Gamification is a term that few understand and an idea that is often confused with technology. Lets simplify gamification, it is nothing else than the game of life and the more seamlessly it fits into everyday life the more effective the game becomes. I have learnt so much from playing the game of life and this learning process has been accelerated by Social Media.

Twitter in particular has allowed me to listen, observe and learn. What have I and others like me learnt from this process? Well my good friend Tim Fargo @alphabetsuccess has just compiled a book called ‘Fried Twitter Tales’ which is available as a free download at www.friedtwittertales.com

This little book consists of 13 different stories by thirteen different authors and I have been honoured by having one of my stories included in the book.

My story titled ‘Who are You Really?’ is how Nikk Smit @NikkBishopSmit found and appointed me as his mentor, changing and breaking the paradigm of how mentorship takes place in the connected world. The full story is in the book and here are a few pointers about the way we should be thinking.

The Ten Keys to Digital Menteeship

1. Identify a mentor in your industry that is a thought leader.
2. Ensure that the person you have selected is consistent. This will ensure ongoing learning and that the mentor will never cause you to slow in your learning process.
3. Remember that you may never need to actually meet your mentor, so you can choose the best possible person to use as a mentor.
4. For ease of communication, try choosing a mentor in the same time zone as you.
5. Consider how you will get the attention of your mentor, a simple message may work, but if your mentor is really someone you are going to learn from, if may take a little more than a message.
6. Try thinking like your mentor, becoming mentor-centric, asking yourself what does your mentor possibly need, not what do you need.
7. Imagine what they could teach you, not what you need to learn. Remember my favourite saying: “Don’t look for the ideas that will confirm your thinking, rather look for the trends that will disrupt your thoughts.”
8. Your task is to be acknowledged by the potential mentor, and this is done by promoting your mentor to your audience however big or small that audience may be. People will see your abundance and due to this abundance they will be prepared to follow and read what your mentor says. In this way you would have gained favour with your mentor, as you have in fact paid it forward.
9. When your mentor acknowledges you and recognises your effort then you have created the opportunity. This is something you will need to recognise and it will be a continued learning process, you will make your own rules and discover your own learnings daily.
10. This is a creative learning experience, but most of all you need to have loads of fun along the way.