On
Having A Mentor - A Lesson from Alexander The Great
by Asoka
Selvarajah, Ph.D
In a recent
biography of Alexander the Great, the author, in exploring Alexander's
motivations and driving forces, makes some fascinating observations.
It would seem
that Alexander was a devoted reader of Homer's great epic poems,
The Odyssey and the Iliad; particularly the latter. The Iliad
deals with Ancient Greek ideals of hero, warfare and glory in
the context of the war against the city of
Troy. Alexander, it would seem, read these stories from an early age and imagined
himself to be in the same line as the classic Greek heroes of yesteryear. He
was quite obsessive about this poem epic and could recite large sections of
it by heart. In fact, he had a special copy made for himself and took it with
him on his exploits and conquests of two million square miles of the ancient
world.
In particular,
his great hero was Achilles, from whom he was said to be a direct
descendant through his mother. Throughout his life, Alexander
engaged in a sort of rivalry with his hero and sought to outdo
Achilles' exploits by his own. He also encouraged comparison
between himself and Achilles.
All of this
is fascinating from a number of aspects. First and foremost,
it is yet another proof - as is repeatedly evidenced by all great
achievers in life - that the mind creates reality. In other words,
what you dwell upon becomes your reality. Dwelling on a fictional
account of heroism and conquest made one man realize that reality
in his own life and conquer most of the known world. This was
his role model and what he continually fantasized becoming.
Secondly, in
so identifying with Achilles, he effectively made him a mentor.
This is another common feature of highly successful people. They
all have someone they turn to, or seek to emulate.
Usually, that
person is alive. Even Bill Gates has a mentor. His name is Warren
Buffett; one of the greatest living stock market investors and,
like Bill Gates, a multi-billionaire. So if you seek excellence
in a particular field, the first thing to do is to try to find
someone who already excels in it and try to make their acquaintance
and ask that person to be your mentor. If that person is inaccessible
(for now), then read their writings, watch their videos and imagine
yourself doing the same. Ask yourself what that person would
do in each situation. Imagine being that person.
However, if
you have no living mentor who will do, you can create one in
your imagination as Alexander must have done with Achilles. You
can imagine your mentor performing at the level of excellence
you desire and then, as Alexander the Great must have done, step
into that person's shoes and imagine it is you excelling and
leaving the rest of the world behind.
It
is so striking that all highly successful people do a huge amount
of imagining
and daydreaming. Most of us do not because we feel it is a waste
of time and achieves nothing. Strangely, enough, it could be
the most important thing we ever do. Without it, all our other "practical" efforts
could go for nothing.
In conclusion,
(a) seek a mentor in your field of choice - either living, dead
or imagined - and seek to emulate that person's excellence; (b)
imagine and visualize your future vividly and continually. Imagine
even the utterly impossible, as Alexander the Great did. If you
do, who knows what might happen? Your
vision of what is possible might just have to expand a lot to fit a much grander
design!
Copyright 2001.
Asoka Selvarajah. All Rights Reserved.
______________________________________________________________
Dr.
Asoka Selvarajah publishes the ezine, "Aspire To Wisdom";
a unique
synthesis of Personal Development, combined with Spiritual
Growth/Metaphysical Teachings. It is available at
http://www.aksworld.com/AspireToWisdom.htm .
You can visit his Mystic Visions website at http://www.aksworld.com .
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