Talent Mentors

A lot of people put pressure on themselves and think it will be way too hard for them to live out their dreams. Mentors are there to say, ‘Look, it’s not that tough. It’s not as hard as you think. Here are some guidelines and things I have gone through to get to where I am in my career.~Joe Jonas

Find one or be one… Or both

Come on, everyone wants to be like us!

Doug and I are thinking about who does what we want to be doing. We’re kind of on an unusual path, so we can’t think of anyone who does exactly what we want to do.

I suppose Bill Watterson would be close to our model, but he didn’t get as philosophical and stuck more with the illustrating…

Doug and I have to pick and choose our inspiration from mentors we don’t know and from a few people who have inspired us in the past.

Maybe it’s different for you though. Maybe someone is doing the exact thing you want to do… You’re lucky if that person exists.

If not, build a mentor in your mind from various sources, and become that person… or monkey.

Who Makes up the Big Monkey Totem?

We already mentioned that there isn’t a single person we can pattern ourselves after, or an actual mentor to take us under their wing. So, Doug and I are going to build the template of a mentor, and then become that person… and monkey. Our inspirations are:

• Bill Watterson– The genius creator of Calvin and Hobbes. Mr. Watterson created characters that are full of life and loved by almost everyone. He shared many life lessons and insights through his wonderful illustrations and seemingly simple comic strip… Plus he was strong enough to maintain control of his creation and prevent it from being marketed to death.
• Matt Inman– The creator of The Oatmeal. Mr. Inman has taken his average art but superior wit and crafted it into a successful website and product producer. He seems to be living the type of life most creative people dream of. I think there’s a lot to learn from studying his business model.
• Eckhart Tolle– Mr. Tolle is, to me, a perfect example of a genuinely spiritual person helping others and making a living doing so. His writings have changed my life, and I’m just one of many. He shared his journey and revelations with the world, and they resonated with many.
• Pat Cochran– Pat is a mentor from my past who taught me how to work hard and stick with a dream. He taught me skills such as mold making and casting that I will use to produce Doug items. He’s the one real life mentor that I’ve had. Check out his artwork here…

Study, mash and remake

Doug and I are going to study the mentors and figure out what attracts us to them… Why do we want to be like them? What makes them successful? Then, we’re going to mash everything together, reshape it to look like us and go from there. Easy, right?

Exercise

Think about people in your past and present that you admire. Is there anyone who you can pattern yourself after to gain success? Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have a perfect mentor in our lives.

If you don’t, think about successful people that you admire. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Who are they?
• What do you admire about them?
• What similarities do you share?
• What makes them successful?
• What can you learn by studying them and their business model?
• How can you combine the interesting parts of each to create your own mentor template?

Success is achievable… we see the proof every day. The best way to reach success, however you define it, is to follow the trail left by someone who is already where you want to be.

If that person doesn’t exist, create a template of them, become it, and be an inspiration for others to follow…

We’re wrapping up this series.

Related articles

• What Is the Legacy of Calvin and Hobbes? (bigthink.com)
• The Art of Finding a Mentor (grasshopper.com)
• Inspirational Bill Watterson Speech Turned Into Watterson-Style Comic (gawker.com)

Tags: Art, Bill Watterson, calvin and hobbes, Career, Creativity, eckhart tolle, life, Mentor, Philosophy, Spirituality