I never knew how important a mentor was until I noticed that almost everyone who inspired me had a mentor or had been under a mentorship program of some sort; it seems there is something fundamental about having a mentor in one’s life.
In a time when there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in the world and weak and dishonest leadership at the helm, maybe now would be an ideal time to unearth some of the lessons that only a mentor can provide.

A mentor does more than just give and share their expertise and skills with their apprentices, which in most cases can be learned anywhere; a mentor shares their knowledge and experiences, which unfortunately cannot be learned in any books.

Not everything is black and white and not everything comes as advertised – life is simply too unpredictable to be certain, however, you are not the first person to experience it and will most likely not be the last. To avoid some of life’s traps that are still unknown to a novice, a mentor’s experience and knowledge will come in handy to make your life easier.

Life is no fairy tale and no matter how strong we are there will be a time when we will be knocked down on our bottoms sometimes more than once and in that moment, we will not have any idea how to overcome what seems like innumerable challenges. What will seem like hell on earth to you could easily be changed with a few words from someone with a few more years under their belt.

Mentors are not just there to motivate and guide us on our way to the top but to also give us a hand when we are down and shine a light for us when the world goes dark. They will be in your corner when the tide turns against you and if push comes to shove, they will be right next to you.
Look around at everyone at the top and those who have true happiness and wealth and chances are they are grateful that someone guided them through the perils of life.

What I am trying to get at is that irrespective of where you are in life, irrespective of what you have done or want to do, it will do you good if you actively search for and engage a mentor, it will do you more good than harm, especially if you are young and open-minded.

– Olavi Popyeinawa
Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa
Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com