In my experience the absolute value that you gain from mentors is determined by the outcome of the choices you make within yourself and within your development and lifestyle (and professional teaching if relevant).

People who don't appreciate mentoring have said to me that the concept is like ‘not reinventing the wheel' because they just see it as having the same information shared again and again. But I prefer to see the value of mentors as being of the same significance that allowed us to move from using a rock wheel, to a timber wheel to now Pirelli – I think mentors do constantly reinvent the wheel!

Mentors may teach the same information or concept perhaps to different people, but it's shaped and improved and potentially applied in new ways when it's shared and passed on. Mentoring is about adding value to both ourselves and to those in our environment.

Seeking knowledge is not always easy. I say this as we SELF-INHIBIT during the process. Why? We self-inhibit because we are taught to not ask and truly seek in life. We are conditioned, more often than not, that our lot in life is what we are given. Whilst we all wish for more, many of us don't seek it because it seems too difficult.

It is the cultural, value and belief structures in most of society to not rock but simply row in the boat, so that we are all contributing the same amount. But it is human nature to ACTUALLY seek constant development and contribute more, which is why we are designed with the brain functions we have.

How do you go about seeking a mentor?
1.First you must be very clear and specific about the areas in which you wish to learn. Write them down, clarify them and be precise about these areas.
2.Investigate online and offline through friends who the authorities in these areas are.
3.Understand what it is you seek to learn from these people or organisations and again be specific about it. So many times I have had people stand in front of me and say they want to learn to do me and what I do. My response is always: learn to do you first then we can start.
4.Decide on how much emotional, mental and physical time you can put into the mentoring and be prepared to define this for yourself and your mentor.
5.Understand that as far as mentoring truly goes - it is an opening up of who you are. By this I mean that you must come honestly and openly to the table for mentoring or you will never truly learn.

Conscious mentors are the most powerful of all. They are the mentors who are willing to impart knowledge to people, seek to deliver quality and give honestly of themselves. If you get a mentor who is hard work and resistant to your thoughts and positions on things, then you must look elsewhere.

The sign of a truly great mentor is the fact that if they simply do not have the time or position to mentor you they will not, but will instead recommend someone else, thus not holding up your capacity to grow and learn.

I have had many mentors – some who have taught me about Spirit and some who have been strategic meaning that the knowledge I sought from them was for my development in business and life skills.

One of my earliest mentors (my Buddhist Nun with whom I still work) told me the following and it will always ring true for you if you choose to let it, because it's universal and applies to every situation:
•If the only prayer you ever say is to thank God then it will always be enough;
•Happiness and the life that you create is a direct reflection of how you're feeling – make sure you know how you're feeling;
•It's brilliant to fail something - it's all part of learning. If it was all too easy you would never develop as a human being;
•Trust your intuition and instincts because they don't lie – other people do;
•Learn to love yourself in a way that supersedes other people's opinions;
•When you get confused, frustrated or feel that things are in resistance stop, think, ask your Guides or God for support and then go back into what you were doing, but never be afraid to stop or to raise your hand and ask for help.

Always seeking knowledge is an admirable pursuit, yet is redundant if you will not follow on from and then hand down your information. To be mentored is to not only seek information, but to also become part of the wonderful knowledge machine that will continue when you mentor those who will come into your sphere as well.