I strongly believe that you should be your own mentor and pave your own unique path.

I also strongly believe that you should surround yourself with people you can learn from.

So which is it?

Are we our own mentors or are we sponges that soak up our environment?

I realized that no one is talking about this… what it looks like to steer your own ship while also benefiting from outside feedback.

The problem with all the content being published these days is that we soak up everything we hear, word-for-word, without contextualizing it. We look at someone on stage and assume 100% of what they’re saying is true, rather than picking and choosing which bits actually make sense for us.

This is the secret to being your own mentor and steering the ship.

There’s a massive trend towards entrepreneurship and “breaking free” from the corporate world—we don’t want a manager telling us what to do or when to do it. We think we’ve achieved freedom… when in fact, all we’ve done is replaced those managers with gurus.

The reminder I want to share is that not all advice out there is relevant to you. Every guru is speaking from the perspective of their goals, their strengths, and their current growth phase.

It can get pretty overwhelming… do you hustle or practice self-care? Become a generalist or a specialist? Network or stay in your lane?

How do you sort through all the advice out there?

The key is knowing which advice is relevant for YOU — based on YOUR goals, in THIS moment, and with YOUR strengths.

Be inspired, allow your mind to open to new thoughts, but then be ruthless in absorbing only that which aligns with your version of success.

So until the end of time, I will continue preaching: do you in your way.