5 Surprising Reasons to Get a Mentor

5 Surprising Reasons to Get a Mentor

I have been reflecting on the importance of having a mentor. Having a mentor in various areas of my life depending on where my focus has been, has been a necessity as well as a luxury.

I have had a mentor since 2006, which was easily the worst year of my life.

The Worst Year

My 12 year relationship fell apart and I was heartbroken to find my self single-parenting my 2 and 5 year old sons, something I’d never dreamt of doing in a million years.

My beloved poppa committed suicide and I hadn’t managed to visit him in his last months due to the shame of my new divorce, a regret I will forever carry.

I was riddled with self-doubt, anxiety and depression.

My son was seriously injured in an accident, which upended my little family’s security about the future. I am still processing the PTSD from this accident.

And I went on a camping trip with a group of women only to experience the worst tragedy of all, when my friend’s 3-year-old child passed away after being bitten by a baby brown snake.

It was a truly difficult time.

Keeping it Going

The one thread that kept me going through the thick darkness of this 12 month period, was the yoga teacher training I did with Rachel Zinman. This training was a gentle flame of candlelight that gave me so much hope that the future could be different and better and brighter. That healing was possible. That life was worth living.

It wasn’t an easy training and I spent most of it crying – messy for sure.

But Rachel was the first mentor I had ever had, who was able to truly see the best in everyone in the room. She was able to cultivate the human potential in us all, to look beyond the cobwebs and life’s challenges. Rachel was also one of the first people I had met who openly shared her own struggles, and she shared them with honesty, vulnerability and empathic leadership, connecting us to her as a genuine equal and guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage. Rachel gave us all the gift of the healing power of yoga in ways that have continued to yield so much fruit in my life, fulfillment, sweetness, life force, alignment and confidence that changed me beyond recognition.

I will never forget lining up in a Centre-link queue that year, wondering how on earth I had ended up a single mother on welfare. And how desperately lonely I felt and how I craved someone who could see my potential and support me to reclaim my confidence. I made a pact that day that if I could ever get my life back on track that I would do whatever it took to become a worthy mentor to others.

Having a Mentor

Rachel was and is one of the most amazing mentors I could have called in at that difficult time of my life. She showed me what it takes to be unapologetically devoted to a divine life. She is a phenomenal teacher. Her yoga teacher training is one of the best in the world IMO (and I have experienced many). She brings over 30 years of experience and most importantly, Rachel brings humility, honesty and devotion to this work in ways that have been endangered and threatened through our recent narcissistic social media enculturation. Rachel is also one of the funniest people I have ever met. In spite of the grief I was experiencing at the time, the training was a salve with a lot of fun and laughs that peeled away the seriousness of life and expose the playful and spontaneous truth at the core of who we truly are.

Everything Changed with a Mentor

I could never have predicted that Rachel’s training would bring me to my life’s work. Since completing the training, I have taught on over 30 yoga teacher trainings, travelled to Japan, India, NZ and Australia-wide for work. Along the way, I have met some of the most extraordinary people on the planet and made some life-long, priceless and cherished friendships. I now have a thriving and fulfilling transformative coaching and training business. I doubt Sacred Women’s Business Coaching would exist if it wasn’t for the transformative powers of the training I did with Rachel, and the example she set for me.

I am forever grateful and indebted to Rachel for the gifts she has bought into my life. And I have the best news of all for you. There is a yoga teacher training coming up in April 2019 with Rachel and you are invited! Will you join us? If you have even the teensiest inkling of interest, please check this out. You never know what it might lead to.

Why Get a Mentor

#1. You Can’t See What You Can’t See

A mentor will provide you with insights that you may never have been able to come up with if left to your own devices. You might be completely surprised by what a mentor will see in you. A new pathway might open up, one that you’ve never considered before. A new perspective, fresh ideas, fecund choices and exciting new possibilities are an extraordinary side-effect of two people coming together for a purpose of enhancing life’s potential.

#2. The Heroine’s Journey Can be Full of Trials and Tribulations

The biggest fallacy is that a red carpet will be rolled out for you once you decide on your life purpose and that everything will be easy and flawless. The true heroine’s journey has many twists and turns, tests and allies. To be able to navigate this path with valour and courage, you need an ally who understands the perils. It might sound surprising that you can’t rely on intuition and street smarts alone, although a good mentor will totally understand that you will always be your best ally in any situation. A good mentor will never over-ride your deepest instincts or intuition. However, she will stand with a steady hand of reassurance on your back, even when your legs are shaking so you can reclaim your sovereignty, even under the most trying conditions.

#3. Your Blind-spot may be Your Kryptonite

Sometimes your deepest soul gifts come wrapped up in a life challenge that stops you from aspiring to become all that you are capable of becoming. A mentor can often shine the light of awareness on the beauty of your current challenge, which comes with the positive side effect of sharpening your spiritual gifts. Let’s face it, it’s easy to make the excuse that life is too messy, that the timing is not right, that you’re not ready. A mentor will call B.S. on the excuses you’re making. A brilliant mentor will also see your specific challenges for the opportunity they bring to refine your soul gifts and bring you a step closer to reaching your potential, instead of making excuses. For example, your pull towards becoming a healer/coach/transformational leader is there because you needed to heal something in your life, not in spite of it.

#4. One Conversation Can Change Your Life

One of the reasons why coaching and mentoring is so exciting is because just one conversation can have a deep and profound impact on your life. Imagine if you never had that opportunity to have that conversation. There are plenty of sliding door moments in life but working with a mentor on intentional and conscious direction can alter your life’s trajectory swiftly and efficiently in a positive direction that you intend, sometimes overnight and sometimes in just one small chat.

#5. The Power of Collaboration Between Women

Women were once the gatherers, working shoulder to shoulder in the fields, while the men hunted. We are not competitive by nature, but patriarchal conditioning has often influenced women to work in silos. The untapped potential of women in collaboration is still being re-awakened across the globe. Joining in collaboration with another awakening woman, will have a ripple effect that reverberates across the entire field of human consciousness. Doesn’t it feel exciting to think you could be a part of this simply by joining forces with a mentor who is prepared and willing to be a dedicated guide on the side?

Questions for Lisa?

You can reach out to her directly from her contact page on her website.