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Indirect mentors are people who do or say things that earn your admiration. There is no formal mentorship container, no contract, no "teach me your ways" agreement. Anyone can be an indirect mentor, and most indirect mentors don't know the full scope of their mentorship. Indirect mentors might be family, friends, lovers, coworkers, or people on social media. Anyone can easily benefit from the indirect mentors in their life. When someone earns your admiration, reflect on the cause, then consider how you might nudge yourself towards making similar admirable decisions more often. Here are three examples of friends who were my indirect mentors in the past week:
As I read over my examples, exactly what I admire about each friend is clear. If the idea of indirect mentors interests you then I encourage you to take note of who earns your admiration over the next week and why. I'd love to know how it goes :^) Years ago I made images to celebrate twenty indirect mentors I know through Twitter. Here are the three that resonate the most with me right now: You can see all twenty images on my website or on Twitter. Thank you for reading and have a great week. |
My theme for 2026 is grow. I've chosen the verb form over the noun form, growth, as a reminder to myself that growing as a person is the result of actions and decisions, it's an active process. May I grow with everything I pursue next year. Some values that sit underneath this theme for me are service and reciprocity. The more I grow, the bigger I am, the greater capacity I have, the more I can give to others. The rhythm of giving and receiving is meaningful to me, and I can better...
Baba Is You is a puzzle game where word order matters. Rules can be changed - and usually must be changed - in order to win a level. Here's an example that shows the importance of word order: Baba Is You, Wall Is Stop The level's initial ruleset gives it standard puzzle game rules: You are the character (Baba), the win area is over there, obstacles are in the way. However, we can manipulate the Wall Is Stop rule by breaking the sequence of words, so that the walls no longer stop the...
Everything good in life is the result of collaboration. Art is created and experienced. Products are bought and sold. Ideas are given and received. Therefore it is wise to hold a conscious intention to maximize your chances to meet your collaborators. You meet your collaborators by introducing yourself. This can happen on a walk at the park, in line for the bathroom, by posting that interesting idea online. Once you give someone something to engage with, you both get to look for similarities...