A Road Trip to Kandy
By Saai Syvendra ·
Role model; Mentor; Coach; Are they different, or are they the same? Can I have a raise of hands from those who believe they’re different? (Comment on raising of hands) I too believed that they were different until I met a certain someone, who became my role model, my mentor and my coach. My dear Toastmasters, before I introduce you to this certain someone, let me give you my understanding of a role model, a mentor and a coach through a road trip to Kandy.
A role model is a person you look up to as an example. It might be someone you meet daily or someone you would die to meet in person. There are no limitations as to who your role model can be. It may be your dad or Elon Musk himself. On the road trip, a role model is similar to the destination, in this case, it is Kandy.
Next up is a mentor. He/she is the person who guides you to become that role model you aspire to be. He doesn't give the exact way of doing it, but rather helps you out with the entire journey. Mentors are more focused on long-term goals rather than short-term goals. Without telling you step-by-step what to do, he or she will help out with things that you would want to know. On the road trip, a mentor is similar to my father. To reach Kandy, he will guide you on whether to go through Gampaha or Avissawella. He will recommend a time to leave and a place to eat based on my requirements. In this approach, you will make mistakes, and more importantly, you will learn from those mistakes.
Meanwhile, a coach is also a person who helps you become that role model. Rather than guiding you, he/she will instruct you on the necessary actions to be taken. It will be a step-by-step guide on achieving your short-term goals, which will eventually lead you to your target. On the road trip, it is similar to Google Maps. It will give you every single turn you have to take until it shouts out, "you have reached your destination". The downfall is that sometimes you wouldn't even know you made a mistake because it will instantaneously guide you through an alternate path which will also lead to your destination.
Now, since we all are on the same page, imagine this. The destination Kandy itself guides you and instructs you on how to reach it. Wouldn’t that just be amazing? Some of you might be wondering, “Hmm, this guy has definitely gone nuts, how on Earth would Kandy communicate”. My dear Toastmasters that is the power of imagination.
As I stated earlier, there are no limitations to who your role model can be; it can even be of your future self. My role model is an imagination, from the qualities of many different people put together to make my future self. That future self does not exist. Therefore, a mentor nor a coach to take me to that destination does not exist. That is why the ideal future me; is my role model, my mentor and my coach.
On a road trip to Kandy, if you make a small mistake in one turn, you might lose your life. Similarly, with this imaginary role model, you make a small mistake and you’ll be labelled as cocky! As it is just a thin line differentiating being cocky and confident. My dear toastmasters, remember that a road trip to Kandy doesn’t always have to be in the comfort of your own vehicle, it can be an imagination as well.
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