Build, Learn, Mentor
If there's one thing all college students spend a LOT of time on, it's discernment. We are in a constant debate with ourselves about what path we should take to do something that is meaningful and fulfilling to us.
The story's been no different with me, but one idea that has been VERY helpful has been the realization of what my work actually needs to consist of in order for me to be fulfilled. This isn't me recommending any specific career paths or anything like that, but maybe this will provide a new framework for you to evaluate different career paths in the future. Keep in mind this isn't the end-all-be-all, just something that has worked well for me.
So this framework for fulfillment is called Build, Learn, Mentor. It is the idea that the optimized professional, and maybe even personal life is one that consists of those three things.
For the sake of this post, I will say I am mostly addressing this in the context of professional life. Because if these three things are some of the most fulfilling things you can do, why settle for work that doesn't involve any or all of them?
Just from that, I'm sure you already get the gist and I could just end the post here. But I'll spend some time diving a little deeper into this and explaining why I think it works.
So I think the most important question to answer here is why these three things? To answer that, I'll do a deep dive into each of them.
Build
To me, "building" is synonymous with "creating". It's essentially creatively engaging in something that ideally you are passionate about. The happiest and often most impressive people are the ones that are able to do a good bit of this in their lives. And the real winners are the ones who have found a way to tie it into their professional lives too.
Because this blog tends to focus on entrepreneurship-related topics, you probably think I'm talking about starting a company. Even though that might be my favorite vessel for creativity, that is just one of a million ways to have a creative outlet. A creative outlet can be absolutely anything at all. Maybe you like to program and work on coding projects in your free time. Maybe you play an instrument or sing. Maybe you're like me and you like to write. Whatever the outlet is, I believe it is absolutely crucial to have a way to get things out of your brain and into the real world in some way. And though your creative outlet might be something wildly outside the realm of anything professional, I like to think that any creative output can be used to create value, and can be turned into a career in some way. It just takes a little more creativity to find out how.
I could go on and on about the necessity for a creative outlet in your life, but instead I'll recommend researching the topic with articles like this one.
The last point I'll make, which is addressed in that article, is that you shouldn't wave this off because you don't think you're creative. Each of us are capable of producing output that nobody else could produce. The trick is to find the proper outlet to creatively engage in that fits you best.
Learn
Nobody can be 100% output. You can't just build build build. You need some input, or inspiration to put it in clearer terms.
If you're in college, you might think this box is already checked by your academics. But do you care about what you're learning? If you do, perfect. If you don't, I'd recommend finding out what you care about and spending some real time learning about it, even if it cuts into your free time. It's amazing what your brain does with input that you care about vs. input that you don't. I'm sure you can think of countless classes you've completed with A's but remember almost nothing from. But when you're learning about things you care about--which likely means things that directly apply to your life--those types of learnings tend to inspire action and creativity.
I think what this really comes down to is finding that thing that you care about, and intertwining your "learn" and your "build" in a productive way. If you can find out how to do that right, you'll become an absolute superpower.
But what's the proper balance between learning and building? That is completely up to you, and depends where you are in life and what you're trying to accomplish. But if you're young like me, I can 100% guarantee you that input/learning should be a very big part of what you do. If you think you know everything about something and are 100% output all the time, you've probably only got so much runway before you stop producing quality output.
On top of all that, learning is just fulfilling for us as humans. We like to be knowledgeable, and we like to explore new ways of thinking. It's core to our nature. So find that thing that you care about and learn some things about it. I can almost guarantee you won't regret it.
Mentor
So here's what I believe mentorship is all about--working towards a goal, finding others working towards similar goals, and helping them as you find ways to help yourself.
I say this to debunk the notion that you need to have top-tier credibility and accomplishments in order to be a mentor. You don't. You just need to be at least one step ahead of others in relation to a goal.
Think of a "goal" like a line with a start point and an end point. Each person working towards that goal is at some point on the line, between the two points. As long as you aren't at the start point, there WILL be people behind you, and those are the people you can help/mentor.
When you make this a part of your life; when you take the things that helped you and use them to help others, it brings an intensely heightened level of meaning to everything you do. Because you're not just doing it for yourself--you're pursuing goals and taking risks in order to help others navigate the uncharted territory you're exploring.
Mentorship can come in many forms. It could be a mentorship role in a club or organization. It could be helping a friend or family member out. It could publishing content that you think is helpful. It could be parenting. Whatever the best route is for you, I highly recommend finding out who you can help with the knowledge you have. And I promise, you know more than you think you do.
So I suppose for this model to work, you do need to have a goal first. If you don't have one, the best way to get one is to talk to people who do, and find out how they got there.
Now I realize this idea of "Build, Learn, Mentor" does come with some bias, because pursuing a goal doesn't always involve creative involvement, or "building". But I think the most worth-while goals do. This is partially laid out in "The Problem of College and Creativity".
I could write more, but I think the core message here is relatively simple, and I don't want to overcomplicate it: In order to be genuinely fulfilled by your work, I believe that work should consist of a high level of creative engagement, opportunities and incentives to continuously learn, and avenues to relay your learnings to others who can benefit from them.
Whatever your work is, I hope this shed some light on how to bring a bit more meaning to it. This was kind of like three blog posts in one, so if there are any topics here you'd like to hear more about, please comment or reach out to me!
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