What do spaghetti and the search for a mentor have in common?

Most of the people are not successful in finding a mentor. For you to increase the likelihood to be successful when looking for a mentor, there are some specific steps and hints you should consider. Most of the time the problem is false expectations of what a mentor is and how he or she can help. Please do not fall into this trap and continue reading.

I have had and still have a lot of mentors in different fields and professions. However, my real first mentor was Paul. A Suisse businessman, whom I met in an airport lounge at JFK. At the age of 20, I was a Kitesurfer and on this specific day on my way back, from the Dominican Republic to Austria, where I had to attend an exam at university. He was asking me if there isn't a dress code for the lounge (I was in my usual Kitesurfer look) and with this, the conversation started. We spoke about my studies, my Kitesurfer career about different airlines, mileage programs and so on. In the end, we exchanged skype details to stay in touch. This was the beginning of a great mentoring experience. If you would like to know more about this specific experience and mentorship in general, you can read it in my book '25 Stories I would tell my Younger Self'. (https://amzn.to/2QPFhxT)

A mentor is a person like you and me. With an own life, own interests and the same amount of time per day as all of us. First of all, let me tell you what a mentor is not. A mentor is not 24/7 there to assist you. He will not hold your hand and keep you motivated all day long. He will not come up with a great business idea for you to get started. The reply to the question - 'Do you want to be my mentor?' will most likely be a simple 'No'.

By now you are surely wondering what a mentor is for if he is not helping you finally get the success you deserve. A mentor, a person with more experience than you, in a specific field of interest, will function as a catalyst. This means you are already on your way. You are moving in a certain direction, motivated, with a plan at hand. During this journey, you will face difficult decisions to make, solutions to find and problems to solve. In precisely those situations you should go out and talk to people. Ideally someone with more experience. Asking questions or for advice and at the same time coming up with own ideas - this is the key to ignite the flame of a mentor experience. Mentors have been in your footsteps before, so they can help you when presented with possible solutions, or they might come up with a completely different answer. Finally, if you ask for advice and never execute on it, no one will help you in the future. Nobody likes to put effort and time into something and then to get no results. So keep in mind, execution is of utmost importance.

Last but not least, let us come back to the introduction and the mentioned spaghetti. Be sure that you will not find a mentor by talking once to people. You need to remember if you throw enough spaghetti at the wall eventually one will stick. The same holds true for mentoring and finding a mentor.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If so, I would be very grateful if you share it with others who might face the same problems and are on the search for a mentor. Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel(https://www.youtube.com/user/julianhosp) where we talk about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, fintech and even stuff like this. Help us to make the world #cryptofit.