Disclaimer: I just had one of the most amazing meetings of my life with an incredible mentor, and this post is very influenced by that.

I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by many people who I would consider to be “mentors”.  My definition for a mentor is very loose, typically:

1. They have a personal interest in my life and activities
2. I keep them updated regularly (be it weekly, monthly, quarterly) on my progress
3. I can turn to them at any time for assistance, and they will gladly go out of their way to help me

Tonight was one of those incredible nights that you feel inspired, empowered, and refocused after 3.5-hour dinner with an individual. My mind is still racing two hours later, but I wanted to quickly share some thoughts from our conversation:

Outlook is everything: Through a career that has spanned working across three continents, many cities, quite a number of jobs and countless travels, my mentor often found himself in positions where others had previously failed to succeed.  Even in challenging environments or in difficult circumstances, his outlook was one of positivity, excitement, and opportunity.  In your environment do you see opportunities to grasp and challenges to conquer, or do you see potential dangers and liabilities?

Taking it personal: My mentor is one of the most genuine people that I have ever met.  I have met his beautiful family and I have heard countless respected leaders sing his praises.  However, I believe that a turning-point in our relationship occurred tonight when I was able to hear his personal life story. I have never been more fascinated about a life story then I have been tonight.  Simply put, I am in awe of what he has already done, and I am continuously amazed by the new projects and opportunities that he takes on.  By also sharing more of my personal story with him, I hope that it has helped strengthen the bond between us.  At the end of the day, common values seem to matter a whole lot more than anything else.  When the right time comes in a relationship with a mentor, it might make sense to start to move the conversation from professional to personal.  There is a good chance that you will be able to form a stronger bond as result.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but great stories are viral: My mentor is a master storyteller who is able to re-tell amazing experiences with incredible narrative and personal connection.  In my Painted Picture, I have also made it a personal goal to become a master storyteller. Jordan Banks said the only scalable human trait is reputation.  However, meeting with my mentor made me realize that great stories are scalable too.  Upon returning home, I immediately told my mom many of the most interesting stories, and I’m sure that at some point in time she will also pass them on.  My mentor’s stories were so great that I know that I will be re-telling many of them over and over again. Is your story worth telling? How are you telling it? Will your story be spread, and if no, then why not?

Life should be an adventure: Would you describe your life to be an adventure (in a good way)? The stories that I heard today were just that – adventures.  Some of them were crazy, some were surprising, some were strokes of luck and some of them may have been a little bit exaggerated!  Regardless, for my mentor, there have never been any boring steps taken in his life.  There are always challenges, uncertainty, changes, and all of those have made each step that much more fun!  Life is short, so don’t waste your time stuck in neutral (or reverse).

How to make a young person feel like a million bucks: Like I have heard before from many of my other mentors, tonight I was told by my mentor that he feels like he is the one that is getting the true benefit out of our mentor/mentee relationship.  However, I don’t think that’s true. I have a surreal feeling after this meeting.  Tonight, I feel like a million bucks.  Someone who has no family or blood ties to me and who delivers so much every single day for so many important people, has shared a special gift for me.  That’s the gift of mentorship.

That gift has already inspired this post, and it has created action on my part.  After the dinner, I sent notes to friends to let them know that I will be acting immediately on several opportunities in my life.  I am flying to Toronto tomorrow afternoon and am fired up for the critical business development meetings that I have scheduled. It’s coming up to 1:30am and I can’t seem to fall sleep. With this kind of outlook on my opportunities, how could I? 🙂

Thank you to this special mentor, and to all the mentors in my life.