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Photo by Incase on Flickr[/caption]On this blog, I've talked pretty extensively about my various "friends in my head". From the ubiquitous Tracee Ellis Ross to the ever graceful Michelle Obama, I don't think there's a woman in the country who doesn't have her own roster of well-known women in her collection of imaginary "besties." While we're careful to cultivate our imaginary lineup so that we have a steady stream of beauty, style, and hair inspiration, how many of us have a comparable roster for financial, career, and business inspiration? The old adage says that "some people learn from their own mistakes, but smart people learn from other people's mistakes". I'd like to do one better and say that smart people learn from other people's successes—sometimes the key to getting to where you want to go is studying the road other people took to get there. Whether or not you actually personally know those people is no more of a requirement than you personally knowing Beyonce in order to get style inspiration. Get serious about your goals and upgrade you fantasy friend list by creating your very own "virtual" board of mentors.Just like all those "friends in your head", virtual mentors are simply inspiring individuals who are available publicly for you to study and learn from. Ideally, they will have (1) accomplished something you are looking to do and (2) be very present online or in other public mediums so that you can study them thoroughly without the requirement of ever knowing them personally, since in most case you won't. Finding mentors in real life is, by nature, very tricky because you have to not only identify individuals are at a stage in life where you want to be but also who have the time to mentor you on a regular basis. While my idea of "virtual" mentors will by no means substitute your need for real mentors during your personal development, virtual mentors are a great supplement because interaction with them is not even required. In other words, your virtual mentors don't even need to know who you are let alone actively spend time with you because everything you learn from them will be from your own research aboutthem.What's also great about going virtual when it comes to looking for mentors is that you can be extremely diverse in your choosing, more so than you could have been in real life. As a part of human nature, people are compelled to mentor and otherwise help people that they like, but sometimes it can be difficult to get the opportunity for a possible mentor to get to know you because a difference in gender, culture, background, career field, or even geographical location can make it hard to relate initially. The virtual route leaves you free to learn from whom you please regardless of any possible barriers.So now that you're sold on developing a mildly stalker-ish attitude in order to find your particular path to success, here's how to start:

1. Identify all of the things you want to accomplish. It doesn't matter if their related or not, but you must view each of your goals as separate entities before you can determine all of the individuals you should study. High profile people are particularly good at placing themselves as experts on one certain topic, which precipitates all of the information online you'll hope to find about them. If you have multiple goals, then you should have multiple mentors—virtual or otherwise.
2. Go forth and Google. Search key terms related to your goal and see if any reoccurring names come up. If one particular person is mention repeatedly in the space your looking to get in, then note that person as a candidate.
3. Consider the amount of information publicly available for an individual. Highly profile, successful people are great to look up to, but it's useless to learn from them if there's no material available about them and how they got to where they got. Are there many interviews with your "mentor" available? Have they written a book? Do they at least have a blog? The more you can peak into their lives, the better you can mold your path after their example.

I have no problem learning from others—even if they don't know I'm watching them! Who have you been stalking lately in order to learn how to accomplish a particular goal? Who's is your "virtual board or directors"?