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Inspirational People A to Z

Establishing mentoring relationships is not only a key to job success, but will also help your child gain self-confidence and support as they navigate the stormy seas of life.  Mentors and inspirational figures can act like light houses by providing light and a path of safety when they are vulnerable.  Parents, grandparents, and teachers are natural mentors but I believe it is the job of caretakers to help children learn how to seek good mentors who will assist them in every stage of life.  There may be times throughout your child’s life when their relationship with you is very strained as they are learning about themselves and individuating from others. It is very important if not essential for them to have another trusted adult figure in their life to turn to during these times because as caregivers we soon come to realize that we cannot provide for every need our child has.  The term mentor or mentoring may never come up during mentoring activities;  however, mentoring relationships are essential for helping children grow, learn, and connect with others throughout their lives.

Here are some tips to help your child identify and create a mentoring relationship with others:
1.   Make sure the possible mentor is a trusted family member or friend, or stay present with them at all times if you have not built a trusting relationship yet
2.  Point out the characteristics, skills, and knowledge this person has that could be beneficial for your child to learn about.
3.  Choose a mentor who is close and not too busy so you are able to have many quality interactions.
4.  Help your child understand that we are all a work in progress and not perfect. Hopefully we are all working to grow personally and professionally.
5.  Mentoring can either be a structured and focused activity such as someone teaching your child a specific skill like knitting or it could be simply spending time together talking about things that interest your child or even a sporting event just to have fun.
6.  Insist that your child demonstrate gratitude for the time or information the mentor has shared by writing a thank you note or calling them personally on the phone to thank them. 
Squidoo.com/inspirationalpeople is a wonderful website with quotes and wisdom of many inspirational people throughout the world. You may also want to introduce your child to the many Saints who provide tremendous inspiration. A great website to help you get started is catholic.org/saints/. Here is a list of inspirational people throughout history and today.

When was this person born?
Are they still alive or when did they die?
Where were they born?
What are they known best for?
Did they influence or were they influenced by another specific historical figure?
Do they inspire you, if so how and why?
Who inspires you?
What is a mentor?
Do you have any mentors?
Who would you like to mentor you?
A – Maya Angelou, Mary Kay Ash, Aristotle, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Susan B. Anthony, Neil Armstrong
B – Bono, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Michael Bloomberg, Alexander Graham Bell, Yogi Berra, Clara Barton, Johann Bach, Ludwig Van Beethoven
C – Winston Churchill, Andrew Carnegie, Coco Chanel, Confucius, Marie Curie
D – Dalai Lama, Leonardo Da Vinci, Walt Disney, Wayne Dyer, Charles Darwin
E – Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amelia Earhart
F – Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, Malcolm Forbes, Anne Frank
G – Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates, Galileo, Jane Goodall
H – Audrey Hepburn, Louise Hay, Napoleon Hill, Sir Edmund Hillary, Katharine Hepburn
J – Pope John Paul II, Thomas Jefferson, Jesus Christ, Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan
K – John F. Kennedy, Gene Kelly, Helen Keller,
Aung Sang Suu Kyi
L – Juliette Low, Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon, C.S. Lewis, Vince Lombardi, Abraham Lincoln
M – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ,Nelson Mandela, Michelangelo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mother Teresa
N – Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale
O – Barack Obama
P – Plato, Louis Pasteur, Rosa Parks
Q – Queen Victoria
R – Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, J.K. Rowling, Anita Roddick
S – Steven Spielberg, William Shakespeare, Socrates
T – Margaret Thatcher, Mark Twain, Donald Trump, Henry David Thoreau, Lao Tzu, Harriet Tubman
V – Ludwig Van Beethoven, Vincent Van Gough, Fernando Valenzuela, Vladimir Putin
W – Oprah Winfrey, Sam Walton

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