Mentors Magazine: Issue 3

54 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 3

There are basically two ways to learn les-

sons in life: 1) Through trial-and-error,

making our own mistakes; 2) Learning

through the experience of others. Granted,

there are some things we must learn

through our own experiences such as read-

ing, riding bicycles and driving cars. Howev-

er, within those activities there are nuanc-

es we can learn from others who have

gone before us that will give us an edge or

accelerate our learning curves. The ques-

tion then becomes one of: Do we want to

learn by mistake or through mentoring?

Learning from another person’s success is

what mentoring is all about. Investing

yourself in life-on-life relationships benefits

not only you but adds value to the mentor

as well.

If we choose to ignore the rich opportunity

mentors can provide, we are by default

choosing to learn life lessons through what

is commonly called “the school of hard

knocks.” When we embrace the idea that

we can benefit from the knowledge and

experience of others, we become open to a

myriad of opportunities otherwise unseen.

It all begins with a choice. This one choice

can make you more than wealthy and wise,

it can make you rich in relationships in a

way that catapults you into a realm of po-

tential that is not available to you without

the help of mentors.

It’s important to understand that mentors

by Scott Hogle