Ready to Learn!

From October through December, I slowly made my way through Timothy Ferriss's Tribe of Mentors:  Short Life Advice from the Best in the World.  The advice is short, but there's a lot of it and for whatever reason, this was not an ebook that I flew through.  I read it in small chunks, took a lot of screen shots as I went along, and though I resented the time it took, I think the investment was worth it as there is plenty of wisdom and inspiration to be gained.  The advice comes from successful people in all walks of life.  Some pieces of advice contradict others, but there's something here for everyone, particularly for a young college student or recent graduate or anyone at a moment of uncertainty or transition.  Ferriss asks all of of the mentors in the tribe to answer the same questions, which is very effective as it is interesting to compare their answers.  Not all successful people became successful in the same way. 

Instead of writing a massive summary post, I thought I'd start by highlighting two pieces of advice that resonated with me.

The first comes from Jon Call, best known as Jujimufu, an anabolic acrobat.  One of Ferriss's questions is "In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to?"  I just loved Jon Call's answer:

"I've gotten better at telling my brain 'no' when it wants to relate to conversation with a 'bigger' story. What I mean is, somebody might be telling me a story about an experience they had, while I have a related story that sounds bigger or more dramatic than theirs. Rather than wait for a moment to jump in with mine, I'll just let that desire go and ask them more questions about their experience. What I've discovered is incredible: the loss of the opportunity to possibly impress someone is far outweighed by what I can learn when I ask more questions. There is always something else to their story that will amaze you. Don't expect that what they start with is as exciting as it will get. Ask and encourage them to say more."

I love this piece of wisdom because it makes conversation less exhausting.  Forget about ego and insecurity and just listen.  Instead of worrying about what you can teach, what you can share, how you might impress, just approach conversations with this thought:  What can I learn?

Not too far after Jon Call's advice came a related piece of wisdom from Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium.  Here's the first sentence of Williams's answer to Tim Ferriss asking "What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the 'real world'"?:

"Be in a hurry to learn, not in a hurry to get validation."

I've spent years of my life trying to please others and depending upon outside validation (grades, compliments, performance reviews, gold stars, etc.) and I like being reminded, even as I approach the "halfway" point, of the importance of learning in work (and life too, I hope).

One of the phrases I wrote in my journal for 2019 is LISTEN AND LEARN.  I'm not doing either perfectly, but I'm learning.     


*Call's quotation can be found around the 64% mark in the ebook of Tribe of Mentors; Williams's quotation can be found around the 65% mark.