“Without self-confidence you can never do anything; you will never found an industry or build up a trade, for you have nothing to carry you through the first anxious years when the only dividend is hope, and the best assets are unfaltering courage and faith in oneself.”
— Sri Aurobindo
Everyone wants a mentor today. Someone to help us build a network, launch a startup, grow in our careers, and so on. To an extent, this thought stems from our dependence on seniors from a young age to tell us what to do—parents, elders, teachers, managers. But if you merely follow their instructions, you will walk on the path they lay out for you.
A mentor doesn’t lay out a path for you; she guides you to find your own. And if your path diverges from the status quo (which it should if you want to make an impact), you will face plenty of rejections, failure, and demotivation.
What will keep you going during those times? Hope, courage, and faith—in your purpose and yourself. These traits don’t get built overnight; they have to be cultivated and practiced.
Pick a challenge and become consistent with it. Experiment. Fail. Learn. Become disciplined. Keep going and growing. Then, mentors will find you. Don’t try to find a mentor so that you excel, Sheryl Sandberg advises in her book Lean In. “Excel and you will get a mentor.”