I am a Mentee!

sabrinacentauro
Oct 2
3 min read

Updated: Oct 2

I heard about a platform Empower Match through a LinkedIn connection/friend-of-a-friend.

I had no idea what to expect, but it was totally great! I am constantly amazed by how wonderful the world is, and all the incredible things that can come your way if you just invite them to be a possibility.

I was matched with a mentor, and Tero and I had our first meet! Neither of us was too sure how to go about it or quite what we had signed up to, but that was not the only similarity between us.

At one point, I had a mini doubt as to whether we were maybe too similar for what I was needing! He believes in managing his mindset, and the key to a fullfilled and happy life is all about perspective. He has dabbled in many directions and from what I can gather, enjoys the journey of life more than focussing on a specific end goal.

The world works in mysterious ways and it ended up being EXACTLY what I needed. Rather than focussing on new learnings, it made me address topics that have very much been at the forefront of my mind recently.

Our conversations gave me answers and solutions to hurdles I've been facing.

Here are my top takeaways and topics that I want to further explore:

I'm currently very open to whatever is coming next, it's not so defined or fixed. This is great for flexibility, but incredbly unhelpful to establish a direction and strategy. So one idea he suggested was not to focus so much on what I DO want, but to reverse engineer it and instead to focus on what I DON?T want. This then offers a filter and a bit more structure to my journey.
Explore the concept of Ikigai, which is looking at the intersection of 4 elements to help identify a direction or focus for this next step. I am most definitely mission-driven and being passionate about my work is the only way for me, so this exercise should be super helpful.
My challenge with networking is that I haven't yet found a way to feel comfortable presenting myself. I'm so comfortable meeting new people but on a personal level, and I feel I do myself a disservice professionally. However if I lead from a more professional angle, then my personality goes out of the window, I get stifled and struggle to articulate myself well. It definitely comes from a place of insecurity but I don't know why and it irritates me!

I asked Tero how he sells himself in a professional context, as it usually relies on conforming to a more fixed identity/brand.

He said he simply doesn't He runs with the version of himself he feels on that day. It's as simple as that. It goes against everything I've been learning but it made so much sense to me. It also perfectly aligns with the whole reason for setting up this site. The approach of totally embodying all that I am and my many facets, is literally where my power lies.

I know there's a fine line and balance to be found, as it's not always practical, especially in a recruitment process. But it's made me realise that I've been overthining it.

Insecure has never been my vibe, so I don't know why I'm letting it be a thing now!
No-one is paying nearly as much attention to my LinkedIn as I think they are. Me worrying whether the topics of my posts are aligned enough, and if they support the brand that I'm trying to present etc, is a big, fat waste of energy.

I know this myself as not once have I read someone's post and judged it against their last one. I take each post as it comes, and more oftem than not, I connect with the style and tone of the person, not how finessed their brand is. Variety in topics is actually more appealing to me than staying too focussed on any brand. Of course this is all to an extent etc etc etc.