I just got back from hearing Seth Godin speak at a luncheon in Salt Lake City. My friends and I were some of the youngest in attendance. The presentation was riveting. The ideas that were conveyed were life-changing.
Amongst my attempts to comprehend all of Seth’s deep and poignant ideas, I found myself in awe regarding a completely separate phenomenon. Through hard work and dedication, Seth and many others have managed to become “mentors for the masses”. Whether they realize it or not, the likes of Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy Kawasaki, Penelope Trunk have been helping to shape my decisions throughout the past 3 years of my life. Despite the personal connection I feel to each of these individuals, I have no personal relationship with any of them. The only interaction I have with them is through their blogs and an occasional email.
Having a mentor is an essential part of navigating through parts of our lives where we lack perspective. Education and parenting have played a major role in fulfilling this need but become less relevant as the quality of each continues to decline. This is where the mentors for the masses come in.
Why should I be forced to agree with certain methodologies and ways of thinking when the greatest minds of our time are blogging opposing ideas and providing convincing evidence? Why do I have to get a job at a Fortune 500 company, get an MBA and spend 60 hours a week at my job for the rest of my life? Don’t get me wrong, I value my education. We’re just stuck in an intergenerational chasm of misunderstanding as a society.
Perhaps now is the time for the decision makers to realize, our system is broken. We’re not listening anymore. We don’t have to listen anymore. If getting a college degree isn’t going to guarantee us a job or career, we’ll find someone else that will. We don’t have to be a part of your system.
