In my book Life Palette, I define success as “Living daily as the masterpiece God created you to be.” The role of a mentor is to help others discover what their life as the masterpiece God created them to be looks like. Then help them figure out a way to navigate and live that journey.
A great mentor will help in several important steps like goal setting, strategy and planning, creative brainstorming, making sure that plans are put into action, and helping to measure and celebrate successes. “Living daily as the masterpiece God created you to be” is simple, but executing it on a daily basis is hard. Knowing what it looks like is only the first step, and then the work begins. There are so many things to distract you and get you off course. Resources, including financial resources and people, are not simply getting in line to help you live out your God-given plan. Regardless of the difficulty you may face, the dead ends and the struggles, it is worth it. Keep your eye on the desired result, the masterpiece God created you to be. Stay focused, encouraged and persevere.
Mentoring Is Influence
Mentoring is not just for experts and professionals. Chances are you have people in your life that you are a mentor to, be it formally or informally. It may be a child who looks up to you and respects you, a co-worker, or someone who is looking to you for spiritual guidance. Regardless, mentoring is a privilege that should be taken seriously. And as you come alongside of the one you are mentoring on their journey to live life as the masterpiece God created them to be.
3 Key Elements:
As a Mentor, here are 3 key elements that I work on to challenge people to live out daily:
1. Spend Time On What Matters Most
In a word, prioritize. Learning to live by priorities offers many benefits, two of which are less stress and less frustration.
2. Know And Live Your Rhythm
You may not be good at musical rhythm, but if you are listening to a live band who is out of sync with one another you will know something is not right. That is true of each of us as a person. There is a life rhythm that you need to get in sync with to live as the masterpiece God created you to be. Life is more about rhythm than balance. As a mentor I want to help you discover your rhythm – march to the drum beat that is uniquely you.
3. Develop Great Listening Skills
I’m not talking about listening to other people, although that is an important relational skill to have on your Life Palette that is necessary for success. I’m talking about developing great listening skills with the One who is the artist of your life: God. He is the One who has an agenda that leads to masterpiece living. In Romans Paul puts it this way: “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:25 NLT)
My life’s passion is to live as the masterpiece God created me to be and to plant a seed in your life to help you realize and unleash your full potential as the masterpiece He created you to be. In tomorrow’s Life Palette blog I’m going to share the 5 C’s for the process of mentoring.