During the last couple of years, I’ve benefitted greatly from having virtual mentors. In this post, I’ll share how virtual mentors have played a big role in my personal and professional development, and I’ll share my top 5 go to mentors with you as well.
What Is a Virtual Mentor
According to the Encyclopedia, virtual mentoring is described as providing opinions, recommendations, and counsel online. A mentor is an individual with a particular area of expertise who acts as a coach or counselor.
As I see it, there are two categories of virtual mentors.
The first one is a more traditional mentor/ mentee relationship which is taking place either via email or Skype where you have monthly check-ins to assess your progress.
The other one, and the one I’m referring to in this post, is the kind of virtual mentorship where you become a student of an influencers work. You see, by studying the work, opinions, and recommendations of other people who have achieved what you want, they become your virtual mentors.
The second option lack the kind of accountability you have in the more traditional mentor/mentee relationship, which is why it takes a lot more persistence on your end if you want to grow, that’s why it could be beneficial to find a growth partner or create a study group around the topics of interest.
How Virtual Mentors Have Helped Me Grow
Virtual mentors have helped me go from being lost and without direction in my life, to being much more focused and balanced having clear goals and aspirations for where I want to go and what I want to achieve in my life.
In short, the virtual mentors I’ve relayed on have helped me gain clarity on my life purpose and the kind of legacy I want to leave behind.
But they’ve also given a bunch when it comes to my professional development, learning about websites, search engine optimization, and everything else that goes into an online business. Just a couple of years ago I had no clue about any of it. But thanks to virtual mentors, I’ve managed to get to where I am today.
My Virtual Mentors Top 5
My top five virtual mentors have all played a big part in getting me to where I am today.
They have inspired me with their wisdom and teachings to get a new perspective on life, both professionally and privately, and they’ve played a significant role when it comes to what I want to achieve and who I want to become as a person.
Stephen Covey
Back in 1989, Stephen Covey released 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change which has been a worldwide best-seller ever since. Just like it’s impacted millions of people around the world, Stephen’s book about timeless and universal principals made a massive impact on me at a time when I lacked direction in life.
Studying his work and implementing what he teaches in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has been vital for me getting to where I am today and since I’m still a work in progress I keep coming back to this masterpiece that helps me stay on track, focused, and motivated to keep growing.
Stephen’s Bestsellers
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
- Great Work Great Career
Career development based on the principals from 7 Habit of Highly Effective People
Simon Sinek
I first came across Simon Sinek when I stumbled on to his TEDx talk called ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’ which is about the science of authentic leadership and what makes great leaders stand out.
It all comes down to why we do the things we do.
The reason we do things are much more captivating than talking about what we do or how we do it, that’s what caught my attention when I saw Simon’s talk for the first time and why I went straight out to get his book ‘Start With Why.’
Watch Simon’s TEDx Talk
Some of Simon’s Books
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
- Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team
- Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
- The Infinite Game
Bob Burg
Bob is the co-author of the highly recommendable Go-Giver parables as well as my number one networking book ‘Endless Referrals.’
I first came to know about Bob’s work when I was having coffee with a connection of mine some years ago. She told me about ‘The Go-Giver’ and the principals of the book, and I went to grab it at the nearest bookstore after our meeting ended.
That book and Bob’s work, in general, has had a significant influence on me ever since. I’ve been fortunate to talk to Bob a couple of times, and he is a major inspiration to me on many levels and someone I suggest you check out.
You can start by watching a snippet of a masterclass I did with him on networking right here.
Bob’s Bestsellers
- The Go-Giver, Expanded Edition: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
- The Go-Giver Leader: A Little Story About What Matters Most in Business
- The Go-Giver Influencer: A Little Story About a Most Persuasive Idea
- Endless Referrals, Third Edition
Michael Hyatt
Being a former CEO in the book publishing industry turned online entrepreneur, Michael has been a great inspiration to me personally with his take on (self) leadership, as well as professionally when it comes to building an online business.
I’ve taken his online courses on personal leadership and been part of his membership site as well learning tons of valuable lessons on a variety of business and leadership topics.
Some of Michael’s Books
- Platform – Get Noticed in a Noisy World
- Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want
- Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less
- Full Focus Planner: Plan Your Year, Design Your Days, Achieve Your Biggest Goals
(My personal FAVORITE Planner)
Brendon Burchard
Brendon is a powerhouse when it comes to personal and business development, and he has been a great inspiration for the past couple of years being the “New Kid On The Block” of my five virtual mentors.
Brendon has written multiple New York Times Bestsellers, has a bunch of online programs and courses, and I’m looking forward to going to one of his live events sometime in the near future, hopefully.
Some of Brendon’s Books
Final Thoughts on Virtual Mentors
As you probably can sense, my virtual mentors have played a significant part in my life during the past couple of years, and they will continue to do so, both the ones I’ve shared with you here, but new virtual mentors will also make my list moving forward. Just like everything else here in life, there are different seasons and different needs for guidance.
One thing I want to encourage you to do is to find a study partner or group to share your growth with and succeed. Together you can inspire and support one another to stay on track and learn from each other.
If you want more inspiration like this, then drop your name and best email down below, then I’ll make sure you get my best career and personal leadership tips in your inbox.
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