AOM: 30 Days... Day 3 – Mentos

Or, is that Minotaur? Nope, I guess it's spelled M-E-N-T-O-R. Ooooooh, right. That slightly outdated word that is used in casual conversation just about as much as people actually seek out mentors these days. (Less frequently than they seek out Mentos candies from their purses or glove compartments. But I digress...)



(I did a search for images of mentor, and this one came up. How fucking creepy is this? More like an image for registering sex offenders. Great way to start this post. What were these people thinking?)

Anyway.

The third assignment from The Art of Manliness is finding a mentor. Seems easy enough, doesn't it? Well, until I really started to think about it. I mean, sure, there are a lot of people that I respect and admire, but how many of those would I truly feel comfortable approaching for such a task? It's kind of weird to cozy up to some guy and ask if he could be my role model. It sounds like the 'plot' to some gay porn flick. (Not that I would even know what those are like... um.)

Here's the description from the The Art of Manliness website while I weigh my options:

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/06/02/30-days-to-a-better-man-day-3-find-a-mentor/

A few months ago we wrote about the importance of a mentor in a man’s life. Figuring out what it means to be a man can be tough. And it’s arguably tougher for men today, who are often more socially isolated, don’t have as many friends, and don’t have strong relationships with their fathers and other male relatives. It’s therefore more important than ever for every man to seek out mentors to help him navigate the complicated waters of manliness and life.

Mentors have the experience and wisdom to give us sound guidance, direction, and advice. Mentors can also help us expand our point of view on a particular area of our life. Moreover, a mentor can become a good friend and confidant during times when we struggle and falter...

And I'm back! Sadly, I'm still not much closer to concluding which three people I should ask to be my mentor. I guess I should break it down into three facets of my life that I think could use some assistance.

Financial Investments/Portfolios: For this I think I will ask my father for some ongoing, structured advice. That guy is chock full of financial info about how to invest my money. He even recently offered to try to set me up with my own portfolio to help me get started. Seems like a good place to begin.

Entrepreneur: Since I do small business consulting, I tend to work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and help folks manage their growing businesses. It's been a great way to gain experiential knowledge, but also leaves me wanting to work with some big fish. I have to think about this a little longer. (Does it hafta be a guy?)

General "guy-ness"/Relationships/Dating: I think two people come to mind for this. My friend's husband "Mike," who has been offering me advice (third person) for a few weeks now, which has been pretty sound, wise stuff. And also perhaps my gay photographer friend, who is basically the Mack Daddy. He is so smooth, like a wittier, snarkier, blonde version of Don Draper.

Now, I have 24 hours to contact these people and ask them to help a brother out. Ooof, like a bad chain letter. Fun times. I have to admit, I didn't really shine any shoes yesterday, since I was sort of busy, and the two pairs of shoes I donned for the day just happened to be suede and oiled leather, so polishing was applicable. But I really want to follow through with this task. Honestly, it was the one assignment that really piqued my interest, and made me want to give this 30 Days thing a shot.

Okay, I'll ask them. (Does that make me a better man? How long does it take for this stuff to kick in?)