Where is the line between doing it yourself in finding a mentor?

As usual, I want to learn more.

As usual, I’m pretty sure I can do it myself. I’m trying to break out of the mold I’m doing it all myself and wondering where is the fine line between doing as much as you possibly can and hiring help for mentor or teacher to bring you to levels you haven’t reached yet.

In seeking out a mentor, I’m getting better at learning what I need and what I’m not good at and what I am good at. But also, the mentor needs to be a good fit.

The mentor should also have a track record in what you want to do with much more success then you have. Ideally, they have a process or structure or some sort of organization that they follow so not only does it work for them but it could work for you, too.

Turning the tables, I see how I need more structure in order to teach others to write a book in a month. I am such a pantser in that I often just sit down see what happens. But I can’t teach that. Or, well, I can of course, and here’s how it would go: sit down and write and see what happens.

That was the course. You can pay $49 at the door.

In seeking a mentor, I realize I need structure, I need a path to follow and I also need to offer that structure and path as a teacher.

Another of my requirements is transparency. It shouldn’t be smoke and mirrors and big secrets behind curtain number three as you how the teacher is going to help the student. Ideally, they should put all of their cards on the table and let you, the student, know what’s going to happen and when and also why. In seeking out a mentor of late, I realize that I need this. In seeking out my own teachers, I see the teacher I need to be.

What are some of the factors you seek in a teacher? Or if you are a teacher, do you offer the same structure as you are seeking?

In other words, I’m not so sure a pantser (someone who just wings it) is such a great model as a teacher.

I need to become more of a plotter as both a student and a teacher.