The Importance Of Having A Mentor
As an blogger, it’s exciting to go it alone and create something on your own. However, the reality is that, while you have a great idea, you may not know exactly what you should be doing with your blog at which times to develop it into a sustainable business.
No matter how good you are at your craft, there really is nothing like being able to have a mentor. Most business owners and successful online entrepreneurs will admit that a mentor was a big part of their success.
A lot of people feel like they can do everything on their own and this is something that can lead to a lot of problems. If you’re serious about succeeding in life, then having a mentor could be the key.
A mentor can give you opportunities to network
Having a mentor can open up so many more opportunities, things that just wouldn’t happen otherwise. Your mentor will have a whole network of contacts that you could have access to. Your mentor will want you to succeed, so they will be likely to spot potential connections or opportunities which will benefit you.
You can gain experience not shared in books
Gaining experience takes time, so this is where having a mentor comes in useful. Your mentor will have lots of experience gained over years,m which you can tap into without having to put the time in yourself. You can learn from mistakes and successes they have made along their journey and get such a fast-track to your own blog growth. A mentor will guide you through your journey and tell you if you make a mistake.
You can skip some mistakes
Following on from my previous point. Working with a mentor means that, with their guidance, you can skip some of the mistakes most people make when trying to grow their business.
A mentor will help you stay in business longer
Lots of blogs/businesses fail. The SBA found that 30% of new businesses may not survive past the first 24 months, and 50% of those may not make it past five years. However, 70 percent of mentored businesses survive longer than 5 years.
You will succeed with a mentor (well it’s more likely!)
Research has shown that mentors are an important contributor to success. Sage found, 93% of startups admit that mentorship was a vital factor in their success. The valuable connections, guidance, advice, support and accountability will skyrocket your success.
Mentors offer one source of trusted information
When we’re unsure of things, it can be really easy to fall into the trap of asking lots of different people for their opinion on an issue/problem we’re having. This inevitably leads to conflicting advice and us more confused than we were originally! Having a mentor means you know who to use as a sounding board. Having this one source of information and advice can help to cut our the noise of conflicting advice.
Mentors can push our growth
Sometimes due to past experiences, we might limit ourselves. Mentors can have more faith in us and this faith can mean we are pushed out of our comfort zone and grow quicker than we would do alone.
Mentors set us boundaries
Sometimes are solo biz owners we can be terrible at setting boundaries for ourselves. Mentors understand this (have probably struggled themselves when they started) and can help to pass on work habits.
A mentor gives you reassurance
The power of having someone who to guides you along your path and shares your worries is priceless. Your mentor has the capacity to help their students tap into their self-confidence and excel in every opportunity.
They will provide you with encouragement
It can be difficult to pick yourself up when you experience failures or missteps along the way. This can impact your confidence, productivity and motivation to continue. A mentor can show you that these things are part of the journey and reassure you that even the most successful people have had bumps in their journey too.
Oprah Winfrey stated,
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”
Mentors can see where we need to improve
Mentors can see where we need to focus our time and efforts for improvement. They will be honest and give valuable feedback which can be used to improve our skills.
So are you convinced that you need a mentor? A mentor doesn’t necessarily need to be older than you, but I think they need to be in the position you want to reach. That way you know they can walk the walk. If you’re serious about being successful, it’s crucial to try to find the best mentor possible.
