If you’re wondering how to find the right mentor for you, first you’ll need to figure out what you want out of a mentor. Finding a business mentor is great for people who don’t know much about entrepreneurship or running a business, and of course you’ll want a mentor who has achieved the type of success you’re after.
If you want to start your own business and be self-employed, you don’t necessarily need to go to business school. Plenty of successful entrepreneurs never went to business school. They’re self-taught, and many of them are self-taught with the help of mentors.
Figuring out how to find the right mentor depends on your goals. If starting your own business is your goal, you need a mentor who has successfully started their own business. Your mentor will have made mistakes along the way, learned from them, figured things out, and made it work. They’ll have a lot of wisdom to share.
Many people have different goals that mentors can help them work towards. These goals typically include discovering their purpose, finding their gift, successfully starting a business, scaling their business, and learning how to make passive income.
How to Find the Right Mentor
Finding the right mentor can potentially make or break your shot at success. You might also want to know how to find the right mentor because you know that it could help you achieve success faster. So how can you find the right mentor for you?
Knowing What to Look For in a Mentor
The first clue that a certain mentor might be right for you is if they are currently successful in the same type of business you want to be in. If you want to know how to find the right mentor, you’ll also want to find a mentor who you respect, feel a connection with, and resonate with.
If someone is successful, that doesn’t mean they’ll be a good mentor. They should be both intellectual and intelligent. Furthermore, they have to want to be a mentor, and they have to want to help others. You also need to build rapport with them and form a connection with them.
So, ask yourself some key questions. Do you connect with this potential mentor? Are you comfortable around them? Do you feel comfortable opening up to them and asking them questions? Do you share the same values? Do you respect how they do business? Are they successful in the kind of way you strive to be?
Land a Mentor by Offering to Add Value
Mentorship can be a mutually-beneficial relationship. Your mentor can add value to your life by giving you advice, answering questions, and showing you the world of business.
However, you can also add value to your mentor’s life. You’re more likely to find the right mentor who is a mentor for the long-term if you add some value to their life. You could do this by offering to be an intern for them, and if they’re paying you a little, you’ll be earning while you learn.
You could ask your mentor if there’s anything you could help them with, because they’re helping you, too.
Remember that just because a person is more successful than you, doesn’t mean they’re obligated to help you. So this means you can’t act entitled to mentorship.
Show your potential mentor that you don’t feel entitled to their mentorship, but rather you want to earn it. Show them this by doing your research, laying out clear goals that you have in mind, and prove you’ve done your due diligence by asking specific questions you know they have the answers to.
How to Find the Right Mentor by Not Being Afraid to Ask
Try not to be too intimidated or afraid to ask someone to consider being a mentor. Keep in mind that many successful people do actually enjoy helping and mentoring others. They remember what it was like when they were first starting out. They likely will be open to helping out.
Perhaps the successful individual who you’re considering as your mentor also had a mentor when they were younger. This means they might be happy to ‘pay it forward’ by becoming your mentor, because they remember how much their mentor helped them.
It can be intimidating to ask for mentorship, but if you don’t ask, you’ll never receive mentorship.
Ask a Potential Mentor to Lunch
A great way to get your foot in the door with a potential mentor is to ask them to go for lunch. Even the busiest, most successful people have to eat, right?
People love being invited for lunch. You’re much more likely to get a ‘Yes’ compared to asking to go for a walk or a coffee.
However, remember that if they’re successful enough to be sought-after as a mentor, they’re probably quite busy and in demand. Respect their time by having clear questions prepared for when you meet with them for lunch. This won’t go unnoticed.
This way, you won’t seem unprepared, so it won’t seem like they’ve wasted their time agreeing to meet with you.
Be Clear That All You Want is Knowledge
Your potential mentor has likely had ‘mentees’ with agendas. People who wanted a job, or a social media shout-out, an introduction to someone powerful, or some other type of agenda other than strictly knowledge.
Mastering how to find the right mentor also involves being the right kind of mentee. This means that you need to be clear that all you want from them is some knowledge and advice. No other agenda. Your potential mentor will appreciate that.
Approach them with sincerity and no agenda, with specific questions pre-planned. This is the best way to approach a potential mentor.
What Are Your Genetic Success Traits?
Success is earned, it’s not necessarily genetic, but there are certain genetic traits people have that can contribute to their success. For example, your IQ is partially genetic, as are your mathematical abilities, your information processing power, and your creative tendencies. Your entrepreneurship tendencies (your AQ) is another trait that could be in your DNA.
CircleDNA is an at-home DNA test that provides you with 500 reports about yourself, after analyzing a sample of your DNA. Many of these reports have to do with genetic health-related information, ancestry reports, and genetic skin traits.
However, some of the 500 reports are reports on your genetic success traits. It’s an interesting wealth of knowledge you can tap into, all from taking a simple DNA test from CircleDNA.
