Oh no you can’t

I have had some excellent mentors during my education and academic lifetime. Mentors have helped me through the darkest moments, and helped me excel in the good. Many of them I am still in touch with, either regularly as friends or collaborators (and often both), or sometimes less regularly, for instance through scientific or career networks. I have good relationships with most if not all of my mentors. I think a good mentor can really jump start whatever it is that you are after. This extends beyond the job, into sports, or creative outings and the like.

But what really makes me thrive personally are people that treat me as unworthy and clearly express they think I can or will not succeed at something.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t understand them. I don’t see why you would be a sadistic ass hat that insists that people (often) younger will not make it in career or in life. I have had many of both – interestingly they are often not who you would expect.

My desire to prove such ‘anti-mentors’ wrong has definitely fuelled my doing-well more than all the wonderful mentors combined.

Thanks for being a prick, I guess…