GROWTH HACK – Are you Interdependent…

Interdependence

/ɪntədɪˈpɛndəns/

Noun

the dependence of two or more people or things on each other.

Recently at Semester, we were given another fantastic opportunity to work with a leading marketing expert and this blog aims to go into a little more detail regarding the power of mentorship and how it can positively serve you. Just like it did for us this week.

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction”

John Crosby

Firstly, it is worth noting that mentorship can come in all areas of life… this could be mentorship from a leading businessman, a leading sports coach, or in the case of university, a student or lecturer who excels in a certain field.

A mentor is a person who can support, advise, and guide you, taking you to higher levels on your academic journey. They can take the time to get to know you and the challenges that you’re facing, and then use their understanding and personal experience to help you improve.

Essentially a mentor can get you from A to B much quicker, because in most cases they have already trodden the path your looking to head down on your own journey.

There are many benefits to the power of mentorship, and I wanted to touch on some of those today in the below section of this blog. So strap in and find out how mentoring can take you to the next level!

The benefits of mentorship

Speed up your results

Have you heard of the 10,000-hour rule? Suggested by Malcolm Gladwell this is the idea that the key to achieving true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practicing, albeit in the correct way, for at least 10 000 hours.

Now take our example here, we have not clocked up 10,000 hours in the field of marketing…but our mentor most certainly has. Therefore, he can inform us of best practice based on his own personal experiences. He can make us aware of what has worked, what has not worked, based on his own personal circumstances, and use this knowledge to advise us. This saves us time by avoiding making the same mistakes and can often be a quick way to speed up results.

You can apply the same principle in your studies or personal goals. Find someone who is currently living the life that you envision for yourself or achieving the academic goals that you want to achieve and SPEAK TO THESE PEOPLE!

Then when you do speak to these people you need to absorb the information they tell you so that you can then add this to your own learning. Open your mind, become a sponge and watch your results accelerate!

Grow in confidence

By speaking to experts and learning from their knowledge and expertise it allows your confidence to grow. For example, when we see successful business owners, we know that the goal is achievable. Unlike our previous misconception that business owners were some kind of magic human being and they had their whole life worked out perfectly. I can assure you that this isn’t the case and also going back to our own student days was not the case when we were taking each day as it comes to grind out what previously felt unattainable.

If you see high performing students or academics, it allows you to see this goal is achievable and it is not just the “smartest” people who can achieve great things on their academic journey. By learning the knowledge passed on by experts and applying it through action, we allow our confidence to grow significantly.

A fresh perspective

Another benefit that you can pick up from working with a mentor is a fresh perspective. I know sometimes when we get focused on our own goals, we can get a bit of tunnel vision in the pursuit and even put ourselves in an echo chamber of what we “want to hear” on our path to our goals. Having an expert work with you allows them to give you a new set of eyes and they can often give you a new set of ideas or knowledge which may allow you to see your goals from another perspective. It is very common that this will then spark new ideas or creativity and potentially bring even better results within your studies.

You get both challenged and supported

One of the greatest benefits that you can find from mentorship is the challenging questions that you will receive from your mentors. It is often easy to get tunnel vision in pursuit of your goals, however, strong mentors can ask you powerful questions that challenge your hypothesis or theory and make your question your ideas in a bit more detail…rather than letting yourself get carried away and thinking you know exactly the best way to reach your goals…Usually this isn’t the case (speaking from experience).

On the same note, as much as mentors are there to challenge you, they can also be great people to lean on for support during your times of need. We have talked many times on the value of our environment, and this is exactly the case here. When you turn to mentors who have been through the processes you are currently going through it is a great support tool for you, they become someone you can lean on for advice and support that is relatable and doesn’t just seem like glib advice. Sometimes it can feel lonely in pursuit of your goals so having someone to turn to can be extremely valuable.

Finding a mentor/quality coach

Above I have touched on some of the benefits mentoring can bring for the mentee. To conclude this blog, I just wanted to touch on some ways in which you can find some mentorship in an area relevant to you.

First and foremost, identify your target type of mentor. You would do this by identifying the area in which you want to improve and then set out in finding the relevant person to fill this role.

There are many coaches and online mentors available nowadays and you may begin by doing some research into your desired field.

Often people are prepared to help more than you may initially imagine so sometimes just even an initial conversation with your prospective mentor may be enough to gain some valuable knowledge. Many of these conversations generally lead to some level of support for free…the dream for a student!

However, if you feel like you wanted to develop this even further, you will then most likely have to pay for a mentor’s services to get them “full time”. However, this should not put you off. Often people are prepared to spend large amounts of money on eating out or social occasions but when it comes to receiving some quality coaching or mentorship, they feel it is a waste of money. Good mentors and coaches are worth the money as they accelerate your own results. This should not be undervalued. If you are serious about your own personal growth, then you should consider this.

We are not unrealistic about this, and we do not expect you to spend your full student loan on mentorship but begin by setting a realistic budget of what you could afford and then consider if this money would be well spent on accelerating your results.

A good way to start this may be by investing into your first Semester Student Planner which will be available in January of this year. At the core of our student solution we want to become your personal mentor through your academic journey. The way in which we will do this is by providing you with the weekly #GrowthHack that will be supported by online coaching content where myself and Nathan will provide in depth guidance on how you can use personal growth and wellbeing to take your studies to the next level. Just some food for thought for January 😉.

If you found this blog helpful, please let us know in the comments. Share this with a friend

Also make sure you share your own personal journey with us so we can build a community of like-minded students who support each other with their wellbeing and growth in their studies.

“I encourage all of you to seek out teachers and mentors that challenge you to think for yourself and guide you to find your own voice.”

Renee Olstead

#LetsGrowTogether 🎯

student planner

Share this post

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Scroll to Top