If You Don’t Have a Mentor, Read Non-Fiction Books

Have you ever felt it difficult to find a powerful mentor? — Read your way to success

Why Mentors Are Crucial to Your Success?

If you’re into self-improvement, you must have heard the phrase, “you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with.” Instead of just ignoring, as usual, it’s high time, you actually take the time to manage it.

So, get a pen and paper ready, and write down the people you spent most of your time with during the past week. Since, most of you would be staying indoors these days, write down people with whom you spent most of your time texting or calling.

Chances are if they enjoy playing video games at night, you probably do that every night too. If your closest people are working out and taking care of their health, you most likely will be doing the same too. So, you can see there is definitely some truth to it, and obviously, there will be some exceptions.

The reason for this is rooted in our biology. When we were little kids, the easiest and the safest bet to survive is to copy and mimic our parents and the ones who were close to us. If our community stayed safely inside caves during night time, it probably is a good idea to not go on an exploration mission into the woods. So, we are innately good at copying others, this is what leads to cultural behaviours, accents, and traditions.

In the same way, we adopt similar mindsets too. While growing up, if we were taught constantly that money is the root of all evil, over time we would probably come to the same conclusion as well.

If you study successful people, you would realize that most people had mentors who supported their growth; Bill Gates had Warren Buffet, Bruce Lee had IP man, Warren Buffet had Benjamin Grahm. These people adopted their most prominent mindsets from their mentors which massively influenced their success. (Murphy, W. M., & Kram, 2014)

Books Can Substitute Mentors

Now that you know why it’s essential to have a mentor, you might say, “How do I find someone who’s successful? I don’t know anyone who’s successful.”

Fear not, this is where books can play the role of a mentor. Apart from all the other numerous benefits of reading that you already probably know, books can be your mentors too.

If you’re deeply engrossed reading a book, you probably would spend, on average around 14 hours for a 500-page book. I’m mainly referring to non-fiction books. And that is only the reading time, you probably also spend a lot of time making your own notes. Books are packed with ideas, advice, and mindsets of a person gained through his/her lifetime, condensed to a brilliant piece that you can consume to broaden your knowledge. And, when you spend this much time and energy engaging with the author’s ideas, you consciously and subconsciously reprogram your brain to be influenced by it.

While it might be difficult for you to choose the people whom you associate with in-person. Books offer you the advantage of choosing whom and what ideas you want yourself to immerse in.

And also remember that books aren’t the only way. You can also watch shows of them, interviews, and all the other forms of content to study and learn from them. Doing all these will undoubtedly improve and change your mindset, which will eventually bring you closer to success.

Takeaways:

You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. And, instead of complaining that you do not have successful people in your close circle, surround yourself with books. Get a glance into the author’s thought process, and learn from them.

References:

Murphy, W. M., & Kram, K. E. (2014). Strategic relationships at work: Creating your circle of mentors, sponsors, and peers for success in business and life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.