Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: mentorship

  • How to Find the Perfect Mentor

    How to Find the Perfect Mentor

    Updated post

    When you’re busy building a business or career while juggling family and social life, it’s hard to find time for career-related training. One way to improve your knowledge is by taking a course or program. Another is to read books. Another effective way is to learn from a mentor who has already reached a level of success that you want to achieve. Finding the perfect mentor is not easy, but there are some tips you can follow to find the right one for you.

    Determine your mentor’s teaching style

    To learn from someone who has an online presence, start with an online search. Follow this person on their social media platforms, watch their videos, or subscribe to their newsletters. If they have free seminars or workshops, sign up for them. Does their teaching style and what they teach resonate with you?

    Whether your mentor is a well-known celebrity or someone you know personally, ask yourself if your mentor challenges you. For example, if you just became an entrepreneur and your potential mentor started a business six months ago, your mentor may not be able to guide you. However, if your potential mentor has owned a successful business for ten years, you have a greater distance to climb to catch up to that same point.

    Take action after you choose a mentor

    When you’ve found someone you like as a mentor, ask yourself if your mentor can motivate you to get results.

    Your mentor should inspire you to take action when you watch their video or teach you about a new concept. Their message should excite you so much that you want to learn and change.

    Their mentorship should have you thirsting for more knowledge about the same topic or have you madly taking notes. You should be excited about applying what they are trying to teach you as soon as possible.

    To get the best results from working with a mentor, have some goals in mind. The worst scenario is to be too general about what you want your mentor to teach you. If your mentor posts a lot of learning material online, focus on one topic at a time, not getting your hands on everything they have ever published. If your mentor wants to help you improve your skills, don’t set a general goal, such as, “I want to get better at my career.” Set specific goals and share these with your mentor.

    Choose a mentor who chooses you

    Getting feedback from your mentor is important. I’ve taken online courses from experts whom I respect as mentors. I understand their lessons, but I’m unsure whether I’m interpreting their learning points correctly.

    At a workshop or live webinar, choose a mentor who answers questions and provides feedback to participants. This style helps you to gauge if you understand what they teach.

    If you can schedule an hour with your mentor, have your hour planned in advance. Prepare questions to ask your mentor, or list what you’d like to improve on before your meeting. Set clear expectations and outcomes to show your mentor that you respect their time.

    For example, if you want to improve your presentation skills, ask your mentor if they can give you some pointers and feedback on the way you speak at a presentation. Be prepared to show them part of your presentation so they can provide you with specific tips and feedback.

    After receiving feedback, take some time to reflect on what you’ve learned. Was the feedback valuable? Can you use the feedback to make improvements? Did your mentor seem genuinely invested in you? A mentor who is genuinely invested will encourage you, tell you what progress you’ve made, be honest in their critique, and help you set goals for next steps.

    Keep moving forward

    Finding the right mentor is like an investment. You want someone who is approachable, excited about what you want to learn, and honest when mentoring you. It will feel uncomfortable and even painful to be told that you aren’t doing something well.

    In life, the best direction to keep moving in is forward. After you reach one milestone in the road, aim for a new one. Always keep challenging yourself and you will grow as a person.

    Key takeaways

    Finding the perfect mentor is a search for a two-way relationship. Your mentor should be someone you are inspired to learn from, but also someone who is excited about seeing your career grow.

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    How to Find the Perfect Mentor
  • What To Do If Your Career Isn’t Where You Want It To Be

    What To Do If Your Career Isn’t Where You Want It To Be

    The moment you’re old enough to get a job, you’re asked, “What is your career plan?” Sometimes, you don’t know what job you want to do for the rest of your life. Other times, you try a career and discover it’s not what you want. 

    How do you find the perfect career-related job, or start a new career without spending thousands of dollars on training?

    Daily writing prompt
    What is your career plan?
    View all responses

    If you’re thinking about changing careers in order to earn a higher income and keep up with rising costs, consider these tips:

    Assess your financial situation. 

    How much do you have in savings? How much debt? Should you borrow money to pay expenses while you work to get your career back on track? It may be wiser to take the first job you find so your expenses are paid while you continue to search for better opportunities.

    Look for options to develop your skills while working. 

    Can you use your current skillset to get a job that gives you opportunities to develop new skills that are a stepping stone to a different career?

    Build a professional support network. 

    If you look around, you’ll find some positive online communities that share career resources and job opportunities. It’s also a great idea to attend in-person networking events and get to know people who can introduce you to companies or tell you about job openings.

    Work with a mentor. 

    A career coach or someone with more experience than you in an industry or field can guide you. They can point out what you need to work on, steer you away from making potential mistakes, and share important wisdom with you.

    Build your skillset. 

    Take free or paid courses that build your skills and qualifications. Read books. Join mastermind groups. Share your knowledge with your portfolio. 

    Build a portfolio. 

    Share your expertise online. Blog or post articles or advice on your website or LinkedIn profile. This approach is especially useful if you don’t have actual job experience in the field you’re interested in. For example, if you’re interested in a career in graphic design, you can start building a portfolio of your work on your own website.

    Starting your career and changing careers are tough. By investing in yourself and creating networks, it’s possible to start a new career or change careers with effort and time. 

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  • How to change the world: if you could be somebody else for a day

    How to change the world: if you could be somebody else for a day

    Let’s dive into the realm of sci-fiction and fantasy! We’ll have a little fun with it and change the world. Really! If I could be somebody else for a day, I would switch places with my mentor and use his influence to effect some changes. Now, what mischief would I be up to? Let me explain.

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
    View all responses

    To start, here’s some context on my mentor: without it, it is hard to see why I’m not following in his footsteps. He was my business mentor, and he owned a lot of fancy real estate: a condo with a beautiful view and a house with all the toys he collected. For example, luxury cars, movie collectibles that cost $500 to $5000, $15,000 purses for his wife, and a very large fish tank–the size you see in restaurants and hotels. 

    If I switched places with him for a day, I would find myself in a house with a courtyard and two full-size kitchens. I would have a personal chef, which is great for someone like me who doesn’t like to cook fancy meals. But also for me, it’s too much luxury in these tough times. I’m not living in this house for a year, just for twenty-four hours.

    So in that time, I want to exert some maximum clout. Here it is. I’d hop onto his social media channels with his millions of followers. (They don’t know that he’s not himself today.) I’d stream live and spread my message. It’s not his standard message of I’m rich and successful; learn from me and you’ll be successful too.

    I’ll change things. I’d like to use my mentor’s social media channels to tell his followers to do something nice for someone, something small like holding open a door. Or something big like donating money to a charity, or volunteering at an organization. 

    Imagine how wide that message would spread if each of those millions of people did something nice and the recipient of that kindness paid it forward. That’s double a million nice acts. And poof, after midnight when I’m me again and my mentor is himself again, that message will still be out there, making the world a better place. It won’t solve the bigger problems, but maybe a small act of kindness will bring a little smile to someone’s day.

    Note: The apple in the picture is a nod to teachers mentoring the next generation – paying something forward.

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  • 4 Tips to Finding the Perfect Mentor

    4 Tips to Finding the Perfect Mentor

    When you’re juggling a career, social life, and hobbies, finding time for career-related training is challenging. One way to improve your skills is by taking a course or program. Another is to read many books. However, one of the most effective ways is to learn from a mentor with the skills and experience you’re looking for. Finding the perfect mentor is not easy, but there are some tips you can follow to find the right one for you.

    Tip 1: Choose a mentoring style you’re excited about

    To learn from someone with a social media presence, start with an online search. Follow this person on their social media platforms, watch their videos, or subscribe to their newsletters. If they have free seminars or workshops, sign up for them. Your purpose is to learn more about their teaching style, as well as what they teach. You want to choose a mentor whose style resonates well with you.

    To learn from a mentor you’ve met in person, build a connection. Most likely this person doesn’t have an online presence because they don’t offer mentoring professionally. They don’t have courses or videos available for you to learn from. This person may be a coworker or someone in your professional network. You’ve heard their advice during a networking event or an informal discussion and their advice resonates with you.

    Whether your mentor is a well-known celebrity or someone you know personally, ask yourself if your mentor challenges you. Someone with similar life experience or skills may not be able to mentor you as well as someone with a higher level of skill or more years of experience.

    Tip 2: Take action and start learning

    When you’ve found someone you like as a mentor, ask yourself if your mentor can motivate you to get results.

    Your mentor should inspire you to take action when you watch their YouTube video or teach you about a new concept. Their message should excite you so much that you want to learn and change. They should also be approachable. For example, you should feel comfortable having dinner with them without feeling nervous.

    Their mentorship should have you thirsting for more knowledge about the same topic or madly scribbling notes. You should be excited about applying what they are trying to teach you as soon as possible.

    To get the best results from working with a mentor, have some goals in mind. The worst scenario is to be too general about what you want your mentor to teach you. If your mentor posts a lot of learning material online, focus on one topic at a time, not getting your hands on everything they have ever published. If your mentor wants to help you improve your skills, don’t set a general goal, such as, “I want to get better at my career.” Set specific goals and share these with your mentor.

    Tip 3: Choose a mentor who chooses you

    Getting feedback from your mentor is important. Don’t just take classes with your mentor. Sign up for coaching sessions or group sessions to practice what you’ve learned. Take your mentor out for coffee and ask for an evaluation. Get feedback on your progress as often as you can. 

    If you can schedule an hour with your mentor, plan goals in advance. Prepare questions to ask your mentor, or list what you’d like to improve on before your meeting. Set clear expectations and outcomes to show your mentor that you respect their time.

    Work with a mentor who is invested in your future. After receiving feedback, take some time to reflect on what you’ve learned. Was the feedback valuable? Can you use the feedback to make improvements? Did your mentor seem genuinely invested in providing you with meaningful goals and useful feedback? 

    A mentor who is a good match will encourage you, tell you what progress you’ve made, be honest in their critique, and help you set goals for next steps.

    Tip 4: Focus on making progress

    Finding the right mentor is like an investment. You want someone who is approachable, excited about what you want to learn, and honest when mentoring you. It will feel uncomfortable and even painful to be told that you aren’t doing something well. However, if you only spend time doing things that you already excel at, you will not grow as a person.

    Embrace change and getting uncomfortable. You chose this mentor because they are great at something that you aren’t. Follow their lead and get comfortable facing your fears. Each time you challenge yourself to try a small goal, you make progress. When you look back, you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come.

    In life, the best direction to keep moving in is forward. After you reach one milestone in the road, aim for a new one. Always keep challenging yourself and you will grow as a person.

    Key Takeaways

    Finding the perfect mentor is a search for a two-way relationship. Your mentor should be someone you are inspired to learn from, but also someone who is excited about seeing your career advance to the next level.

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  • Why You Need a Mentor

    Why You Need a Mentor

    Most learning experiences – including hour-long workshops to week-long conferences – teach you relevant lessons, but they may not give you the knowledge or skills you need to reach your goals. Having a mentor is advantageous when improving your career, business, or yourself.

    You can sign up for webinars to learn new skills. But when the webinar is over, it is up to you to apply the lessons you learned. The downside of this approach is staying motivated over time and continuing to apply the skills you learned.

    Another approach is to register for a course with live webinars and mentoring from the instructors and peers. As a result of the mentoring from this community, you may notice an immediate improvement in your learning experience for several reasons.

    Learning is personalized

    It’s easy to watch and observe while you’re learning something new. It’s easy to get excited about a new concept. But you don’t know if you’ve achieved true mastery of what you’ve learned until you apply it. Having a mentor personalizes your learning.

    The interaction during a live webinar is motivating when you hear about how your peers apply the lessons and get positive results. You’ll feel like you’re on the right track and not alone in your journey toward self-improvement.

    You have the opportunity to ask questions about your situation. Your mentor will give you feedback about your particular concerns and comment on your progress. With this type of learning, you’ll feel like your effort in the course mattered.

    After each webinar, some courses allow you to meet with peers on platforms such as Discord to practice what you learned and discuss your opinions about learning points. These interactions with peers make you more accountable for your learning. You’ll want to be the next person with a success story to share with the group.

    Opportunities to practice and improve skills

    With most courses and webinars, you take notes, then shelve your notebook somewhere until you need to reference a point from one of the lessons. However, the best and safest way to implement what you’ve learned from a course is with practice. You can make mistakes without worrying about making mistakes.

    A role-play to demonstrate the point of a lesson can be an effective way to get a message across to an audience. However, it is difficult to tell if you truly mastered the lesson’s objective by watching the sample role-play. For example, if you are learning to deal with a difficult work situation, you can watch a role-play of a conversation. When faced with a difficult situation at your workplace, however, you might not be able to follow the script from the demonstration.

    When you are involved in role-playing during a practice session, you have the opportunity to try out a situation in a safe environment. If you make a mistake, you can try again. You can say, “pause” to stop and think about what you should say next, and then “resume” the role-play when you’re ready to continue. You can repeat this several times to figure out the best solution for the situation. (Something you can’t do in real life.) Audience members can also sub in as you switch roles and test out alternate endings for a scenario.

    The practice sessions with peers are a valuable way to grow your skills. Most importantly, only by practicing do people realize what they don’t know.

    Opportunities for feedback

    Having a chance to practice what you learn and receive feedback from mentors is the best way to evaluate your learning. You have a safe environment to try out different scenarios and improve yourself. A mentor will tell you what you are and aren’t not doing well and provide suggestions that work for you.

    For example, if you are learning how to be a more effective public speaker, your mentor could watch your presentation and provide you with feedback afterward. Your mentor might notice that you need to interact with your audience more. Instead of reading through a checklist of all the methods for improving speaker/audience interaction, your mentor could suggest tips that work specifically with your personality style.

    Ongoing feedback is also critical to your self-improvement. In a live webinar course with role-play opportunities, you can role-play with peers during the course. After each session, you receive feedback on what you did well and what you need to improve. During subsequent sessions, you can review your notes on the feedback and apply them to your next role-play. Over time, you’ll notice a gradual improvement in your skills.

    Chances to review and reflect

    Group support and mentoring are very important in your learning and growth. When your peers talk about how the lessons have changed them, you realize that you are not the only one going through a period of transformation.

    It is very motivating when a peer shares how he applied the lesson and achieved a great result with a client. You feel motivated to do the same. You can relate when a peer talks about how she feels she’s changed because of the course.

    Mentorship is an effective way to learn. Your mentor is your guide as you develop new skills. Ongoing feedback from your teacher and the peers in your course allows you to learn at your own pace. The encouragement from your teacher-mentor and peer-mentors as you practice what you learn results in improved skills and knowledge.

    If you are ready to learn from a mentor, you can follow these tips on finding the best mentor for you.