If I Could Give Advice To My Younger Self,
I Would Say…
Mentoring is often a lot like giving advice to your younger self. The mentor has the benefit of experience and the wisdom garnered from that experience and willingly shares this experience with the young, eager executive to help him or her benefit from that knowledge without the actual experience. I love serving as a mentor for Mentoring Women’s Network. For me, this is an incredible opportunity to support and uplift other women and really help them achieve their greatness. As women, we have a responsibility to uplift and support one another and celebrate our successes along the way.
If I had the ability to go back and give advice to my younger self, here are the lessons I would want to share:
1. Surround you with people who uplift and support you. Someone once said you are the sum total of the people you spend the most time with and I believe that to be true.
2. Take care of yourself. Healthy habits are far easier to start early and maintain than waiting until later in life to try to make changes.
3. Be your own best friend. Self-deprecating thoughts and the negative self-talk is unwarranted. You are perfectly imperfect. Treat yourself well, know you are worthy, and expect others to do the same.
4. Take care to maintain friendships. Good friends are not easy to find, but don’t be afraid to let go of relationships that don’t serve you. See #1.
5. Learn as much as you can, experience all that you can, and be willing to follow your heart.
6. Try to help as many people as you can. Long after you are gone, people may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
7. Be quick to say “I’m sorry”.
8. Be quick to forgive yourself and others, but learn the lessons when necessary. When underlying issues are not addressed, the past can often be a strong predictor of future behavior.
9. Model the behavior you want others in your life to have. Children are always watching.
10. Love and serve others without expecting anything in return.
– Alison Martin-Books | President and CEO of Mentoring Women’s Network –
Want to share your story? Submit your “Advice to my Younger Self” Blog and picture to
samantha@mentoringwomensnetwork.com
