Can mentors truly shape the trajectory of our lives, leading us from mere dreams to tangible achievements? Find out as we explore the profound impact of mentorship in this compelling episode of the Word Cafe podcast. Join me for an insightful journey through history, starting with the mythological roots of the term "mentor" and the guidance that shaped legends like Telemachus. I also draw fascinating parallels with historical figures such as Alexander the Great and his influential mentor, Aristotle, illustrating how pivotal mentorship can be in our growth and accomplishments.
You'll learn why seeking the right mentor requires thoughtful and perhaps even prayerful consideration, and how living within your unique "box" of influence is crucial for genuine development. I also share ways to connect with me on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Plus, discover my books, "A Cocktail of Words," "The Color of Words," and "My HR Notebook," available on Amazon and Roving Heights online bookstores. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more enriching content. This episode promises a captivating exploration of how mentors shape our lives and steer us toward success.
Can mentors truly shape the trajectory of our lives, leading us from mere dreams to tangible achievements? Find out as we explore the profound impact of mentorship in this compelling episode of the Word Cafe podcast. Join me for an insightful journey through history, starting with the mythological roots of the term "mentor" and the guidance that shaped legends like Telemachus. I also draw fascinating parallels with historical figures such as Alexander the Great and his influential mentor, Aristotle, illustrating how pivotal mentorship can be in our growth and accomplishments.
You'll learn why seeking the right mentor requires thoughtful and perhaps even prayerful consideration, and how living within your unique "box" of influence is crucial for genuine development. I also share ways to connect with me on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Plus, discover my books, "A Cocktail of Words," "The Color of Words," and "My HR Notebook," available on Amazon and Roving Heights online bookstores. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more enriching content. This episode promises a captivating exploration of how mentors shape our lives and steer us toward success.
Hello, welcome to the Word Cafe podcast. This podcast has been designed with curated content that centers on the power of words. Can we really do anything without speaking? Can we really do anything without the agency of words? Yes, that is what this podcast is all about, and I am your host, amakri Isoway, your neighborhood word trader. I believe in the power of words, for it is the unit of creation. I trade in words to profit my world. Great, great, great, hi there. How you doing? Yes, welcome to the World Cafe podcast. How are you doing? How's been your day? Great, mine has been awesome, beautiful.
Speaker 1:
You know we're in that season that we call raining season, as in, where you have the rains and all that. Yep, welcome. You know how we do it on the show. We come around just to share, you know, beautiful thoughts and lean on each other's experiences, even to create more and to move. Yes, today, what are we going to do today?
Speaker 1:
You're wondering what are we going to talk about, something that I've been ruminating over. You know, yes, I call it the mentor box. Yes, you heard me the mentor box. You know there's a saying out there that you just have to think outside the box. You know, to create your own thing. I've come to discover that each and every one of us, we all exist in a box. Yes, not like the square box now, but we all exist within a frame of thinking that, even when you break out of that traditional frame of thinking, you still exist within another frame. Yes, another box. So more or less everything we do on earth we exist in that box of thought and it moves us, you know, like a pendulum, like that. Yes, and one thing I've come to see, we all who is a mentor or what is mentoring? Actually, I'm not going to take a class here, but I just want to drop one or two stories so that we glean from it and understand the concept of mentoring. But first of all, I'd like to go about it from this perspective.
Speaker 1:
Scientifically, we always look at trying to close out a gap. You know, a distance between X and Y. We always look for the shortest possible distance from moving from one point to the other. And from where I stand, I have come to see that the shortest distance between dreaming and realization of the dream is mentorship, or to have a mentor. You know Now my first encounter of that word mentor. Yes, growing up, you know we used to have this, what I call it, a hit band that we called Mentale Tom, if you remember. For those of us who grew up in that era, yes, you know. So my first time of hearing that word, that was what came to my mind. But, you know, growing up, reading here and there, listening to watching movies and listening to some talks, I stumbled upon the origin, yes, the origin of that word mentor or mentoring. You know, permit me, you know the way we do it on the word cafe.
Speaker 1:
We tell a lot of stories, you know, and we go through with it, and all that Now go with me. Actually, that word mentor was somebody's name. Yes, now permit me to take you through the story. You know, this is the story of the origins of the word mentor.
Speaker 1:
During the 10-year Trojan War yes, the one with the wooden horse, you remember, odysseus, the king of Ithaca left his wife Eleonora and his son Telemachus those Greek names to lead his army. He placed his son Telemachus under the name of somebody, yes, so audacious, brought his son and gave him to someone to look over him. So that act, you know, english is a language that borrows a lot of things from here and there so that act of watching over his son, became a verb mentoring. You know, when you pick up the word now from the dictionary perspective, you come to see that mentoring is like someone carrying another under his permit me to use the word influence based on experience and you pour into that word. So, more or less, you are mirroring that individual, is mirroring another individual. You know experientially, you know. So he's having this experience, not necessarily, uh, dealing with it physically, if you understand, I mean, but through the eyes of his mentor. Yes, so, more or less, the mentor has gone through so much, acquired a lot. So now you, subjecting yourself to that mentor, you exist within the framework of the mentor, you exist within the framework of the mentor, you exist in his or her box.
Speaker 1:
One example that drives this home for me is the story of Alexander the Great. Yes, I'm going to read you a story about Alexander the Great. You know, when I was growing up I stumbled upon Alexander the Great. You know, through the Lady Bird series, this book I heard, you know, going through it, reading and all that. And quite fascinating to realize that Alexander became who he became as a result of his teacher. Yes, aristotle.
Speaker 1:
In 343 BCE, aristotle was summoned by King Philip II of Macedon to tutor his son Alexander, and held this oath for the next seven years. He held that oath for seven years until Alexander ascended to the throne in 336 BC and began his famous conquest. By 335 BC, aristotle had returned to Athens, but the two men remained in contact through letters and correspondence. Conqueror can be seen in the letters the latter's skillful and diplomatic handling of difficult political problems throughout his career. Alexander's habits of carrying books with him on campaign at his wide reading have been attributed to aristotle's influence as his, as has alexander's appreciation for art and culture. So clearly we come to see that everything about Alexander, or almost everything about Alexander, was shaped and formed by his teacher, aristotle. You know Aristotle was known in the Greek world then to be one of the smartest. He was known in the Greek world then to be one of the smartest. You know he was known for his understanding, his knowledge, his I mean insight into certain physical concepts. It was even history, has it, that he came up with the word metaphysics. Yes, so his influence over Alexander, I mean, is clear.
Speaker 1:
Clearly, that is the work of a mentor and the truth is for you to move in life from one phase to the other, from one level to the other, from one level to the other. You need a mentor, you need to exist within the framework of a mentor. Why? Because somehow, the mentor has taken a lot of heat, has experienced so much that when you come under his or her tutelage, it is like saying that it's like a channel, the floodgates is open onto you and there is this flow, yes, this flow of knowledge, this flow of understanding. This flow Wow, we all exist in a box. We all exist in a box, a mental box.
Speaker 1:
Who is your mentor? Who have you subjected yourself to consciously, who have you brought your self under to learn from? It is very necessary, yes, it is very necessary, very vital, because so many things that we come to learn in life, most of them come through our interpersonal relationship, our relationship with our mentors. You know they. They help us see, they help us appreciate concepts, they help us embrace those things, you know, that seem far. Why? Because they have gone through that and through handling, they've come to experience it, so they can tell you I'm able to use the word for free, you know, so that you don't hurt yourself who is your mentor? Who have you conceded? Who have you taken to be your mentor, be it from a distance or in close proximity.
Speaker 1:
Yes, no wonder the scripture says that in the multitude of Kanzel there is what Safety? That is it. Your mentor helps you with Kanzel. Your mentor helps you with insight and foresight. Your mentor helps you to see better and appreciate things better. Yes, the mentor box. Which box are you carrying? Whose box are you existing in you're carrying? Whose box are you existing in?
Speaker 1:
Well, like I told you, we won't spend so much time today, but I just have to share this with you. Yes, go ahead, go out there Prayerfully, seek out your mentors and exist in that box. Well, we have to go now. You know how we do it on this show. We will come your way again. Bye for now. After time, it has been with you on the World Cafe podcast today. Thank you for being there. You can catch me up on my social media handles Twitter, facebook, linkedin, instagram all at Amakri Isoboye. Also, you can get copies of my books A Cocktail of Words, the Color of Words and my HR notebook on Amazon and on Roving Heights online bookstores. You can also subscribe to my YouTube page at the same address. Yes, till we see again. Bye for now.
