I remember working at a law office in my early twenties, and one of the attorneys wanted me to schedule her a lunch date with her mentor. I was so confused because I had no idea what a mentor was. For some reason, I thought a mentor was another name for a guidance counselor in school, so my thought when she said mentor was, I thought you only had one of those in school.  

It wasn’t until the fourth year of my career that I got the courage to ask my then-director to be my mentor. I had asked her because as soon as she started with the company, she gave me guidance and publications to follow within our field. We also clicked right away. A few months after she started at the company, I found a new job at a different company, and I wanted to stay in touch with her, so I asked her if she could be my mentor, and she said she would be honored.

A few weeks ago, I called her to get her opinion on which position to choose when I was presented with two options, and it was nice getting her professional input.

I don’t only have a mentor for my professional guidance; I have a spiritual mentor too. She prays for me, she is someone I can go to for clarity, and we get together a few times per year to check up. Just like I have mentors in my life, here are three reasons you should have a mentor or two.

Guide You in Your Career or Life in General

As I mentioned above, I have two mentors. One I go to for career-oriented advice, and the other one is spiritual, so this is an advantage of having a mentor, someone to guide you in your career or life in general. If you are anything like me, you are terrible at making decisions, especially alternating life decisions. I go back and forth all the time, and I do a lot of what-ifs before deciding. I always ask others what I should do, but with a mentor, you have someone who knows you and who has been there to help you make wise decisions. This person should tell you how it is and should not sugarcoat things. And they shouldn’t be a yes-man, either. You’ll need someone who will be honest and upfront with you. These are the best types of mentors.

Learn From Your Mentor’s Mistakes

Mentors are usually older than you, so they have been through some stuff, and you can learn from their mistakes. Whether guiding you through your career or life, you can definitely avoid making certain mistakes by learning from their experience. Of course, life isn’t perfect, so you’ll still make your own mistakes, but having a mentor can help you avoid a few.

Have Someone in Your Corner to Check In on You

My mentors check in on me from time to time, either by text messages or phone calls. My spiritual mentor sends me inspirational YouTube videos, songs, or devotionals. I also check in on them from time to time too. It’s important for us to have someone who will check in on you occasionally. I tend to distance myself if I’m going through a tough situation, but with my mentors, I feel comfortable telling them and asking for prayers. We aren’t meant to go through life alone, so it’s important for our mental health to have one or two relationships like this. I find this reason to have a mentor extremely important.

Do you have a mentor, or have you thought about asking someone to be your mentor? Who is one person you can go to when there is a tough situation?

With Love, Heidy

Journals for sale!

You can get one or both of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal 
Into My Thoughts Journal

Gratitude Journal