Twenty Year-Old Gurus
“Why is a young 20 year old working in consulting? What can she provide in "consultation?" She knows nothing. Cannot even pretend to know something. Everything she knows is second or third hand information filtered through other consultants.” — Disgruntled 𝕏 User
Today there is a prevailing trend: young people see their idols doing great things or talking about the great things they have done, and so seeking to imitate these models they begin to talk and act as if they have in their twenty (or so) years of life they’ve discovered something worth sharing. Consultants, advisors, and self-professed life coaches all starting their careers telling other people what they should do without even having grown a full beard yet.
This phenomenon is so common that many have taken notice of it and decided to speak out against it. “Twenty year olds shouldn’t be giving life advice.” Being a content creator myself (and turning 25 in only a few months) I begin to wonder if what I’ve been doing– chronicling my growth and learning online– is as valuable as I hoped it could be. Can we really learn anything from 20 year olds, or are they wholly untrustworthy?
First, I would like to turn to the book of Proverbs. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon recounts to his son things he has learned in his time on earth– imparting practical and moral advice– mostly by distinguishing between two types: the foolish, and the wise.
It seems to me that while reading Proverbs, at no point is the wise determined to be of any particular gender, age, or race. In fact, the only thing that routinely distinguishes him from the fool is his obedience to God, his character, and his decision making. Can it be possible that wisdom is not tied to one’s level of experience, but perhaps something more fundamental?
Of course, it’s obvious that more experience means a greater set of information to make judgments from, but does this guarantee wise decision making? Tell me, who’s judgment is more trustworthy– the one who has from birth understood themself and the world as it truly is, or the one who has lived 100 years and is still in denial regarding his own nature and the nature of reality? Who is more wise? The child that loves learning, or the adult who insists their ways are always right?
I would like to make the case that the 20 year-old consultant phenomenon is a result of a confluence of things, most of which are not harmful.
Seeing the hopelessness of the current economic situation, young adults are seeking creative solutions to their own problems and the problems of others.
By teaching, they are further reinforcing what they are learning firsthand, as well as paving the way for those beneath them.
They recognize the advantage of social media and building publicly– that is, having a positive effect on society at scale via leverage.
They are motivated by dreams of abundant opportunity, and in chasing this are creating a flourishing, vitally differentiated market.
Their willingness to experiment with creative solutions and their spirit of anti-credentialism (starting before you’re ready) is a direct result of the current model’s inability to provide working solutions to even those that “sell out.”
They pave a new way for education based on results over pedigree, and cost-effectiveness over premium sophistry.
Do I roll my eyes when I see some twenty year old parroting Hormozi, or LARPing as an entrepreneur? Yes, of course. But in order to do something for real, you first must practice via imitation. You can chastise people for not “digging down and doing the real work” but I can tell you from personal experience that no matter how many times a person hears that– that talking about work and doing it are different things– they have to feel the pain of spinning their wheels before actually committing to real, substantive work.
What you’re seeing online with the 20 year-old consultants are people building with the hopes that someday, something they’re building will actually succeed.
The desire to do is better than the desire to be, but desiring being necessarily precedes the desire to do. In order for me to do entrepreneurship I must want to be an entrepreneur. How can I desire doing something I’ve never done? All I can imitate is what I perceive the being to be. Through imitation I learn to do.
In order to test my theory, I asked my twenty year old friends from a wide range of backgrounds to give me their best life advice. Here’s what they said:
“The way you do anything is how you do everything.” – 22M
”Success doesn’t have a timeline. You don’t have to be a billionaire by 25 to be successful.” – 23F
“It pays to take care of your physical health… Doing difficult work is inevitable, but complaining about it introduces needless suffering. Gamify difficult tasks. Like if I’m on a rowing machine I’ll imagine I’m a viking and it helps. You can convince yourself you’re better than you are– pretend– to your own advantage. And then you accomplish it and you don’t have to pretend anymore.” – 23M
“Change your toothbrush every 2-3 months.” – 24M
“Do things you might fail at, because no one expects you to succeed; and if you succeed anyway, then it’s impressive.” – 22M
“Don’t let fear of rejection prevent you from talking to someone.” – 24M
“Life is easier when you just don’t give a ****. Most people are more concerned about their own days and doing their own things. Once I realized this my social anxiety essentially disappeared… and I was far more comfortable in my own skin.” – 23M
“Love God with your entire being. We owe everything for the gift of existence, even the parts of it we label ‘suffering’. The way you live this life matters, and the only true wealth is the amount of love you can afford to others, especially the people you find it difficult to love.” – 24M
Do you want to know what was strange? Half of those surveyed either declined or forgot to respond. Isn’t that weird? Perhaps 20 year olds are like pretty much everyone else; some fools, some sages, some open, some closed, some happy, some sad, some proud, others humble— some young, and some far, far older than you might imagine.
