Find Your Tribe

Gautam Khetrapal Mar 20, 2018

Let us begin by understanding the “Wheel Of Modern Education.” On September 9, 2017, I was on a TEDx stage in one of the best universities in Malaysia, and began my speech by saying “I am here to make you quit your university today.” I was expecting dead silence, but instead I received a big round of applause. The reason I mention that is because I believe there is an explanation for that response. We all know that our standardised education system is outdated. What we are really seeking now, is a solution to escape that outdated system and not face the consequence of being a failure in life. So what can we do about it? This is what I suggest as the solution.

THE AGE OF SELF-EDUCATION

Our current “standardised" education system was built for the industrial age and hasn’t been updated for over 100 years. We don't live in the age of standardisation anymore, in fact we are in the age of customisation (the information age) and for the first time have the privilege to customise our education like never before.

There are websites like edx.org where one can take all the classes that MIT students attend for free. Or you can go on udemy.com and buy any course below $200 from photography to programming. This gives our generation an opportunity to turn passions into professions. We have that privilege today.

THE TRIBE

But if customised online education was the solution to the problem, we wouldn’t be talking about changing education system. That’s where you need to find like-minded people.

Customised self-education is important but is not the only thing that matters. And unfortunately, even the most forward thinkers of our times only focus on this aspect of “Self-education”, and miss the most powerful aspect of our education. We cannot learn and grow in isolation.

The story of Elliott Bisnow is the perfect example for how you take your education (and your life) to the next level.

In 2008, the 23 year-old Elliott a digital entrepreneur from Utah, USA had a lot of unanswered questions and didn’t know who to ask. So he picked up the phone, and started calling all the successful young entrepreneurs in the country. He invited them to “hang out for a skiing trip” and even offered to pay for trip of those who were interested.

Elliott took $50,000 in credit card debt and invited over 50 digital entrepreneurs for a weekend in 2008. The following year, 200 people came and they paid for themselves. The year after 700 people paid to attend; and today Elliott’s “skiing trip” is what we call the Summit Series. It’s one of the most exciting business conferences in the world and people like Richard Branson and Jeff Besos attend and speak at that conference.

Elliott who was voted INC. Magazine’s Coolest Entrepreneur of the Year 2009. He was bringing together people with similar interests, similar problems, and similar lifestyles together. And that is the most powerful ingredient of our education, our tribe.

FIND YOUR TRIBE

Human beings are social animals. We naturally seek connection with people who are like us; people with similar interests, problems, lifestyles. And we thrive in that environment, that’s where we share the latest practices, we learn from each other, we teach each other and grow together – as a Tribe.

This is the hidden element of modern education that unlocks massive success and fulfilment. And it’s never been easier to find your Tribe.

And there is a Tribe for literally everything, it doesn’t matter if you are a programmer, a musician, a photographer, a doctor, a dancer, an entrepreneur, you name it. All it takes is a Google search. In the world we live in today, its never been easier and more important to find your Tribe.

DEEP IMMERSIONS

On May 28, 2017, I joined about 400 people from 50 different countries that relocated to Barcelona for a month to go deep into the field of personal transformation. This event was called Mindvalley U

For the next 30 days, in the day we would have inspiring workshops and classes from some of the best teachers in the world, and in the evenings we had spaces to connect deeply and meaningfully with our ‘Tribe’. We partied in the streets of Barcelona, had dinners and deep conversations with each other, and reinforced our connections with our Tribe.

This is what I call, a Deep Immersion. Deep Immersions are powerful. These are events that happen for a really short period of time where you come together with your Tribe and go deep into your interests, stir some emotions, have a lot of fun, and create lasting memories.

Every time I come back from such event, I come back with a list of books I want to read, courses I want to take and classes I want to enrol in. This ties back into my “Self-Education” again.

THE WHEEL OF MODERN EDUCATION

And that’s how Self-Education, My Tribe and Deep Immersions form the "The Wheel of Modern Education".

The beauty of this framework is that you can start at any one of the 3 places and one leads to the other, it never ends.

You see, we idolise people like Mark Zuckerbergs, Elon Musk, Einstein, Richard Branson, Mark Twain, who quit their education and do great things in the world. But if you look closely, the smartest people in the world, the Game-Changers they never quit education, they simply escaped the outdated education system.

Open your mind to a different perspective of education, and take this framework to drive your own education, become the Dean of our own never-ending University.

- Gautam Khetrapal, is a Computer Engineer by education, Growth Hacker by experience and a Life Designer at heart. He is also the Founder of LifePlugin.com