A lot has been written about the concept of mentors and mentoring. In my view, a mentor is someone who has more knowledge and experience than you in a particular area AND they share that with you over time. What is key is that the two of you build a relationship around the sharing, teaching and learning of that knowledge and experience. And that is basically the process of mentoring. There is a willingness to teach and a willingness to learn. Knowledge, experience, and wisdom are transferred.
When we are just starting out in some endeavour (like a fitness challenge, for example), we really can benefit from the experience of a mentor - someone who has been there before us. If you are new to the fitness world, or if you are ramping up your fitness activities to a new level, find a mentor. Invite them to be your mentor, to purposefully share what they know with you. Learn from them. This may last a few weeks, or it could last years.
And once you have gained some knowledge and experience in your activity, you yourself are now farther down the road than a person who is just starting out. It's your turn now to share what you have learned and are learning on your fitness journey. You move into a position where you can be a mentor.
From what I have seen, the mentoring process improves the likelihood that a new, inexperienced participant will become established in their area of endeavour. That is what I think we should be after: leveraging our experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm - our wisdom - with teachable people so they learn, grow and become successful. At the same time, we continue to learn and grow as we ourselves are mentored. Mentoring is a win-win situation.
1 comment:
tough workout today, but I made it to 9400... one more workout - Monday AM for 600 swings... Awesome! Great work everyone. Congrats to those that have achieved their goal, keep going to those like me that still have a few more.
We are almost there!
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