I cannot do this alone. Those five words were the best words I’ve ever said to myself.  

When we realize that we can’t do something alone, then we can reach our goals and experience the joys of success.

The Successful Protege

When we say, “I cannot do this alone,” it is both humbling and liberating. Humility is simply acknowledging and surrendering to the reality that we really do need help. Declaring that we need help, sets us free to find the help we need. 

Proclaiming our need for assistance is not demeaning ourselves. Instead, we are simply coming to terms with the truth, that sometimes, enlisting the help from someone with more experience will move us in the direction of success. 

  I did not know that I was taking on the role of a protege when I first approached my friend Jenny and asked her to help me turn my raw and rough manuscript into a book. Yet, by definition, a protege is one who seeks guidance and support to reach a goal. Consequently, according to that definition, I was a protege and grew into a successful one because with Jenny’s help, my manuscript became a book.  

What are the actions and attitudes of a successful protege?  

First of all, to succeed as a protege, you need a clear, tangible and personal goal. Proteges have to ask the question, “What am I reaching for and why?” When we know our goal and why we are reaching toward it, when the going gets tough, we’ll keep going.  

Turning my manuscript into a book seemed like a daunting journey. I’d never published more than 250-800 word articles. Yet, here I was with this insatiable yearning to write a whole book. My motivation to write the book came from knowing that I had to write it, otherwise the story would never leave my head.  

Secondly, it takes courage to ask for someone’s help, but unless we ask, then we remain as we are; yearning to accomplish a goal and yet never reaching that goal because we know we can’t do it alone. 

Though it may have been easier on my ego to just read a book about how to turn my manuscript into a book, I knew I needed and wanted to experience a personal relationship with someone who’d already experienced what I wanted to accomplish. 

Thirdly, remember when I mentioned that to succeed as a protege, we need a clear, tangible and personal goal to keep us going when the going gets tough? 

When we choose to be mentored, we automatically submit ourselves to trusting the constructive feedback that our mentor gives. 

In the mentor mentee relationship, there is mutual respect. The mentor respects the mentees’s process in receiving constructive criticism and the mentee respects the opinion of the mentor. 

Next, choose your mentor carefully. I chose Jenny because I already knew her through my writer’s group. I’d listened to her critiques, respected her opinion, and knew her background. She was an experienced author, understood the publishing process and yet had a calm, professional demeanor. 

Finally, successful proteges know when they’ve reached their goal and no longer need their mentor. About eight months after Jenny and I began our mentor/mentee relationship, my manuscript was ready to send off to a publishing company. 

Why bother succeeding as a protege? When we come to terms with the fact that we cannot succeed on our own, then we become a successful protege and then our dreams and aspirations become reality.