Mr Musk’s heart

Mr Musk’s heart is in the right place.

There will be plenty of people who disagree with that, I am sure. His anxiety about being so rich and famous is unfortunately masking the brave and good things he is trying to do. He is from the school where showing off got you the prize. I was from the same sort of school –  but many years before Mr Musk got there. I’m not sure I ever recovered from it, nor am I sure that he will. In fact, I’m genuinely worried for him. Not ‘about him’ you understand but ‘for him’. He seems to have been bitten by a PR bug, one that tells you to charge even when you know the bull is at your back. At the rate Mr Musk goes, the bull is always behind him.

Why does this happen to such able and brave people? The answer is that confidence isn’t what you see, it’s what you feel. The mighty surgeon who comes to save your life may be tall, wise looking, handsome, smiling – and all the things that confidence is supposed to be made of. But the confidence only emerges when he looks you in the eye and his hand rests upon your arm. That’s when you know he is going to save your life.

The problem is quite easy to describe, more tricky to solve. It is based on the rate of growing up. Ninety years ago that was a matter of mastering the basics of living as early as possible and using the rest of your life to polish the skills you had acquired. Today the skills are piled into you thick and fast by your parents, schools, universities, the media, Google and more. So much so that you can miss the fundamentals of growing up altogether. Many do.

Is there a solution to this?  Do we have to return to a slow-paced world to recover our senses?

Yes and No. The solution is to use the growing up that others have done before you, probably through good mentors. If they are Terrific it will be much the same as your own learning – in other words, equipping you to ask yourself the right questions rather than answering only the immediate problems. The need to venture backwards to a slower pace is obviated by our ability to call up information and experience quickly – and often reliably – much faster than ever before. We can all make use of that if we are trained.

Perhaps Mr Musk is inclined to over-depend on polling unrepresentative samples of his fans and then to cast his vote with the majority in a somewhat cavalier way. But that doesn’t mean that his heart isn’t in the right place. Judge the man by his intentions, not his shortcomings. Better still, restrict your judgement until you are obliged to make it.

If Mr Musk would like to have a Terrific Mentor to help him we will supply one at our standard rate and as a special Christmas gesture we will give half the takings for a year to a registered charity we can both agree on. There’s a win-win to set up 2023.

Anyway, we hope Mr Musk will have a growing, learning and heart-warming New Year as we wish him and you the very best of humankind’s grace and beauty. 

Shall we go for it, Mr Musk?

John Bittleston

john.bittleston@terrificmentors.com 

And, as always, your views are more than welcome at mentors@terrificmentors.com

21 December 2022