Coaching can be a major struggle -- in the pool and in life.

• Friends and family members can suggest coaches to seek out a mentor. 

Mentors Provide Knowledge

No person knows everything there is to know. Even if your mentor is on the same league and professional level, or same spot academically, the mentor may have different knowledge and insights from the mentee. The insights can help one achieve goals both on the job and off.

Having a mentor can also help shorten the growth curve when you take on a new project or set an ambitious goal. 

Mentors Can See Things You Can’t

One of the most difficult things in life can be clearly seeing yourself and your journey. A mentor can help with this since they can provide feedback about things you are doing from a third-party outsider's perspective. This can give you a valuable leap ahead when competing in  competitive positions. 

Within coaching, finding another dream job always depends on someone else’s selection. You can strive to achieve a coach-owned team. But still, most other jobs are positions where a search committee makes the hiring decisions. That other view from mentors can help greatly in the job journey.

Mentors Offer Encouragement

Mentors can offer daily encouragement. A good mentor knows you so well. The mentors can come to know how to offer the exact kind of encouragement that can get you going when you are stuck. This encouragement can help you to better stay on your path towards success. 

Mentors Introduce You To A Network

Mentors usually have a network of people behind them who are also available to you. They may introduce you to new people who can help you along your path. They may know people who can advise you in difficult situations. A mentor can introduce you to people who will be invaluable! 

Helpers In Dealing with Adversity

Coaches can be coached too. A good life coach, perhaps a mentor, can help with several aspects of life.

Life coaches and mentors can show you methods that can help to overcome aspects of life that are holding you back. They can also help you when you face adverse situations and can give you the guidance you need to help you pick up the pieces and get back on track.

Mentors can help by teaching more about:

• being positive, 
• using affirmations,
• retraining your brain to think positive thoughts.

Prepare for your life coach to be truthful. The truth hurts, but it may be what you need to get past your situation. When you get caught up in blaming others and not taking responsibility, mentors are quick to point this out to you. A good coach will present it in such a way that you will come to the conclusions yourself. And that makes it easier for you to accept and counter the action.

When you decide to use a life coach, don’t blame them if it doesn’t work out. That is, of course, assuming you chose a qualified coach. It’s not difficult to find a good coach if you take the right steps. Ask friends and family. Do a bit of digging to learn about their background.

If the adversity you are dealing with is from the result of a traumatic experience, a life coach may not be qualified to handle such a deep situation. In this case, seek out a professional who has qualified in that area. You can still choose to use the life coach for other aspects of your development.

Mentoring: A Lifelong Learning Habit

Studies have shown that the best advantage you can give yourself is to become a lifelong learner. Without learning, the mind stagnates.

Commit

To make lifelong learning a priority, commit to it. You start with committing to always being ready to change, to learn, to adapt. and then go from there.

Create a Personalized Learning Environment

True learning can happen when you take charge of your learning environment. Sit down with your mentor and make concrete goals. Set up a system that enables you to learn and a setting in which you can learn. Once you have this, you are truly ready to begin.

Read

Read books, emails, magazines, news articles, academic journals, websites and anything that catches your attention. If it’s interesting to you, then it’s worth perusing. See, read and study at Read.SwimISCA.org.

Keep a List

Take your questions and write them down. Come back to this list of questions and further investigations later. Let this become the jumping off point for learning new things.

Create

Create a project out of one of the things you find interesting. Set goals, give a timeline, and a final deadline to complete it. Invite others to take part in your project with you. You learn so much more when you collaborate. Create milestones and celebrate each one on your road to completion.

Socialize

Hang out with smart people who also enjoy learning. These will become your encouragers and mentors along the way.

Become a Mentor Yourself

We all have something we’re good at and could teach. Your particular skill set might be what someone else needs to succeed. By getting involved in mentoring, you find yourself not only cementing the knowledge you already have but learning new things as well.

Try Different Learning Styles

If you’ve always thought of yourself as one kind of learner, try a new way to learn. You’ll stimulate your brain in new and exciting ways.

Study with Others

When you work with a group, it’s generally easier to learn as you can draw upon the base of shared knowledge. That, in turn, helps you to discover new things yourself.

Seek out a Job that Encourages Lifelong Learning 

The final step toward lifelong learning is to find work where you are encouraged to learn new things, and which continually challenges you.

Remember, building habits that lead to lifelong learning rely on repetition. Engage in these activities as often as possible, making them a part of every single day if you can, for optimal success.