-Written by SIYP Team
What does it mean to have a success coach? You’ve likely heard the saying, “When you are ready to learn, the teacher will appear.”
In the Star Wars trilogy, Yoda is a wise master teaching the Jedi how to activate “The Force” within to be more, achieve more, and fulfill their special and significant path.
He is their ‘success coach’.
Luke Skywalker was one of the main protagonists in the original trilogy. In the second movie, The Empire Strikes Back, a young Skywalker realizes he needs Yoda’s guidance to become the Jedi Knight he is expected to be. He needs help. He needs someone to assist him in improving his skills and guide him so he can see things he can’t see and do things he can’t do on his own.
He needed success coaching.
Having a great mentor who performs success coaching can make a huge difference in success.
Similarly, this is true in all areas of life, personal and professional. A good mentor affects what you think, how you act, and how you react. For example, your mentor will help you identify and understand options, make choices, and regroup and redirect when necessary.
Obviously, there is a lot of influence this person will have on and in your life. That’s why when choosing a mentor or success coach, it’s important to select carefully. There are good and bad mentors. You may even have different mentors for different areas – or different stages – of your life.
However, you probably knew all this. There is no shortage of articles or blog posts – even books – on mentors and mentoring. There is even no shortage of articles or blog posts outlining Yoda the ultimate mentor.
Yet, did you catch the real secret that made Yoda such a tremendous mentor and success coach to the Jedi like Skywalker?
Yoda’s “biggest secret” was he realized his role as mentor and success coach was not about what he could teach the youngsters. Instead, he was helping them find the greatness already within themselves.
Consequently, Yoda’s role as “mentor” – his success coaching – merely reflected that greatness back to the young Jedi. Thus, he empowered them to recognize their internal greatness and showed them how to project it out to the world.
See, it’s not so much what your mentor can teach you, it’s what they help you see. They help you identify those things intrinsically important to you and special about you. Therefore, they allow your own personal, unique, power to manifest itself.
Just remember, who you choose as a mentor gives you a lot of insight into yourself as well.
Likewise, since a mentor or success coach is also often a role model or becomes one, the mentor you select will show you what you consider really important.
A big reason Yoda was such a successful mentor and coach to Luke Skywalker was he signified and portrayed all Skywalker himself considered important. Similarly, all he wanted to be. He respected Yoda and through this mentoring process, in following Yoda, Skywalker realized his own greatness too.
How does your mentor approach his or her career? Do they make wise choices? Is your mentor respected? Do you like how your mentor treats others at work and their friends and family? Does your mentor have work life balance? Are they a good example of how to balance your personal and professional life?
These are important questions to consider in choosing the best mentor for you. Since we tend to emulate our mentor, we must make sure we really want the same things we see in our mentor. Choose wisely.
