mentor

Schalk
, ,
0

Take Pride in Being the Dumbest Person in the Room

The human ego is responsible for much that’s wrong with modern society. But one of it’s greatest sins is keeping us from learning from people smarter than us. 

We instinctively want to appear smart and competent. The open admission of ignorance certainly does not come naturally. And yet, this is precisely what we need to do to succeed in modern life. 

Smart collaborators

Most experts enjoy sharing their expertise with those who share their passion.

So, if you have access to such an expert, don’t be afraid to ask. But remember to always respect their time and not overstay your welcome.

And this is part of the problem. Most true experts are also very busy. Thus, not only do we need to fight against our egos for the right to be the dumbest person in the room, but we also need to sacrifice to get some smart people into the room. 

If you want a very smart person to work with you, you’ll need to give them a good reason to do so.

Chances are that they probably can’t learn much from you. So, what you need to do is to offer a collaboration where you do all the work, and they just give some expert input.

I recently followed this path in gaining the strategically important skill of energy systems modeling. It really works, and it’s totally worth it 🙂

Mentors

Getting a world-class mentor team is easy. Go online, buy a bunch of highly recommended non-fiction books, and digest them thoroughly (preferably on a regular schedule). 

You really need to know your stuff to become a best-selling non-fiction author. Hence, it’s safe to say that the authors of these works have deserved the honorary title of “mentor.”

A direct relationship with one or more world-class mentors is the next step. It’s also still just a next step for me, so I can’t say anything other than that my written word mentors strongly recommend it. 

I hope to be able to share some useful first-hand experience on this topic this time next year 🙂

Schalk
, , ,
2

Ego and Altruism

So, let’s continue our mission to build intelligent environments where good things happen automatically. 

As discussed yesterday, it’s all about adding friction to bad actions and removing friction from good actions. 

Yesterday’s post covered Craving and Inspiration. Next up: Ego and Altruism. 

Ego

Adding friction to Ego is not quite as simple as it is for Craving, but it certainly can be done. 

The most destructive effect of Ego in today’s world is our fear of failure – the fear of looking foolish in front of others. 

Hence, we need to add friction to the act of avoiding failure. A good way to do this is to make a formal commitment to repeatedly show up in a challenging environment. 

This could be some practical course or program. It could also be any kind of productive collaboration where you are clearly the weakest link. 

Possibly the best solution is to get yourself a good mentor who continuously drives you through the cycle of learn-try-fail-adjust-succeed. This cycle is key to success in today’s world, but far too many people avoid it for a fear of failure. 

Finding a good mentor can be difficult, but it sure is worth the effort. Do it well and you’ll walk away with a downsized Ego and some valuable new skills. 

Altruism

The best way I know to automatically open your mind to Altruism is to commit to a project where the health and happiness of other people is the main objective. 

This could be some kind of charity or any kind of free work on important societal or environmental problems. Just don’t let Ego spoil this plan by getting you to act charitably just so you can look good. 

As you become older and smarter, becoming a mentor is another great way to train Altruism. Sharing knowledge and expertise to genuinely help others to make the world a better place is a very special feeling. 

So, that was it for Ego and Altruism. Tomorrow, we’ll turn our sights towards Sloth and Flow.