Achieve your Goals by emulating someone you admire

By Deborah Rossi

There many ways to reach your goals. You might choose to use top-notch education, workshops, work experience, training programs, role-playing, and also practice and repetition. There is, however, no substitute for one-on-one interaction with someone you admire or an expert in what you are trying to achieve. Choosing a mentor or a coach to help you achieve your goals and aspirations is very effective and worthwhile. Choosing to work with a respected mentor or a coaching professional will help you reach your personal and professional goals more efficiently and effectively, increasing your effectiveness both on the job and as an individual.

A mentor often works or has experience within your goal area, though perhaps not at your same company or anywhere near your location, and has years of experience from which to learn from. They are someone whose work or accomplishments you admire and would like to copy in your own goals. The mentor relationship is one that is built on respect and is completely focused on your professional development and/or success. He or she can offer fair advice and share wisdom that will allow you to grow and reach your full potential.

Your mentor can also help you to avoid mistakes many young professionals make, steer clear of common pitfalls and serve as an evenhanded symbol of hope with your best interest at heart. Additionally, a relationship with a mentor helps you to utilize two of the quickest methods for personal development. These are modeling and emulation. The success principles that work for one person will usually work for another. Therefore, as you model and emulate the desired behaviors of your mentor, you will quickly improve your skill set, expand your professional and business knowledge and jump-start your results.

A coach, on the other hand, is a professional whose work is focused on helping you light a fire for your inner self, your needs, passion and desire to contribute. Basically they coach you to achieve success. The coach's guidance is more personal and specific, often providing practical support through challenging situations like dealing with employees or handling a merger. The results are often quick and dramatic and considering that most coaching is done primarily on the phone, it's also very time-efficient. Some of the more-common areas for guidance include helping you balance your personal and professional life, clarifying and implementing true values and creating a plan for excelling in the workplace or moving up the corporate ladder.

Coaching is a one-to-one relationship between an individual and a professional coach who can assist you in articulating, prioritizing and achieving your goals. Coaching can help increase the results the client wants in life, work, spirit and relationships as well as to overcome obstacles, circumstances and resistance. Coaching is not a substitute for therapy, nor is it intended for people in emotional crisis.

The first recommendation is that you find a mentor or role model. Ideally, this should be someone you actually know in the business community who will agree to act as your mentor and guide during this very critical time in your professional development. Choose someone you admire, who takes a strong stand for what they and you believe in, and who can share with you some of his or her success secrets. If you can't find a mentor, pick a role model. This can be someone you don't know personally but has a high profile you can observe and emulate. Having a role model will give you a very visible, tangible manifestation of the success you're working toward. Having that before you, as reality, can be extremely motivating as you work to craft your professional life to include those attributes and skills you admire in your role model. If you can't find a mentor or role model locally, search online, mentoring can be done virtually via the Internet and telephone.

Whether it's personal or career improvements you're looking for, an effective coach or expert mentor could be the key to your continued success and long-term career development. Finding one who will be the best fit for you is a matter of individual preference based on the goals you're looking to achieve. Regardless of which type of advisor you seek out, the potential for long-term growth and improvement can be the key to success and happiness in all aspects of your life.