How Mentors Teach You Lifelong Strategies

In University I was a grab-life-by-the-horns kind of person, overcommitting at every turn.

And I wanted to be on student government as the Vice President Academic.

I lost.

Not by much, but still not a win.

I remember walking into my mentor’s office, head low and confessing that I had come up short.

His hands were like those of a giant.

Business excellence dripped from his bones.

Oh, and he just so happened to be the President and CEO of an NHL team, the Calgary Flames.

What my mentor told me during those next few minutes plays in my head on a weekly basis to this day.

You see I tried to justify the election outcome.

I said to Ken, “I lost, but not by much. In fact, it was the closest known election in the Student’s Union history, only by 3%.”

And Ken replied to me, “You still lost.”

[Insert pause that felt like a million years.]

“And that’s ok. But it’s time you took full responsibility for it. No one else can. The sooner you learn to take 100% ownership of your life, your wins and losses, the better.”

Mr. King passed away last year and I’m endlessly grateful for his impact on my life this #NationalMentorDay.

I can’t get away from the overwhelming feeling of being blessed.

So many people have believed in me.

I often ask, “why?”

Maybe my bubbly personality?

My intelligence?

My ambition?

Those might be a factor.

But the bigger element at play is that God called me worthy, I know it, and people see it.

You are worthy too.

God thinks so, so perhaps it’s time you start believing it.

And if you crave mentorship, seek it out.

Ask around, don’t be ashamed whatsoever. Be confident that you’re worthy of being invested in.