Who Are Your Mentors?

 

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ― Jim Rohn

You might have heard this quote before.  It is popular among the self-help circles.

Another concept that is popular among self-help people is that you need a mentor to be successful.  Even if you’re at the top of your game, you still need a mentor.  Just look at the most revered sports stars.  Every one of them has someone coaching them.  The coach is no better than the person being coached.  The coach is only there to provide advice from a third-party.  The coach sees things that the player may be blind to.

Everyone needs a mentor.

Everyone needs to surround themselves with good people.

You might not know enough good people to surround yourself with.  You might not have the connections to find a good mentor.  Or you might be a big-time introvert like I am.  You’re in luck because we live in the Internet Age.

Think about five people you admire most.  They can be anyone alive or dead—Barack Obama, Jesus, Sheryl Sandberg, Bruce Lee, Jennifer Lopez—seriously, anyone.  It does help if the people you choose are still living because it makes this more fun, but it’s not required.  Write down your list of five.  These five will be your mentors in life.  They will also be the five people you spend the most time with.

Now for each one of your new mentors, go to Wikipedia and search for them.  If the person is not famous enough to be on Wikipedia, try a Google search.  Look for their presence on the web—things like an official website, Facebook pages, books they’ve written available on Amazon, blogs they write, podcasts they host, etc.  From now on, you’re going to spend at least a few minutes (but preferably at least an hour) each day consuming content from your mentors.  Read all the books they’ve written.  Read their blogs.  Listen to their podcasts.  Read their articles.

Then you want to keep their teachings fresh in your mind during the day.  Do what they suggest.  Try what they do.  Imagine all five of these people combined into one single superhuman.  That single superhuman is what you’re working to become.

Re-evaluate your five mentors each year to make sure they are still in line with the person you want to become.  It may be that you learn everything you need to learn from one person and need to find a new mentor.  Or you might have taken a different direction in life.  It is okay for your mentors to change, as long as you are constantly trying to improve yourself.

These are my mentors: Tim Ferriss, James Altucher, Jason Zook, Steve Scott, and Joanna Penn.  I don’t know any of them personally, but I try to learn everything I can from them through their writings, videos, podcasts, and courses.