Many years back when I studied music at the university, my piano teacher told me something that stuck with me ever since. He said: “Always try to surround yourself with people who are better and smarter than you”.
I think that’s a great advice. It is much more comfortable and ego-flattering to be the smartest person in the room. But it gets you nowhere. Having someone to look up to, gives you drive and motivation.
If you follow successful entrepreneurs and artists closely, this is something they often say. A major contributor to their growth and success is to quickly and constantly learn from people who were ahead of them. Like Mr.Beast for example. He is always venturing into areas he has little or no knowledge about. So, he surrounds himself with experts he can learn from.
I must confess that I don’t always succeed in following that advice. I am more of a lone wolf type of person. Always trying to figure things out by myself. One of the reasons for this is: I probably have too much respect for other people’s time. It feels awkward to impose on busy and successful people, asking them to sacrifice their time to teach me stuff.
But thinking about it, I realize that it would be more beneficial to try to connect, provide some value in return, and grow together. Usually, people are eager to help out if asked respectfully, don’t they? I know that I am…