A true powerhouse such as Jillian Michaels does not really need to be mentored — she just needed a sounding board for her already great ideas. Her problem was too many great ideas all going in different directions.
Jillian also needed to understand one key fact: Let others think what they want; they are going to think that anyway. People love to build you up — and then once you get to the top, they love to tear you down.
In business, not everyone you work with does things for the right reasons. When you are a person like Jillian who does things out of integrity, it hurts when you are bitten in the back by others.
Jillian is tough; I am tough, but it all comes from a soft place known as the heart. At times, Jillian was portrayed as a lot meaner and tougher than she really is. That would bother her. Jillian needed to get tougher in those areas. She needed to define herself and not let others define her. As soon as she got that, she was on her way — and still is.
In mentoring it is not enough to look successful on the outside — your success has to bring you peace on the inside. You can't teach others to be financially free if you yourself have not done so. One’s rise from a seemingly hopeless situation gives others hope. As long as others have hope when they see you, then you have done your job. And as long as you do what is right instead of doing what is easy, you never have to care what others think. Remember: the elephant keeps walking as the dogs keep barking.
The key to being a good mentor is to help people become more of who they already are — not to make them more like you.
As for me, my mentors have been people who I would never want to be like. They may have big personas, but who they are on the big screen is not who they are in real life. I always wanted to be the same both on- and off-screen.
Everyone in life can be your mentor whether they know it or not.
Suze Orman is a award winning certified financial planner and author of several books including 'The Road to Wealth'. She went from being a waitress at age 30, making $400 a month, to now having her own TV show and a net worth of $30 million dollars.
