Warren Buffet said “if you can tell me who your heroes are I can tell you how you are going to turn out in life�. Lately, I have heard a lot of buzz about mentors and heroes. On a venture to seek for the perfect hero mentor I have found myself road blocked by several challenges.

I want to be great but I don’t have a famous genius willing to mentor me. After all don’t you have to have a great hero mentor if you want to be epic yourself? Alexander the Great was mentored by Aristotle who was mentored by Plato who claims Socrates mentored him. Thomas Jefferson and a handful of the other Founding Fathers were mentored by George Wythe. I don’t know Allen Greenspan, or Hernando De Soto, or Bill Gates and if I did I have no idea how I would convince them that they need to spend time mentoring me.

What if we don’t have access to a great mentor what then? Many suggest that Abraham Lincoln was mentored and shaped more by his Bible and Federalist papers than he was by any single individual. The same can be suggested of Ernesto “Che� Guevara who read amoral humanists and Marxists classics voraciously in his adolescence.

There are several places one can start to jump-start their success by using mentors. Perhaps there are some fundamental principles that you should keep in mind while deciding your course to success.

1. Decide the end you have in mind. Visualize what the final destination would be if you became exactly what you want. Back into the present step by step from the end as the starting place. This visualization technique can help you logically map out the road from where your destination is to where you are currently and will arm you with a general itinerary of what you need to do to become what you want to become.
2. You must choose mentors that are ahead of you on YOUR path or have already arrived at the desired destination. If the “Che� had been mentored by the same classics as Abraham Lincoln he might have still been a revolutionary, but instead of promoting Marxism he would have possibly been promoting Capitalism. You must focus on the greats that are consistent with the end you have in mind.
3. Continue progressing and looking for the best accessible mentors. Most people struggle with choosing mentors because they don’t know who is GOOD enough to use. What is most important is to start selecting people ahead of you on YOUR path. As you become assimilated with others on the same path as you, you will be introduced to more influential mentors and the process becomes more organic.
4. Do something now. Starting today is key. Don’t roadblock yourself by over dramatizing the flaws in the friends and acquaintances you have ahead of you on your path. No mentor is perfect. The great ones are more than likely not the first ones you obtain. So get started so you can get to the right ones when they become accessible.
5. Pay for your mentors. If you have the resources there are many more accomplished people willing to mentor you for the right price. Choosing your mentor doesn’t mean the mentor has to benefit you altruistically. The best fit is a relationship where both find the relationship advantageous. For example, my real estate investor mentor paid $20,000 to his personal coach last year. I work with my mentor for under market value, in return, I learn all of his techniques and processes. He confides sensitive and valuable material with me because I have proven my loyalty. You must establish a relationship of trust and figure out what a potential mentor wants and give it to them. Your needs will be surprisingly accommodated as a gesture of reciprocity in return.

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