Walk Among Giants

You are the people you surround yourself with.

Surround yourself with losers, you become a loser. Surround yourself with champions, you become a champion.

But how do you break out of your deadlocked routine and join the ranks of the elite? How do you walk among giants as an average Joe or Jane?  You get a mentor.

Master and Disciple

Mentoring is the transfer of information from teacher (mentor) to apprentice (protege). The mentor imparts his experience, his knowledge on the apprentice.

He builds him up, with the ultimate goal of one day being surpassed by his protege.

Mentoring has become a very trendy topic these days. People are looking for a divine entity, that one person to solve all their problems and pull them up to the gates of Mount Olympus.

But that is not how you should approach your mentorship.

“[…]the goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character — the first transformation on the way to mastery.” (Greene, 2012)

Yes, you need a mentor. Better yet, multiple mentors – teachers. People who have gone where you want to go and done what you want to do.

But you’re not going to find these individuals at school, your office or the local bar. True masters frequently fly under the radar. Invisible to the uninitiated, they’re getting after it while others are still hitting their snooze buttons.

How to Find a Mentor 

How do you find the right mentor? Ask yourself these questions:

Where do you want to go? What do you need to get from here to there?

Who has walked that path before you? Who has the particular set of skills you need?

In the past, a mentorship would often last decades. As the apprentice, you’d go through countless hours of labor to gain the necessary knowledge and expertise. You would be tied to a particular location indefinitely on your quest to develop yourself and ultimately become a master in your chosen field.

Luckily for you and I, you don’t have to travel the world to find answers anymore.

In this day and age, flipping open your laptop and typing in a few keywords is enough to connect with anybody in the world. Never before in the history of man has there been an opportunity of this magnitude.

Walk Among Giants

Start digging.

Read books, journals, blogs, listen to podcasts, watch videos, study, ask questions. Study the great men and women of our time, interact with them (easier than you think), learn from them and apply the information to your mission.

Never listen to someone who isn’t where you want to be.

If you wanted to be a successful investor would you ask Warren Buffet or your deadbeat uncle? Follow the people who have gone where you want to go and have done what you want to do.

Recommended resources

• Jocko Podcast – There are too few heroes in this world. Jocko is one of them. Follow his lead and become a better you.
• Bold and Determined  (The Website for Winners) – The man behind B&D, Victor Pride, is the most prolific writer of our time. But can you handle the truth?
• Gary Vaynerchuck – Gary Vee is the real deal. Follow him on social media if you want to know how to dominate your path.
• The Joe Rogan Experience – Very entertaining, occasionally informative podcast. The perfect “background noise” during downtime.
• Tim Ferris Podcast – Tim frequently has high profile guests on his show (i.e. Arnold) and isn’t afraid to ask real questions.

These are the resources I use to gain the competitive edge. As you can see, I’m a big proponent of podcasts. I listen to smart people talk while driving, eating, working out etc. What some may confuse for shallow entertainment is the thorough study of today’s masters.

I believe you can learn more from a good podcast than any class in school. A single episode of the Jocko podcast provides more value than an entire year of paper knowledge conveyed by an indifferent, unaccomplished “expert” in a classroom.

Start walking among giants. Start hanging around the big guns. You have the knowledge of the world at your fingertips. Don’t let it go to waste.

 

Thank you for reading

Victor

 

Resources

Bozeman, B./ Feeney, M. K. (2007). Toward a useful theory of mentoring: A conceptual analysis and critique. Administration & Society. 39 (6): 719–739.

Greene, R. (2012). Mastery. New York: Penguin