Summary

The author advocates for learning from heroes rather than seeking traditional mentorship, emphasizing the accessibility of inspiration and knowledge through modern media.

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of mentorship versus the idea of having heroes, suggesting that while mentorship is valuable, it is not always feasible due to its unscalable nature. The author, who has written a book titled "10 mentors" in Russian, initially encouraged readers to find mentors but later realized that having heroes can be equally, if not more, beneficial. Heroes, unlike mentors, do not require a personal relationship and can inspire many through their public work, such as podcasts, books, and speeches. The author reflects on his own experience of learning from figures like Tim Ferriss and encourages readers to emulate the thinking patterns and habits of their heroes to grow personally and professionally.

Opinions

Mentorship is valuable but often overrated due to its limited scalability.
Heroes provide a one-way interaction that is scalable and accessible to anyone.
The internet and social media have made it possible to learn directly from successful individuals without direct mentorship.
Emulating the decision-making and lifestyle habits of one's heroes can lead to personal development.
The author believes that everyone has the tools and content available to learn and be inspired, emphasizing the importance of taking action based on that inspiration.
The article suggests that by learning from heroes and creating one's own content, one can eventually become a hero to others.

You Don’t Really Need a Mentor

You can have heroes instead

Photo by Sebastián León Prado on Unsplash

Those who have been reading me for a while know that I wrote my first book this year. It’s called “10 mentors” and it’s (unfortunately) in Russian only. The idea behind the book was simple:

All the answers to your questions are already there. They are just in other people’s heads.

With this idea, the 18-year-old version of me gathered together 10 entrepreneurs and business leaders of my country to ask them the very questions that bother every 18-year-old.

What is success? How do you achieve it?
What’s the most important thing I have to look out for while I am on my journey?
What mistakes to avoid?
Should I go back to school?

My readers and YouTube followers in Russia know me as the guy who values mentorship as a way to learn. It’s no surprise, as all of the guests for the book are really my mentors.

So at some point, I realized, that it would be selfish to keep these people and their ideas to myself, and I decided to write a book to share them with others.

At the end of the book, I encouraged people to go and find their own mentors. I wrote:

Mentors are everywhere, and you should look for them at every step. Maybe it’s your boss. Maybe it’s your teacher. Maybe it’s even somebody from your family. There is always somebody to learn from.

But today, after the project is over and I am not 18 anymore, I realized something else. Mentorship is really overrated.

Not everyone will get Gary Vaynerchuk as their mentor.

Of course, if you do, you’re in luck. And I actually know some people that managed to get Gary, Seth, Chris or Mark to be their mentors.

Good for them.

For the rest of us, we should just keep on watching YouTube videos and read self-help books. And that’s fine because mentors are people too.

Even though people like that are extremely successful, they still have only 24 hours in a day to live (and work on their own stuff too). They still value their projects and time over other people’s requests. They still can’t be mentors to more than 1 or 2 people at a time.

The truth is, mentorship is unscalable. We can’t all expect that Gary Vaynerchuk will be our mentor.

So even though I’ve tried to make it scalable through writing a book, I actually didn’t succeed. Mentors in my book were still just my mentors.

For the rest of folks, they were heroes.

Instead of looking for mentors, search for heroes.

There are a lot of differences between the two. Let’s list some of them.

Having a mentor means having deep 1–1 conversations. Having a hero is a one-way interaction.
A mentor cares about you. A hero doesn’t even have to know you exist.
Mentorship in unscalable. Everybody can watch Seth Godin’s TED talk. Even at once.
A mentor doesn’t only give his secrets to a few people. In the age of connectivity, you can literally know what your hero is up to this day.

Searching for mentors can be very stressful. It can be scary for people when a young college kid comes up to them and says:

Please be my mentor…

I would probably freak out if you said that to me.

And in today’s world of Instagram, YouTube, Medium and Google — you don’t need that anymore. Mentorship and apprenticeships are the old things. Today you can have heroes, and you can learn from them.

Here’s how to do that.

I’ve had heroes all my life.

I didn’t call them that. I didn’t even know what they were for me. I just remember always having role models, whom I looked up to.

It all started with Tim Ferriss (it always does). I first learned about him during his first podcast year. It was purely by accident — few people were listening to him at that time, and certainly, nobody was in Russia.

But I was hooked. Immediately.

At 16, I listen to every episode of the Tim Ferriss Show, took notes in my Evernote and Moleskine notepads and tried everything Tim had to offer: the slow-carb diet, the morning pages, the gratitude journal, meditation, etc., etc.

I also discovered so many great, successful people that would then become my heroes as well. It was fun. It was also a very stimulating and learning experience for somebody like me (and somebody from Russia).

In truth, I think that 2 things have developed my worldly point of view: a) living in California for 2 years as a kid; and b) Tim Ferriss.

So thank you, Tim. You were my first.

(I know that sounded awkward)

To learn from heroes, think like they would think.

Having heroes is a great learning experience because you can emulate them. Listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, read their books. Download their thinking patterns and lifestyle habits (because they clearly work if they got to where they are now).

And anytime you have to make a decision, ask yourself, ‘What would Tim do in this situation?’

Then do that.

The best part is, you don’t have to be around your heroes to be able to learn from them. It’s completely possible to do it all online.

Some of my heroes: Tim Ferriss, Ryan Holiday, Walt Disney, Shane Parrish, Lewis Howes, Seth Godin, Chris Sacca, Simon Sinek, Alex Banayan, Kevin Kelly, Ev Williams, Steve Jobs (cliche, but true), Mr. Money Mustache, Drew Houston, Derek Sivers, Cal Newport, Jason Fried, Leo Babauta, Tim O’Reilly, Arianna Huffington, Marie Forleo.

I would look them up one by one, listen to all podcasts they’ve had (or they’ve been to), watch all YouTube videos, keynote speeches and interviews and learn from them. Then, when something popped up, I would remember what these people have done in a similar situation and I would do that.

I still do.

You have no excuse not to learn (or do).

If you want to become better, the tools are there. The content is there. The information is there. Go get inspired, but most importantly do something.

Make your own podcast. Make your own YouTube video. Write your own Medium post.

And maybe someday, you will be somebody’s hero too.

Thanks for reading.