The right mentor can help you overcome obstacles and set you on the right path.
However, you should be careful when choosing your mentor. A great mentor according to others does not mean that he/she is right for you. Below are some questions that will help you choose the right mentor:
A mentor should be happy with his/her own career. Is this person happy with his/her career? Sometimes, a person who have been in a career for a long time and got burnt-out can choose to be a consultant for the purpose of making a living. Make sure that he/she is still involved with the day to day workings, in the field he is consulting.
You admire the person. Do you admire this person? Your mentor should be someone that you look up to and probably have achieved the goals you hope to achieve. In this way, you can gain something from this person.
A Good Listener. Is this person a good listener? He/she should really understand the root cause of your problem and guide you accordingly. The key here is that a good mentor is the one who lets you develop your own ideas by asking you the right questions. A mentor should not manipulate you with only his/her own ideas or opinions. S/he should enable you to look everything from a different window.
A Challenging Endeavor. Does this person challenge you? A good mentor should challenge you because only in this way you can learn something new. You can only move up, if you overcome the challenges thrown at you and this is only possible by constantly changing yourself and adapting to new situations.