Why You Should Ask A Friend For Advice

A Call To Be More Vulnerable

Welcome to the July 8, 2019 edition of Mission Daily Newsletter!

If you like this, be sure to explore these topics deeper with Steph and Chad on the “Best of 2018” Mission Daily Podcast!

Why You Should Ask A Friend For Advice Today

Dear Reader,

Today I’m going to tell you one out of ~66 stories or so that I’m scared to share publicly.

At Mission HQ, we’re big fans of accelerated learning.

But what is accelerated learning?

Learning about a topic that is vital to you in the best, most effective way possible. 🤓

Unfortunately, our modern society and education system are set up to train individuals on how not to learn. Specifically, what we call “education” is mostly about isolating yourself from the harshest truths of the world. It’s about developing the habit of ceding values like “courage” to other entities and institutions. It trains us to look outward and cast blame, instead of looking inward to accelerate our own learning.

Accelerated learning feels horrible when you first truly believe that it’s possible.

It’s unsettling when you believe you can gain mastery over a subject. After all, what if it’s hubristic to decide we can and should learn everything we can?!

But what if it’s not? 🤔

So often, we get consumed with the idea that in order to find peace and purpose (while also enjoying the pursuit, danger, and play that comes with the journey), we have to give up things we value.

But what if there is a way to accelerate your learning around topics vital to your future without making “traditional” tradeoffs?

Let me tell you a story.

Before I got to Silicon Valley, I had a cartoon in my head about what life and business were all about. I was doing well by outsider standards, but personally, I felt like I was drowning. At one point, I reached out and texted a friend. I asked for advice. I was struggling with something, and it was bothering me. All I needed was his advice on one specific question. He had a vantage point that I didn’t have, and he had enough context to provide a well-reasoned critique.

Maybe you’ve heard the Elon Musk quote that goes something like:

A well-reasoned critique is worth its weight in GOLD.

My friend’s response was quick, and in just two minutes I had the answer I needed. What I was personally struggling with isn’t important — just know that if you’re struggling right now, you have at least one person who can provide a well-reasoned critique or vantage point on a subject that you didn’t have.

Also… If you’re really interested in what I was struggling with, you can tune in to today’s episode of Mission Daily (subscribe to get notified when it’s live!) to hear me open up a bit more. Sidenote: this was really hard to do, but by being open and honest about faults that need to be corrected and that are hurting others, we accelerate our learning.

In the moment before I texted my friend for advice, I was blind. After I had his advice, I could see the problem. It was something I could fix. I had been struggling with it, trying to beat it conventionally, when all I had to do to figure out how to make it better was send a short text.

That moment shifted my perspective about what is possible.

You don’t know how quickly you’ll be able to accelerate your learning if you don’t ask for advice.

Asking for advice from friends is hard.

But it’s worth it.

If there is anything you’re struggling with right now, that you’re embarrassed to talk about publicly or admit to a friend…

Just ask for advice.

If you need to, ask them for help.

It may make you vulnerable, but without vulnerability, how do you really know who is around you?

And more importantly, how do they really know you?

If you don’t open up and share things, or ask for advice in a way that makes it clear you’re in trouble and need outside help… you can’t accelerate your learning.

You can’t accelerate your learning until you ask for advice (Tweet this).

Here’s our daily challenge —

📱😳 Text the person in your life today that you’re closest to. If you dare, ask them for help or advice that is way outside your comfort zone.

Accelerate your learning. In next week’s newsletter, we’re going to be talking about capital allocation and how to learn one central skill that can help you accelerate your learning in any area you choose. Stay tuned! 🤗

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Shouts to our CEO @ChadGrills for another successful newsletter takeover! 😜

If you like this and want to hear more from Chad (and the whole Mission team!), don’t forget to subscribe to Mission Daily — or check out one of our other shows at mission.org/podcasts.

For feedback and questions, don’t hesitate to respond to this email or hit us up on Twitter @TheMissionHQ! 🤗

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