Do you have mentors?

Mentors are indispensable.

I started down the path of Life Coaching, through a culmination of events. Life Coaching was something that I had never considered or even fully understood. I had a few friends in the mental health sector who suggested that I might be very well suited to look into Life Coaching. So I dove into it. And the more I learned about it, the more I realized how much it aligned with my own perspectives, interests and values, I definitely needed to pursue coaching.

I spent a lot of time absorbing theory and practice and immersed myself in textbooks and certifications, while still being an open ear in my old way.

That's when my mentoring began. My therapist friends started filling holes in my skillset.

In effect they were reminding me how to stay on track with my coaching skills through very helpful feedback. Catching me if I skipped any essential key points like:

• Setting Expectations for every session

• Being Non-judgmental

• Removing filler words

• Listening more attentively

• Not speaking in absolutes

• Challenging limiting beliefs with patience and empathy

• Always emphasizing a client's agency.

• And to stop chasing solutions or trying to fix things.

  
  

These and so many more very valid pointers were invaluable to me. These are skills that seemed evident but were sometimes overlooked in my discussions. It took my mentors use of perspective and years of experience to fast track my growth.

This is not to detract from formal learning, but to add the power of relative objectivity from an empathetic third party and colleagues who support your journey.

This mentoring is exactly what I got from an entire generation of firefighters who were kind enough over the years to attempt to mold me into a Firefighter and Fire Captain. Giving me so much wisdom to pass on to my crews when it was my turn to pick up the mantle. And it is a heavy mantle.

Go out and find the mentor that fits you and see that growth accelerate.