One of my favourite movies as a child was the Karate Kid. For some reason, I was always drawn to the underdog from an early age.
In the movie, Daniel San as he is affectionately known, is experiencing some bullying at his new school. The lead bully Johnny is a skilled, albeit dirty, Karate fighter from the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel is a skinny, unpopular, out of shape kid.
Upon one of Daniels beatings, Mr Miyagi, a 50 something Japanese immigrant, happens to intervene and fend off five of the Cobra Kai attackers.
Daniel was so impressed with Mr Miyagi’s Karate that he asked him to teach him how. After much convincing, Mr Miyagi finally agreed to be Daniel San’s mentor, training him up for the All Valley Karate Championship tournament.
Daniel just wanted to go straight to the fighting training. However, Mr Miyagi had his own teaching method based on many years of experience. His teachings didn’t initially involve any Karate. Instead it was seemingly random tasks such as painting fences and waxing cars. Daniel was extremely impatient, wanting to just get to the fighting.
What Daniel didn’t realise was that he was actually learning essential skills, such as mental focus and patience. Miyagi was teaching Daniel the Karate foundations, before moving on to the specifics.
Miyagi was not only teaching Karate to Daniel, but also important life lessons. He was a big proponent of a balanced life.
“What does a 1986 movie about Karate have to do with my finances?” you may be asking.
The importance of having a mentor
A good mentor can save you a lot of time and money.
We all have limitations on what we know and what we can achieve on our own. By finding someone that can coach, teach, and share their knowledge, we are able to tap into a vast array of expertise that we would not have had access to otherwise.
This is not a one sided relationship either. The mentor gets great satisfaction from seeing their mentees develop and grow. Not only that, but it cements the mentors place as a leader and a person of respect.
So don’t go thinking that no one will mentor you. You may be surprised at how willing some people are willing to take you under their wing. Just like Daniel San, all you need to do is ask. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Be proactive.
A mentor should be someone that has expertise in their field and someone you respect. Mentors are generally older than you, but not always. A mentor is someone that is several steps ahead of where you want to be.
I have found that the best mentors don’t always give you the answers. Sometimes yes, but other times it is more beneficial to just receive guidance towards the answers. This requires the mentee (is that a word? Let’s run with it) to use their own critical thinking. The mentor’s answers after all, is only one answer. With the information they give you, you may come up with your own answers.
For example, lets say you want to become better with your finances. You ask your auntie Carol if she will be your money mentor, since she retired early at age 55. She happily obliges. Over time, Carol teaches you everything she did to get to where she got. She shares all her success stories, all her failures, and her tips and strategies. She has a lot of information and as a mentee, you are soaking it all in.
The information you learn from Carol will save you from repeating the same mistakes she made, and will get you ahead financially by using some of the strategies that she used. With this increased knowledge, you may also come up with some of your own strategies.
Some financial mistakes or neglects can set us back decades. A mentor can save a lot of that time, cost and hassle.
You can find mentors in any area of your life too.
A mentor who teaches you valuable life lessons
A mentor at work who helps with your career progression
A mentor who helps with your finances
A mentor who helps with your relationships
A mentor who helps with your sporting accomplishments
Final Thoughts
If someone more experienced and knowledgeable than you is willing to guide you, then latch on to that.
Just make sure that they are actually knowledgeable and not just blowing hot air.
You won’t always know everything, and a good mentor will really help you move forward in life. Moving forward means better job prospects, better relationships, better finances, and generally, just being a better person.
Mentors don’t generally jump out at you and offer you their hand either. You need to actively seek and ask for one.
With so much information online these days, a mentor can even be found online through a website or blog. Just be sure they are reputable and not spreading misinformation. Real life mentors are always the best though.
Don’t be like Daniel San was at the beginning of the movie and think you know best. Your mentor has achieved all they have achieved for a reason. Let them teach you their way. It pays to listen.
Several years ago, when my older boss saw how hard I was working, he told me that at the end of his life, he won’t wish he had worked more hours. He will wish he spent more time with the family. It might seem a morbid conversation, but the message resonated with me. I considered my boss a mentor and his advice prompted me to try achieving more of a work/life balance.
By just having this mentor available to me, I probably saved myself thousands of unnecessary hours in the office working, and I won’t miss out on precious life moments. Sure, someone who is willing to put in more hours may progress their career further than me, but I don’t want to turn out like my mentor did, living alone with no family, married to the job. His mistakes and life lessons helped feed my desire to live my life and look back with no regrets.
Everyone needs a Mr Miyagi in their lives.
The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here