I never considered myself having a mentor until I graduated from high school; I was part of a growing non-profit and this person I looked up to slowly took me under their wing.
It felt like such a natural process at that moment.
I learned almost everything I knew about connecting with others because of what this person had shown me. I was a marketer in the making and didn’t know it. Till this day, I still use tools that I learned in those moments that money could never buy. Which brings me to my first point.
If you like what you see in what a person does, don’t just purchase their mentorship, especially if they aren’t offering it in the first place. There’s a stark difference between buying ones time versus joining a community of others like yourself, which I do encourage you to try. Check out Joe’s Program here and join hundreds who are in the same boat as you.
Also, be wary of certain programs out there who tell you they’ve got the answer you need because that’s definitely not mentorship either. It’s an expensive empty promise waiting to happen.
So, what do you do?
Let me go back to my opening story. Remember how I said that I slowly became a mentee under that organization organically? Well, as it turns out, there was a process going on that I seriously had no idea about.
The person that found me said he “saw something in me” that they didn’t’ see in other people my age. This person saw me and the skills I had: public speaking, entertainment, sound engineering, creativity, and other corky stuff.
Interestingly, it was these things that were missing from their own repertoire. These were the things this person had no expert opinion on, and I had them. Furthermore, this person had something that I wanted simultaneously, their knowledge and experience.
Here’s the point of all this:
If you want to find a mentor organically, think of what you can offer to them in exchange for their mentorship or expertise. Simple as that.
Here’s a list to get you started. I’ve compiled it after reviewing what many directors, CEO’s and others in leadership are looking for in exchange for their knowledge on a personal level:
- Blog contributions
- Infographic designers
- Social media managers
- Data entry analyst
- Keyword/ trending researcher
- Website editor
- Program beta tester
- Product creator
- A virtual assistant
- Email marketer
- Book Keeping
- Taxes
- Podcast Editor
- (insert your expertise here)
Remember, your creative and business talents that you’ve worked so hard to achieve are probably marketable. Besides reaching out and saying you want this person to flat-out mentor you, think about what it is you can bring to the table in exchange. Approach them with your expertise for their knowledge.
Who knows, perhaps this could turn into an apprenticeship and eventually a partnership. You never know until you help others with what you already know.
Never, I repeat, never count your talents out.
Jacob Kountz is the founder of Kern Wellness Counseling, a mental health blog, in Bakersfield, CA. His works have been featured on USA Today, Thrive Works, Fatherly, Martha Stewart Weddings, Thrive Global, and is a Practice of the Practice monthly contributor. His blog has also been ranked as one of the top 60 Mental Health Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2018. Currently, he is a full-time graduate student and a Clinic Manager of a mental health training clinic at a local CSU where he provides therapy for individual adults, adolescents, and children, couples and families. He aspires to one day open a private practice in Bakersfield, CA so he may continue to serve his local population.