The Value of a Mentor
“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.”
- Japanese Proverb
This world is hard.
At times things go easy. We feel like we’re on the top of the world. We become full of ourselves and buy into the arrogance that we don’t need anyone. And then things go upside down.
We call this “out kicking our coverage”. Which is a football slang for: We have moved into areas that are beyond our understanding.
Things get hard. We begin to feel like we are all alone. We try to subtly reach out … but no one is picking up.
Life Lesson: WE CAN’T DO THIS BY OURSELVES
What about our Quarters can’t they help? Sure, sometimes they can help, but at other times it’s out of their realm of understanding so all they offer is encouragement.
QUESTION: So, now what?
ANSWER: Find a mentor!!
What is a Mentor?
A mentor is a person who:
· Has walked a similar path as we have.
· Has failed, maybe more than once, but has come back with a string of successes.
· Is a life-long student. (One who is constantly looking to learn more)
· Is constantly teaching, not only in the words, but in the actions.
· Is consistently right in their predictions of the future.
· Is never bothered by your questions.
· Can admit when they don’t know the answer.
· Will lead you to other people who know more than they do.
· Is willing to lift you higher than they have climbed.
· Wants nothing, but your continued success, for the time they spend with you.
You don’t find this person through a “Want Ad”. These people reveal themselves to you through time. There is an old saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Make sure that you are ready. By “ready” I mean that your passion is in line with your skills and abilities (your Crayons). That you TRUST yourself completely. When you TRUST yourself, you will PERSEVERE all the obstacles that are thrown at you on your way to living your optimal life.
Ready = Passion + Trust + Perseverance. When you have the equation solved your mentor will appear.
Mentors Change
Over the years I have had several professional mentors.
My offensive line coach in high school, Ed Lenius, was maybe my first mentor. I wanted to follow his path and become a high school teacher and football coach.
In college it was a professor, Dr. George Morgan. Dr. Morgan made me a lifelong student. Up until the day he passed away, in a classroom, as he taught other students, he was always searching for more answers. I work hard everyday to keep this alive in myself.
In my professional life John Stucky was my mentor in the strength and conditioning profession, Tim Weiss was my mentor in coaching. As I moved along my coaching path people like Scotty Conley, Pat Summitt and Nolan Richardson changed how I interacted with athletes. When I became a head strength coach in college and the NFL, Mike Woicik, who won 6 Super Bowls during his career, became my go to guy.
In life I have had my Quarters, those people who I hold in the highest regard, who have had a very positive influence on my career and my life in general.
Our professional mentors change during our life. It’s like a long relay race. Each professional mentor gets us from one point until we surpass them. And then we transition to the next mentor to help us to continue to move along our life’s path.
On the other hand, personal mentors might be with you your entire life - they REALLY know who you are and where you came from. The key ingredient to a personal mentor is that they only want what’s best for YOU. Their most valuable asset to you is the willingness to tell you the unvarnished truth.
That is why we need to make sure that we completely vet those people who we make our mentors. Sometimes those who we thought were pushing us along our path were actually using us to make their path easier.
Life is hard! By ourselves it is impossible. When we attach ourselves to those special people that come into our lives, our path becomes smoother. We move faster. We climb higher. That is the value of a mentor.
Have an amazing day.
