3 Mentors that everyone should find

I’ve had many mentors in my entire life. From the time I was in kindergarten, and looked up to my teacher, through all of my coaches in grade school and high school sports, and now today as my professors and advisors prepare me for graduation, there have always been individuals in my life that have helped me to learn and to grow. And what I have found through this is that there are three types of mentors that you need to be successful.

First there are the long-term mentors. These are people that you have known for your entire life, and who have continuously impacted you in all aspects. For me, these would be my parents. In all stages of my life they have given me the inspiration and knowledge I need to get through all of the challenges I have faced. They have been able to do this only because we have an open relationship that allows us to talk about mostly anything.

Next, there are short-term mentors. These people are there during short stages of your life, such as your elementary school principal, your high school football coach, or in my case, my History professor sophomore year of college. These are people you respect because of tough love, or because of things they teach you. I found that it is necessary to impact these people as much as they impact you. Look for life lessons out of your experiences with these people, and later in life, use what you learned to get through a tough situation. My history professor showed me that it is necessary to look at all of the background information to fully understand a situation. He taught me this through an unorthodox curriculum that focused on the not so newsworthy events of the time period.

Finally, there are your special mentors. These are the people you only reach out to in specific situations where you have no where else to turn, or if your predicament relates to something they are very familiar with. Special mentors are very tough to find, and some people have only one, but I think that it is important to have as many as possible. I have used networking and communication to find multiple people in multiple fields.

For example, in Columbus, there are people I have met that are involved in everything from advertising to Judaism. If I find myself in a marketing conflict, or if I need job advice, I will reach out to the people that have that knowledge. However, if I am struggling with something personal or spiritual then I will reach out to a rabbi. I make sure not to overdue the amount I ask these people, and I only contact them when necessary. I know that by limiting the advice I ask them, I will always receive their sincere and full attention, usually resulting in an answer to my problem.

Mentors are incredibly important in your life if you want to be successful. They need to be people you trust, and they need to trust you. Experience has shown me that reaching out to people you trust can help you to solve any problem you have. Just make sure that that you determine who is appropriate to ask, and when you should ask them. You will see that life’s many issues will be made easier with a little advice, and many different opinions.