How to be mentored without the mentor even knowing it

In the past couple of blog posts, I talked about the importance of a mentor in a successful life and I talked about why you might need more than one mentor for your life.

Well, I guess it’s unofficially “mentor week” here at TheHappySelf because I’ve found myself writing about them again. Only this time, I’m taking a slightly different spin.

Not all mentors need to be face-to-face

Mentors are good to have and I firmly believe you need to meet with your mentors face-to-face (or at least over the phone) regularly. But I also recognize that we don’t all have the time or network to meet with mentors in all of the areas in our life that we want to grow.

So instead of finding a “face-to-face” mentor for every single area of your life, find a couple of mentors and work with them in some key areas…

BUT also…

… find a few people who you aspire to be like and learn as much as you can from them. You can do this for any public figure.

An example of an at-a-distance mentor

I’m going to use the example of stock market investing because it’s an area in life where I’ve actually used this method: I wanted to become successful in the stock market but I didn’t know anyone personally who was, plus I was already busy with another mentor and some other commitments in my life. So I went out and looked for an “at-a-distance” mentor who could give me some insight into investing even though we never met face to face. Warren Buffett turned out to have the kinds of ideas and skills and success that I aspired to have. So I constructed a mentorship program with his advice even though I never actually met him.

• I read everything I could get my hands on that was written about him
• I read everything I could get my hands on that was written by him
• I studied his successes (and failures)
• I learned that he followed a certain expert (Benjamin Graham) so I read THAT expert’s work, too.

After immersing myself in the mind and actions of Warren Buffett, I found it much easier to think and invest like him. Obviously I have not achieve the same level of success as he has (he’s about a thousand years older than I am!) but I am far more confident and successful in the stock market than I was… thanks to my at-a-distance mentoring relationship with Warren Buffett.

They’re more than just role models

I’ve heard some people call these mentors “role models” but for me, a role model doesn’t have the same impact on your life. I like to think of them as mentors… but just mentors I don’t get to meet in person.

Don’t think of this as an excuse to NOT have face-to-face mentors. However, adopt a multiple-mentor approach and get some face-to-face mentors and some at-a-distance mentors to improve your life!

Posted on January 27, 2012