Do you have a mentor or a group of mentors?
If you’re pretty far along on your personal development journey, you might already have a mentor or two, but I find that many people well into their twenties and thirties still don’t have mentors. Heck, I didn’t even learn what a mentor was until my mid-twenties.
It wasn’t until my first real mentor took an interest in me and opened my eyes to the world of self-improvement that I learned that a mentor is someone who you form a close relationship with. A good mentor can help guide you towards success and point out your blind spots.
A great mentor is someone who can give you respectful but brutally honest feedback and help you become the best version of yourself.
But what if you struggle to find a mentor? What can you do?
If you dig deeper online, you’re going to find conflicting answers on this topic, but I believe that you can seek out mentorship in books, YouTube channels, blogs, podcasts, and more.
The argument against this is that these people cannot directly communicate with you, provide you with direct advice and coaching, or can be honest with you about your hangups.
Related: Mentee See, Mentee Do: The Importance of Mentorship
Maybe they can’t get personalized with you and your specific needs, but I believe that you can seek out mentors in unconventional places based on what you want to learn. That’s why I want to share the five mentors whom I’ve never met that have had the biggest influence on my life.
Photo of Jeff Rose’s YouTube Channel
#1 – Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents/Wealth Hacker Labs
Jeff Rose is absolutely first on my list. Though I’ve never met Jeff, I’ve watched hundreds of hours of his YouTube videos. I’m not kidding! Jeff releases about three videos every week and I’ve been watching them for the past three years.
Jeff is the Founder of Good Financial Cents, a personal finance blog with the mission to “make “cents” of your financial future” and the YouTube channel goes right along with it. More recently, he’s started a new website called Wealth Hacker Labs.
His YouTube channel really gives you an authentic sense of who he is. He’s passionate about helping people, he’s a model family man, and he’s an all-around good, positive person.
Jeff is one of the best financial gurus around and I cannot begin to tell you how much I’ve learned from Jeff over the years, but I’ll list a couple of the most memorable:
- His story of helping countless people around the world through his blog inspired me to start Daily New Year’s. Without Jeff’s influence and inspiration, I don’t think my mindset would have ever opened up to the idea of starting a blog and podcast.
- I increased my retirement savings from the 3% + the 3% company match to 10% + the 3% company match. At first, I put all of this in my 401k but then shifted 7% to a Roth IRA after later viewing one of Jeff’s videos. I also convinced my wife to do the same.
- He’s referred me to countless books, authors, entrepreneurs, and influencers all across the world that I may have never heard of which has opened me up to a number of new ideas and has truly evolved my mindset.
- He introduced me to the ideas of passive income and online entrepreneurship, both of which are now goals of my own.
Jeff continues to have a positive influence on my life even today and I enjoy learning new things from him each and every week. He may not be a face-to-face mentor, but I choose to revisit his content weekly so that I may continue to learn from him.
#2 – Brendon Burchard
Brendon Burchard is one of the highest-paid executive coaches in the world. He’s written several best-selling books, including my favorites The Millionaire Messenger and High Performance Habits, and he’s spoken on hundreds of stages around the world.
I first stumbled onto Brendon via a Facebook video ad and was initially overwhelmed by his infectious, over-the-top energy. As I grew to love his message, charisma, and energy, I stumbled across his book, High Performance Habits. I actually asked for it for Christmas and read it cover to cover.
It was incredible!
The book opened my eyes to the importance of attitude, energy, and joy. It changed my entire outlook on life, so I ordered more of his books, including The Millionaire Messenger and The Motivation Manifesto.
If Jeff Rose gave me the inspiration for Daily New Year’s, then Brendon gave me the courage to actually take the idea and run. In The Millionaire Messenger, he explains that we’re all on a journey in life and while many people may be ahead of us, there are also many people behind us who we can help along.
This idea helped me overcome the imposter syndrome that plagues so many up-and-coming bloggers, teachers, coaches, mentors, and influencers. I didn’t feel I knew enough about goal setting and personal development to be teaching it, but Brendon helped me see that I was further along than the people coming up behind me.
Since reading his books, I’ve subscribed to Brendon’s podcast and YouTube channel, both of which I visit on a weekly basis and are jam-packed full of life-changing material. To have this kind of direct access to Brendon as a face-to-face mentor would be impossible, or at the very least, incredibly expensive, for me, so I’m just fine-tuning in digitally.
#3 – Michael Hyatt
Michael Hyatt is one of my favorite mentors because of his background and dedication to the art of goal setting and productivity.
Although I can’t quite remember how I came to learn about Michael, I found that the more I dug into personal development and goal setting, the more his name came up. And, unlike some, Michael embraces the idea that he is an online leadership mentor and seeks to provide that mentorship to as many people as he can.
Formerly the chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael wanted to live a more purpose-driven life. He quit his CEO job and has written several best selling books and has crafted several amazing courses and products, such as the Full Focus Planner. He’s become a very successful entrepreneur, coach, and mentor to many.
I consider Michale a mentor because I listen to his podcast weekly and I read his monthly e-magazine. Along the way, I’ve learned to take better control of my time and schedule, prioritize my goals and objectives more intelligently, and how to be a better leader to my coworkers (I hope).
Related: Prioritize Like a Pro & Crush Your Goals in Record Time
I’ve also read a couple of his books, most notably Living Forward which helped me to see that, without goals and a long-term vision, it’s too easy to drift through life. That’s why I use his strategies daily to keep my life on track and headed in a positive direction.
As I mentioned above, Michael also released his quarterly planner which is my absolute favorite planner of all time. The planner helps keep me on track with my goals and habits and it helps keep me in a positive mindset. It features daily quotes and weekly reflection pages which honestly makes me feel as though I’m being personally mentored by Michael himself.
#4 – Darren Hardy
Darren Hardy was one of my earliest online mentors and, like Michael Hyatt, he embraces the idea of online mentorship. My first encounter with Darren Hardy was through his book, The Compound Effect which was given to me by my first in-person mentor, DC.
The book changed my entire outlook on daily routines and habits. Similar to compound interest in finance, Darren teaches about how our daily actions lead to long-term results, good or bad.
For example, if you drink 3 beers a day for 30 years, how many pounds will you have gained from the extra calories? If you cut out a daily trip to Starbucks, how much money could you save and how much latte weight could you lose?
It’s difficult to see these long-term effects because they happen so slowly over time, but this book shines a light on it and it made me think long and hard about my daily actions, habits, and routines.
Fortunately, the book is a quick and easy read, which was great for me at the time because I didn’t much enjoy reading, or so I thought.
The Compound Effect opened my eyes wide to the world of personal development, routines, improvement, and growth and it helped me realize that I love to learn when I enjoy the subject matter. That’s why I now seek out podcasts, blogs, videos, and books! Darren’s teachings led me to seek out more learning.
After I completed the book, I signed up for Darren Daily, a daily video email from Darren with advice for all aspects of your life. Because most videos are under five minutes, it’s a perfect way to start your day off with a dose of mentorship and a positive mindset.
Photo of the crowd at the 2018 Global Leadership Summit in Chicago
#5 – The Global Leadership Summit Faculty
Okay, so this one isn’t an individual mentor, but I have attended the Global Leadership Summit for the past four years and the faculty that takes to the stage each year have changed my life in more ways than I can count.
They have helped me to become more empathetic to the people and the world around me. They have helped me realize that we all have influence and we should use that influence for the good of others.
Every year, the Willow Creek Association broadcasts the GLS to nearly 600 locations around the world and has active participants from more than 130 countries. This is huge!
The GLS is continually changing lives in a positive way and I’m always so excited to attend. It ignites my passion, enthusiasm, energy, and spirit in a way that nothing else does.
If you want to learn more about the GLS or read about what I learned at the 2018 conference, you can read my post, My Top Ten Takeaways from the 2018 Global Leadership Summit.
What About You?
Do you have someone that you consider to be a mentor even though you’ve never met?
Is there a book, podcast, YouTube channel, or blog you would recommend to the Daily New Year’s community? Drop us a comment below and let us know about it.
Thanks!
Impressive and powerful suggestion by the author of this blog are really helpful to me.
Thanks so much! I’m glad it helped!