The other day a student posted this image quote on our Facebook group:
“A conversation with the right sensei is worth more than 10 years training with the wrong.”
This really got me thinking about the truly great teachers I’ve had in my life (as well as the not-so-great)…
I thought back to Mr. Gonzalez who brought history alive for me for the first time, and sparked my initial interest in creative writing…
I’ll never forget his stories of Versailles under Louis the Great. He described in great detail how the courtiers grew extraordinarily long pinkie fingernails so they could scratch each others doors, which was the polite way to knock in the 17th century. And how Versailles didn’t have a sewage system so the aristocrats took to pooping in the corners and the grand palace smelled like a gigantic toilet.
He brought the time, the place and the people alive for me… turning a subject that had always felt like an obligation into pure inspiration.
I looked forward to Mr. Gonzalez’s 10th grade European history classes more than anyone else’s even though I’d never really been interested in history before.
With the right teacher…
… you can turn something that feels dry, boring or challenging into something that feels like an exciting adventure…
… you can get out of your comfort zone and grow beyond what you thought possible…
…you can find a deep of motivation and commitment to fuel you to greater and greater actions and results…
Unfortunately these days, most people stop having close relationships with teachers and mentors the moment they graduate from high school or college.
The funny thing is … the most successful people I’ve ever met? They all have the same thing in common.
They’ve all recognized that learning is a lifelong pursuit.
And they make the conscious choice to build in constant access to teachers and mentors into the lives and business.
Teachers & mentors are the “door openers” in your life — the people who open doors in your heart and mind that you may not have even known were there… or doors that you may have feared would remain closed forever… People who take you by the hand, and guide you through the wardrobe where anything becomes possible. The people who have perspective you don’t, and who can see things you can’t. (Hint – that’s the real secret to growth, right there.)
The right teachers allow you to live in a magical world as an entrepreneur where the rules are totally different and anything is possible…
As William Arthur Ward said, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
Now all you need is the right teacher to support you in achieving and becoming all that you imagine yourself to be.
I want to invite you to take a moment to recognize the truly great teachers in your life and tell me all about them in the comments.
>> And if you’d like to explore how to have me in your life as your mentor over the coming year, here’s where to learn more.