The Value of a men·tor/’men,tôr/

Noun: An Adviser.

Verb: To advise or train (someone).

For the last six years, I have sought counsel from a variety of mentors to help me in my personal and business life. These mentors come in the form of real life people, books & seminars. Bill Hybels discusses the value of mentors in his book, Axiom- a powerful collection of Leadership Principles. There is no one perfect mentor for all areas of life. What’s important is to identify the top three areas that are critical to you right now and then find a mentor for those key areas. Maybe you read a book, schedule a weekly or monthly call with someone or invite someone to lunch and ask if you can get some feedback on some things you want to work on to help you achieve your goals.

I’ve registered for my second mini-sprint triathlon in two years and this event is serving as my mentor to push me to schedule time to exercise regularly.

So remember, mentors can come in many shapes and forms.

Here’s a big thank you to my ‘real life people’ mentors over the past few years: Dorothy Merchant, Carol Wise, Bob Baber, Emily Howard, Jan Brittan, Jack Canfield, Dale Carnegie, Susan Norman-Vickers, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Chuck Austin & Lucy Wellmaker.