Choose Your Mountain

"What game is this person playing?" This question might be the most important filter for whose advice we let shape our journey.

In today's digital age, wisdom (or what presents itself as wisdom) flows freely. Everyone with a keyboard and an internet connection can become a guru overnight.The problem isn't finding advice, it's finding the right advice for your specific journey.

This is why you need to create your personal Mount Rushmore of role models.

Just as the actual Mount Rushmore was carefully carved with specific presidents, we need to be equally intentional about whose faces we're etching into our personal mountain of influence. More voices doesn't necessarily mean better guidance.

Consider this:

• Marcus Aurelius spent his mornings journalingsitting with his thoughts
• Alex Hormozi advocates for minimizing the time between waking and working
• Andrew Huberman says get sunlight in your eyes immediately after waking up

The crucial insight is they're all playing different games.

What works for Hormozi (who runs a business with his wife, no children, fully optimized for work) might be counterproductive for someone seeking balance across multiple life dimensions. The advice isn't wrong – it's just calibrated for a different game.

Building your personal Mount Rushmore requires four key steps:

1. Define your game, or vision, clearly
2. Identify 3-4 people who've already won that game
3. Choose carefully. Like the real monument, the choice should feel permanent
4. Go to their source material, not the echoes

The key insight here is that influence without alignment is just noise. When we allow ourselves to be shaped by voices playing different games, we risk optimizing for someone else's definition of success.

The power lies not just in who you choose to listen to, but in understanding why you're listening to them. Your vision should act as a filter, helping you distinguish between advice that propels you forward and wisdom that, while valuable, belongs to someone else's journey. When someone makes it onto your mountain, dive deep into their foundational thinking. Read their recommended books. Study their influences.

The presidents on Mount Rushmore weren't chosen randomly, and neither should your role models be. Choose wisely. These faces will be hard to uncarve from your mental landscape.

The most dangerous advice isn't bad advice, it's good advice for the wrong game.