Who have you mentored today?
It was a cold and windy day today and I found myself outside building a stone fence. It reminded me why, as our body gets older, there are some things we should quit doing. But of course if we quit using our body things may get worse.
You know what makes me feel best about this project? The fact, that I am engaging a young man in the process. See often times in this space I talk about investments, retirement plans, goals and financial success. But isn’t our financial success related to the success of our country’s future? Doesn’t our country’s future rely on the young people that are our future? See I believe that the young man I was working with today is my future. I don’t care how much financial success, how prudent I may be, how much I save, if I do not take care for the young, where will the future of our country be?
So my question again; is who are you mentoring? Because if you are not making a difference in a young person’s life it probably will be less than it should be. There are so many young people out there that have bad circumstances, families or maybe just made a mistake. If we spent time with them, could we make a difference in their future which ultimately is our future? I think so!
Now what are the reasons we may not do this:
- I don’t have the time.
- I don’t have the patience.
- I have no circumstance to mentor.
- It really won’t make a difference.
- Who cares?
So it is easy to talk ourselves out of doing something because of time, money, patience or just a lack of vision. If we really had a little vision, could we see the difference we might make in someone’s life.
So what did I find in my day of mentoring?
- A smart young man with a lot of potential.
- Someone that could help the old body get something done.
- A good feeling of being a friend to someone that needed one.
- A lesson in being a better person.
- Hope in our future through this young person
Of course was it a perfect day. Well it depends on how you measure that. I felt great at the end of the day. Of course he made mistakes, he tired easily, he did not know how to do everything. Yet there was that spark of intelligence, thoughtfulness and a young person growing to be a man. Is it possible that I was part of his future, his growth and his potential that ultimately is the potential of our country and our future lives? So at the end of the day I felt I had a perfect day. I was tired, sore but full of the feeling of making a difference. Of course I probably needed more patience, maybe I needed better teaching skills and probably could have been better as a mentor. But I did my best, reached out as a friend, tried to teach him skills, patience and the ability to do a good job. Was I successful? Probably in a perfect world not; but in the end it is not a perfect world that we live in. It is fulfilling when a man that’s getting older teaches a young man not even in high school the skills that he may use through the rest of his life. Will a difference be measurable? Possibly not, but there is a difference; measurable or not.
I’m not sure what your opportunities are? They could be as simple as:
- Taking a walk with someone
- teaching them to drive
- teaching mechanical skills
- teaching woodworking skills
- having them help clean house
- building a fence in the back yard
- just tinkering on a project
- maybe drinking a lemonade together
See I don’t think it is impossible to make the future better. Because there are so many people out there that would appreciate the time and effort you would give to be a mentor to them.
Understand they will not come to you! Reach out to them.
Sincerely,
Wayne von Borstel, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, MSFS
Personal Financial Advocate
