3 yellow roses


Priming Yourself for a Mentor

© Ruth Marlene Friesen

Do you admire someone? Why don't you ask her to mentor you and teach you to be successful in the same areas she is?

Ah, shy, are you? :)

Would you like some tips to prepare yourself and to become the kind of person your heroine will gladly give of herself to help?

Here are some traits and steps you can use to open the gate to the next mentor in your life.

Be eager to learn. Study up a bit on what is freely available about that hero or heroine of yours. If there's a website available, read it all if you can. Discover what specific areas of knowledge this person has which you would love to learn. If any opportunity presents to ask questions, ask some, and use that time to show how eager you are to learn from this person's wisdom and experience.

By the way, if this person is a published author or a public speaker don't be so naive as to assume that you'll get all that information for free. You might... but only after you've built a solid friendship and earned the right to receive so much.

Be gentle. The person you want to approach about mentoring you may be scared off by your youth and boldness. So prepare a gentle way to request this special relationship. It's much more than just a wee favour, you know!

You may have to persist. She'll turn you down perhaps, not sure how she'd ever qualify as a mentor, but the matter will not go away from her mind. She'll work on it. So after a while, you go back and ask again. If she's not ready, give her some more time, and ask another time.

(Of course, there is such a thing as a final "no," and you should honour that).

Be your real self. If you are going to learn from a mentor, don't foolishly try to put on a persona and hide your real self from your mentor. That's a setup for hurt, yours as well as the mentor's. don't be so dumb; be your true honest self.

Be humble. That's the opposite of conceit, you know. Don't show off or brag, nor have the attitude that some people are beneath you. You know how disgusted you are when someone else is conceited, right? True humility means you are artlessly focused on others, and in this case, the mentor more than yourself.

Be respectful.Your hoped-for mentor may be elderly, and have limitations, but respectful manners will get you much further, especially as you think about all this person has already experienced, thought and known. You are in the presence of a treasure trove of rare gold, silver and precious gems of wisdom as it is pictured in Proverbs.

Lastly, look forward to this relationship. It's going to give you great joy and blessing.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Ruth Marlene Friesen makes friends wherever she goes!
Her friends become her rare roses at Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
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[Article may be reprinted only with this resource box].

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Ruth Marlene Friesen

Ruth Marlene Friesen
The Responsible One



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