The power of mentorship

You are a combination of influences.

Think about the top five people who have shaped you into who you are today. It doesn’t matter whether they are real or fictional, dead or alive. It doesn’t matter if you discovered them a few months ago or have had them be present all your life.

The impact is they have on you is what matters.

For me, those are my family (one entity), Edmund Dantes of “The Count of Monte Cristo”, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, and my teachers (one entity).

Yes, I cheated a little bit, but those are the ones that come to top of mind. There are countless others that have varying degrees of influence, and I have no doubt that the level of impact that they have on me will continue to change throughout my life.

These are the people you aspire to be and matter in the creation of your digital heirloom.

The mentorship mentality

Sometimes it just happens.

When I returned home to start my stint as a tenure-track professor, I reached out to my former resident advisor when I was at the summer arts program at Furman University. We met up for dinner, and he mentioned that Asian actors were in short supply in the area and that he needed a martial arts specialist for his production of “Romeo and Juliet”.

He also encouraged me to audition for the casting call for “Mulan, Jr.”

For the uninitiated, Disney holds the rights to theater versions of their animated feature films as well, and they sell the rights to produce them locally as another source of income for their vast media empire.

I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

From the moment I started my teaching position to the time I left for my industry job with Intel, I moonlighted as an actor. I ended up being a mentor and teacher to students of all ages, instructing them in the art of combat using all manner of weaponry. I drew from my knowledge of martial arts, theater, and dance to become a fight choreographer as well as being a cast member.

This is an example of informal mentorship.

I started out with the intent to contribute my knowledge that was a part of my heritage and cultural identity and ended up with an entirely new set of skills that spanned both indoor and outdoor stage productions. In turn, I had the privilege of working with and learning from the finest in the theater world in town at all levels.

I was mentor and mentee in equal measure, and those two years were the closest I ever came to leveraging every skill I’d learned to date.

There is never a point when you are alone

Everyone needs mentors throughout their lives.

These people are the driving force, the North Star, and the beacons of light that guide us throughout our growth personally and professionally, emotionally and mentally. What they impart to you of their experiences are timeless at the core, wrapped up in the package of wisdom with a bow on top. The lessons you receive when you open these gifts save you countless hours of frustration, heartache, and even loss.

You can’t do this alone.

• Edmund Dantes had Abbe Faria.

• Tony Stark had Ho Yinsen and Obediah Stain.

• Bruce Wayne had Alfred Pennyworth and Ra’s Al Ghul.

Yes, I’m aware that there’s plenty of discussion to be had in some of these, but they’re examples of some of my influences.

You are the synergy of all of your mentors combined with your life experiences. They all affect you in ways both subtle and profound, some of which don’t become evident until long after you’ve parted ways with them. It might take a few months. It might take a few decades.

Eventually, you become the mentor even as you continue the role of the mentee.

You grow until you choose to stop

Who you draw your strength and inspiration from influences your confidence to face the world, your speed in decision-making, and the level of success you achieve.

• If you allow unscrupulous people to push you towards a life of low morals and little scruples, then the outcomes you seek will be tinged with that darkness.

• If you allow those with a strong sense of justice and karma to guide you, then your path will have those ideals that you will come to champion in one form or another.

• If you allow those with a different aspects of both define your thoughts, then you will come to a point where you may have a “the ends justify the means” mentality.

Your digital heirloom is a chance for you to share what you’ve done with your identity.

Even as you create and share your past experience and knowledge, you are never going to stop growing and evolving. The vast majority of people who decide to be content once they have no external motivators become stagnant, adrift in the sea of life. Those are the ones who choose to stop rowing, who decide to put up a sail and wait for whatever breeze might take them somewhere to any destination without having to put much effort into the direction.

If you’re reading to this point, it’s safe to say that you aren’t one of them.

Reflect on one of the people who has influenced and shaped your life.

• How did they do it?

• Are they continuing to do so?

• What do you hope to pass on from their lessons?

Next time, we’ll talk about how you can actively find the right mentor for yourself.