Recently, I received an unexpected request: Will you mentor me? The request was from a woman whom I had met once, and who was at the beginning of her career in a different field of health care. The request took me by surprise and I wondered how to translate what I knew for her. Although there are some similarities, the difference between our fields required me to think very expansively in order to translate my professional experiences and observations into something usable for her.
I created and built my business from scratch. I have always felt very secure about my clinical abilities, and had always thought I would love to pass on the diverse knowledge I have and continue to acquire. What I never expected was how taking on the role of mentor would benefit me.
Mentoring has allowed me to take pride in my work in a completely new way, to see the career that I have worked so hard to build through fresh eyes.
That has been an incredible reality check, in the best possible way. Throughout the years I have kept very focused, concentrating on the individual cases of resolving people's issues that lie before me, and expanding my knowledge base, while never stopping to acknowledge the specifics of what I have accomplished up to this point. Now that I have begun to survey my achievements in this way, I have not only gained a healthy professional affirmation, but it has also allowed me to think critically about the new directions available as I take my practice into the future.
This renewed examination of my clinical skills has also offered a different level of analysis of the work I do as I break it down and make it translatable to someone in a different aspect of health care. What I have been shown from this aspect of mentoring is my effectiveness as a teacher. That has made me very happy, and it has led to a new, unexpected layer of fulfillment in my life.
Mentoring someone who, as it happens, reminds me so much of myself at the beginning of my career, has allowed me a feeling of "paying it forward" in the world. I love what I do and I know that I am lucky for that. I know that I have been given a wonderful gift in this life. Being able to help someone else eager to find a similar path in her life has made me feel even more grateful to be able to pay forward all the joy that my professional life has afforded me. That in itself is an amazing gift. This relationship with my mentee has brought me to a new level of appreciation for my life.
From an early age, I knew that my life would be dedicated to service. Now, in my role as a mentor, I have just added a new layer of beautiful color and richness to that service.
I hope that reading this post allows some of you to consider taking on someone to mentor. You have more to give than you know, and the rewards of this giving come back ten fold.
Lots of love to you...
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Dr. Lisa M. Avila affords her clients safe, guided passage from pain/dysfunction to knowing and understanding his or her own body and what that body is trying to teach them.
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