we all mentally switch hats while using the six-hat thinking method.

The white hat stands for information and facts. The red hat talks about our feelings and intuitions. The yellow hat makes us probe for positives, value and benefit in a situation or person. The green hat, indicating creativity, gives us an opportunity to put forth new concepts and perceptions. The black hat spots the difficulties and dangers where things might go wrong. The blue hat directs and manages the whole thinking process. It makes one focus on what is important and which aspect of thinking should be prioritised based on the situation.

We can take decisions with much clarity if we use this above thinking mode opting different coloured hats each time we feel deadlocked in a situation.

 Why mentors are invaluable?

Bill Gates credits his success to Warren Buffet for giving him the best of advice on how to deal with tough situations and how to think long-term. Gates also admires the way Buffet teaches things that are complex and puts them in a simple form so that people can understand and benefit.

Sometimes mentors also look up to their students, as Buffet says he loves Bill’s view that one should always contribute to the society when there is so much wealth accumulated.

Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” A mentor tells you not to resign to that and how to break out.

When you find ‘the one’

Find someone you want to be like. Although you can never be like someone else, it would help you take decision to follow the path you want in life. Be like a sponge and soak up every ounce of advice the person has to offer you to break through the hurdles.

Mentors can be found anywhere

You are conversing with a friend on WhatsApp who says you’re a masterpiece no matter who comes and goes in your life. Your self-worth is independent of others.

This genuine friend is a mentor at that particular moment. He makes you see yourself for who you actually are. He brings you back to life when you were feeling down.

There is no hard and fast rule that a mentor has to be someone who is wiser and older to you, doling out wisdom more than you can handle. Someone who is generous enough to invest time on you and see your true nature is also a mentor.

Mentors provide a spark

A simple path of guidance pushes you to take that first step in accomplishing your goal. Richard Branson’s uncle Jim told him, “Whenever people think your idea is barmy, it could actually prove to be a stroke of genius.” Branson felt encouraged to
take the path less travelled for whatever it is.

Someone who walks the walk

Why do you need a mentor? You want to know the experience of someone who has already arrived where you want to be. The opportunity to see the day-to-day experience of someone, who has ended exactly where you see yourself in the future, is invaluable.

A mentor can be anyone who stands like the light at the end of a tunnel and paves the way for you to see your real worth.