I just returned to my office after a two-hour long conversation with the person I consider to be my personal mentor, Melissa Miller-Harris. It reinforced to me what I touch on a little bit in the About The Fast Lane page: the importance of surrounding yourself with those people that you most want to be like.

To be honest, even though I’d made the appointment with her yesterday, I seriously considered cancelling it. Why? I don’t know. I was having one of *those* mornings. I didn’t want to go anywhere, I didn’t want to see anyone, talk to anyone. But, I went anyway, out of a sense of obligation, or whatever, I don’t know.

The importance of having a mentor

*Those* days, my friends, are the days when you need a mentor most. It’s someone who’s almost guaranteed to be up when you need them the most, even when they’re maybe feeling down themselves. They recharge your batteries. Give you a boost. Kick-start you when you need it.

In short, a good mentor is indispensable.

I fought that notion for the longest time — until today, as a matter of fact. I always thought I could do everything myself. I don’t need help. I’m smart, talented, capable. I realized today that while I may be talented and capable, there’re times when I’m not so smart.

A good mentor can teach you what you need to know to reach the next level but maybe more importantly than that, a good mentor can help you find your way again when you’ve lost it. Help you realign the priorities in your life that have shifted without your knowledge, because you’ve not paid attention.

A good mentor is someone you can call a friend, someone who’s not afraid to tell you what you need to hear, what you need to know. You may just need encouragement, or just need to connect again. Or, you may need a swift kick in the tush. A good mentor will do that for you, because their focus is to help you succeed.

A good mentor is someone whose expectations you want to live up to — need to live up to. A good mentor doesn’t let you invent excuses, or let you use circumstances to justify your situation. A good mentor sees your possibilities and potentials when you don’t, or won’t.

A special thanks

Melissa, this is a public thank-you for being someone I can look up to. You may not have known that I think of you as my mentor and friend, because I haven’t told you that. I tend to get mushy in those kinds of situations, get all teary-eyed, like I am now. When I described the ideal mentor above, I was describing you, to a T. Thank you.

In conclusion…

I hope you’ve realized that if you don’t have a personal mentor, a coach who can help you over the hurdles and help you get through the rough days, you need to get one. Find one, whatever it takes.

Now.