If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants -Isaac Newton
Question: Would you rather try to learn things your way by trial and error or would you rather have someone whose been there and done that teach you the ins and outs of the subject via coaching/mentorship?
Many people will opt for the former. Let me tell you, it works!
It works if you have great passion for the subject and if you’re willing to spend years and years trying to master something while making constant mistakes and improving along the way.
Many people who took this path have already given up on the early stages because as much as we hate to admit it. It’s hard!
Those who persevere and painstakingly continue will reap the rewards of years of hard work and trial and error.
There is another route you can take. An easier and also a more effective way.
You see, the path you're trying to take, someone has been there before, someone took the trial and error and has already committed the mistakes to learn it.
You don't have to make the same mistakes, we can learn from other people's mistakes and experiences by Coaching and Mentorship.
This will fast track your success and save years of your life avoiding taking the same mistakes former mentors have taken.
So what are the benefits of having a coach/mentor in your journey to success? Here we have outlined 8 benefits but I'm sure there's more!
1. Confidence
Coaching can help you gain confidence in your learning path. A good mentor can bring out your confidence so that you can do tasks with ease and not be stuck in fear.
2. Personal Development
A good mentor can jumpstart your journey to self-development. You know how they say "Passion is Contagious"? Passion for learning and improvement can be imprinted to you by a great coach.
3. Encouragement and Accountability
You know how sometimes, you get encouraged to get things done. Then when you need to take action, you suddenly feel tired or even confused on where to start.
A mentor can encourage your kids during these hard times. The accountability that comes along with having a mentor also speeds up their learning process.
4. Retention
With interaction plus activities and a constant follow up, a mentor can help your kids retain lessons easier than studying things themselves.
5. Efficacy
A mentor can guide your kids on the right path to take, avoiding costly and unnecessary mistakes. What will take (literally) years of their lives learning from trial and error can be effectively taught and learned in a few weeks or months.
6. Ability to spot strengths and weaknesses
It's hard to spot our own strengths and weaknesses. Even if we get feedback by other people, it's still best to get feedback from a real expert.
Maybe there was a point in your life, you thought you were really good at something, and then one day you found out that you're really not that good at it. Frustrating! Or sometimes, we find some weaknesses on ourselves but we try to deny them. That doesn't help either!
A mentor can objectively point this out and create a structure or program to help you and your kids.
7. Customized Learning
Because of the relationship that can be built through coaching, a mentor can spot what areas you need help with and customize the appropriate learning path you should take. We all have different personalities and learning styles. A "Human" mentor can adjust to your needs.
8. Direct feedback and application
Let's admit it, there are a lot of things that we can get for free on the internet. Tons of it. However, studying something without feedback and application does not equate to learning. If anything, it equates to wasted time.
A mentor can make activities and adjust them as needed depending on your needs - ensuring real-time feedback and application. This is the way to learn: actively and not passively.
CONCLUSION
There are many paths to learning. One of the fastest and most effective way to learn is by having a mentor or coach. While there are tons of free materials online (talk about overwhelm) and many have learned through trial and error, this can cause confusion and frustration for a not so knowledgable newbie. A coach can help you so that you won't have to make unnecessary mistakes. Your coach can also customize an effective learning path for you.