The Mentor In The Mirror. How To Be Your Own Hero. #73 011511

What's happening on the outside is a reflection of what's within.

The key to saying something is to have something to say. Occasionally, after we have thought about what we previously said, we discover we have more to say.

Several times over the past few months I have read my article, The Mentor In The Mirror (posted September 3, 2010) and have concluded that I have more to say about this idea than I previously said. I also have an additional tag line: The Mentor In The Mirror. How To Be Your Own Hero.

Computers are great creative enhancers. Typewriters are not. Whiteout was ok for a typo, not for inserting new sentences or rearranging or introducing new paragraphs. If, after completing an article, I discovered I had more to say, I really had to be motivated to make the change or changes. With the computer, when the muse strikes, you simple cut, type and paste. Bingo! A new and expanded article. Thus, this expanded article.

This article is about working with a mentor who will encourage, guide, motivate and provide expertise to help you achieve what you truly define as personal success. The Mentor in the Mirror, How to be Your Own Hero is about achieving personal hero status.

Achieving success as defined by the world never leads to inner peace. The key to inner peace is to achieve personal success as defined by you. What matters most is what matters most to you. Achieving your goals is what this article is about.

During a life time, many people will look for a mentor and some will find a wise and trusted counselor in a business colleague, a coach, teacher, parent or friend. But for many others, they will not have the luxury of having a mentor, someone to guide, critique, and challenge them to excel.

To help achieve personal success you need a mentor and a mentoring program that is practical, cost-effective and prepares you for success? You are about to meet that mentor and discover the mentoring program that is tailored to you.

When you look into the mirror, you'll quickly recognize the mentor's face. But, the voice may not be familiar. People, over time, have silenced the voice inside by ignoring it day after day, month after month, year after year. That voice wants to speak, wants to be heard and desires to share the knowledge and information stored within.

Your mentor in the mirror will explore and evaluate your education, training, work history, interests, skills, and personality traits. This can help modify your perceptions and behaviors, enhance communication and understanding among peers, and help prevent career blunders.

The idea that the mentor in the mirror knows how to motivate is built on the observation that no one knows us like we know ourselves. Today look behind the stone face that is starring at you from the mirror and start chiseling away doubt, fear, and procrastination. You, like Michelangelo can free the angle to achieve greatness.

As the worthless chips fall away, you discover the keys to goal achievement are not in the mirror. They lie within each of us. The mentor knows that the higher our self-esteem, the more we will achieve. Self-esteem is really the value we put on ourselves. Therefore, you are priceless.

Many people will hero worship a popular sports figure, actor or actress, a politician, etc. But hero worship is not the same as being a hero. We can be our own hero seeking and following the success advice of your mentor in the mirror. Your mentor's purpose is to help you discover you own special calling and then assist you in identifying, accessing and utilizing your strengths and talents to achieve success and excellence, as defined by you.

In many lives, the mentor in the mirror lies dormant below the level of awareness. Instead of wielding a strong positive influence on our behavior the dormancy of the sleeping giant results in counterproductive behavior and wasted talent.

Wake up the giant. Tap the latent power. Your mentor wants to release the hero within.

The full benefit of participating in the Mentor in the Mirror self-improvement program is that everyone around you benefits—Improving yourself, improves those around you. You cannot become a winner without promoting the winning spirit in others. There is no solo success. Your achievement is a challenge for others to achieve.

When you win. Everyone wins. participate

Three Point Success Summation

SUCCESS THOUGHT: As you listen to the counsel of your mentor in the mirror listen for enjoyment, listen for information, listen for insight, and listen for application. German playwright and poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." As you collaborate with the mentor in the mirror, the mentor will stress execution. The mentor's goal is to motivate you to act!

SUCCESS QUOTE: "A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself." —Oprah Winfrey

SUCCESS ACTION: The key to personal success and being your own hero lies within. It is also within your reach. Reach inside and release the hero within.

Be Your Own Hero #61 031010

There were a lot of things I liked doing as a kid growing up in Central Florida. One of my favorite activities was reading and trading comic books. A comic book cost a dime and delivered a million dollars of high adventure and escapism.

All the kids read and traded comics. Some comic books were more valuable than others and when you traded them, you would give two or three less popular comics for a single Lone Ranger, Batman or Superman book. These heroes had extra value, even if was only in our minds.

These hero books have come a long way. I recently read that a copy of the first comic book featuring Superman, a 1938 edition of Action comics No. 1, sold for $1-million at auction. Wish I had known about economics back then. Invest a dime and seventy-two years later sell your investment for a million dollars. Heck, why not invest in two copies?

A lot of kids dreamed of being able to move faster than a speeding bullet, being more powerful than a locomotive and having the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. In reality I know no one with those capabilities other than Superman.

People attach the term hero to sports figures, movie stars, political leaders, and yes, comic book characters. They think of these people as having divine strength, talent and the ability to defy the law of gravity, remain ageless, or be bullet proof.

Unfortunately, most of us have never looked at ourselves as a hero. We often view our abilities, talents and strengths as flaws, failings and weaknesses. Instead of always wishing we were someone else, we should realize that it is ok to be me.

I have observed that some people over estimate their ability and self importance. But it has been my experience that more people have the tendency to sell themselves short. The people I meet day in and day out don't consider themselves heroes. But anyone, in any role, who consistently performs at their best is a hero. True, they are not legendary figures with great strength or god-like ability. Real heroes deliver on time, on budget, and on target.

In their best-selling book, Now discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton tell how great managers do no not help people fix their weaknesses. "Instead they capitalize on them. They try to help each person become more and more of who he already is."

The only way to be a hero is to become more and more of what you are. The only barrier to being a hero is your failure to perform at your best. Good enough isn't good enough, because the competition is performing at a good enough level. The only way to be a hero is to refuse to be classified as a good performer.

It isn't always possible to get agreement on just who is a hero but there are a number of situations that can develop where a person stops or ceases to be a hero.

• When you stop learning, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop caring, you stop being a hero.
• When you cease to be enthusiastic, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop setting authentic goals, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop short of the goal, you stop being a hero.
• When you cease being a team player, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop innovating, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being a cheerleader, supporter, and encourager, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop living our core values, you stop being a hero.
• When you cease to have integrity, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop thinking, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop accepting corrective criticism, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop raising the bar, you stop being a hero.
• When you no longer delight your customer, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being true to your principles, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being productive, you stop being a hero.
• When you no longer have a positive attitude, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop adding value, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop believing you are in business for yourself, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop holding yourself accountable for outcomes, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop taking responsibility for our career, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop pursuing excellence, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being the master of your time, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop taking care of your health, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being an aggressive listener, you stop being a hero.
•When you stop acting and began reacting, you stop being a hero.
• When you lose your sense of humor, you stop being a hero.
• When you don't follow up, you stop being a hero.
• When you can't say, "I was wrong", you stop being a hero.
• When you stop leading by example, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop being the master of your time, you stop being a hero.
• When you stop believing in yourself, you are no longer a hero.

Ignore the call to goodness and embrace Heroism. If you get used to being a hero, you'll continue to be faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Heroes— like you— have powers and abilities for beyond those of mortal competitors.

A fictional hero is worth a million dollars. As your own hero, what are you worth?

Three Point Success Summation

HOG THOUGHT: It takes people with all kinds of skill, talents and abilities to build a successful organization. The transformation happens when each member of the team contributes their best to the team. This way, the organization is comprised of a team of heroes. The spotlight may not be on you, but it will be on the team. Enjoy the illumination you help create.

HOG QUOTE: "The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference." —Henry Miller, Author

HOG ACTION: Look in a mirror. Do you see a hero? If you want to be a hero, you have to think and act like a hero.