Can I Be My Own Mentor?

A mentor, defined by Merriam-Webster, is a trusted counselor or guide. When I was assigned to do a mentor profile, I had no idea who I’d write about. Sure, I’ve had mentors in the past, such as family members, teachers, academic advisers, coaches, professors and peers. For example, I consider my high school English teacher I mentioned in my “Unplug” post and also my AP Lit teacher mentors, but I haven’t spoken to them in years. How could I consider them mentors if they aren’t involved in my life anymore?

Basically, I couldn’t pick one person I consider a mentor who plays a huge role in my life and future right now.

So, I decided I’d write about myself.

Having a mentor is great because you can go to them if you have any questions or concerns. Most likely, mentors are people who have more experience in your desired field or just in life in general. We can learn a lot from mentors.

But we also need to be our own mentors. This goes along with being our own motivators.

For me, being a mentor to myself means empowering myself to set goals for myself and do what I need to do to accomplish my goals. It means motivating myself to see through struggles and move past them.

Being my own mentor pushes me harder than anyone ever could because if I don’t succeed, I am letting myself down, and disappointing myself is worse than disappointing a mentor.

Mentors are great and they can tell you about their experiences and teach you lessons they’ve learned along the way. But it’s important to me that I make my own experiences and learn my own lessons, because no two paths, two people, two lives, are the same.