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Have you ever heard that from a fellow mentor? Or from yourself? Money mentoring is, indeed, sensitive and personal. At LDG, we believe it essential to developing a whole person. We see our mentoring as lacking if we ignore this essential element of how our mentorees are designed.
Be courageous. Join with us in mentoring the whole person—including his or her finances. Here are four ways to begin mentoring in the Financial Dimension of the Circle of Life:
Money Mentoring Begins with Earning…
How do those you mentor earn money?
Earning, whether by chores in a home, odd jobs, or a vocation begins very early in life. I currently am mentoring people between the ages of 15 and 58. Each of them has a need for and source of income. Who among us does not? What fascinates me is how varied are those needs and where they rank among the rest of the dimensions of their lives.
How those we mentor fill this need is a window into their core values within their 8-dimensional selves.
There is an obvious and strong link between earning and vocation. How many of us earn additional income from the depths of who we are as a creative or innovative being? Or, how many times have you seen leisure social time consumed by the pursuit of money through, say, gambling?
If you have not yet, take a plunge: talk to those you mentor about how they earn money. It matters to who they are in every dimension of their lives.
…Continues to Spending
We earn money to spend it, right? How well do those two factors balance in the lives of those you mentor?
Spending is a second window into the core values and beliefs of those we mentor. Everyone has the basic needs of life: food, shelter and clothing. To state the obvious: spending on these is appropriate, good and healthy. Spending on “extras” can be healthy as well. We are designed for sabbaticals, rest, refreshment and joy.
But spending on any of these—the necessities or the luxuries—out of balance with the rest of who we are as financial beings can quickly turn unhealthy and throw a life out of balance in many dimensions.
The best of mentors will help those they mentor explore how well their spending is balanced with what they earn and their dreams for the future: who they want to be in 5 years or 50.
…Which Brings us to Saving
Every good financial counselor—and common sense—advises us to achieve a level of savings at least 3-6 months of our basic needs. Life has this unhappy habit of intervening in our plans in ways we have not foreseen. A basic level of saving allows us to weather those life storms without being thrown off course and, perhaps, being redirected to an altogether different port.
There is, however, a deeper significance to saving. Who do you want to be in 5 years? In 50 years? Who does your mentoree want to be? A very important part of that dream is financial: are we preparing ourselves adequately? Is your mentoree? Saving will almost certainly be a critical part of that equation.
Helping their mentorees explore and envision who they desire to be—and the role that saving and finances will play in achieving those dreams—is characteristic of the best of mentors.
…Money Mentoring Does Not Neglect Giving
Ouch. This is such a sensitive and personal subject. Do I really need to take this on as a mentor?
Yes. For yourself and others.
In our mentoring, we at LDG often use David Brooks’ excellent TED talk on “Resume Values and Eulogy Values” to help those we mentor focus on who they want to be rather than what they want to do.
Giving promotes Eulogy Values. Giving flows from the deep well of who we are and how we want to be remembered in our world: what we want our friends and family to think about us.
One exceptional young man I mentor (shared with permission) spent this summer in Africa. When I asked him what the time had taught him about himself and the world, he remarked on his amazement about “how such a small amount of money goes so far in Africa.” He described how just $3.00 could buy several years of textbooks for school and how those texts would be handed down to several in the family—affecting the entire family and generations that would come later.
In Africa, he learned life-changing truths about giving:
Everyone can give.
You need not be rich to give.
Giving even a small gift can have a huge impact.
Giving will define who he is and is becoming. I can tell you this young man is becoming something very special.
Earning, spending, saving, giving. All are integral to a whole person. All are crucial to helping those we mentor achieve the person they desire to be.
The best of mentors have the courage to walk this delicate path with those they mentor. Join us, won’t you?
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