Freedom: An Expert’s Greatest Gift

There are some mathematical principles that also could be called into question. And then there are the common existential questions, such as, “Does God exist?” “Do we exist after we die?” and “How did we come into being?” Millions of people claim to have the answers for them, but few have proof.

Towards the end of my undergraduate career, I started to realize that just because a professor tells you something, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s correct. In fact, in many of my classes I discovered I was learning someone’s opinion about the world, not necessarily the actual facts. The other thing I started to realize was that just because a principle is very popular and many people believe it, doesn’t necessarily make it correct either.

To solve this problem, some people decide to make this an individual quest and seek their own answers. However, this only works for so long. There’s only so much time in the day and no one will ever have enough time to verify all the information out there to learn for the themselves. Thus, with our limited understanding how can anyone know what reality is? This question fueled my quest to find the truth, to understand everything, and in doing so, to become perfect.

Why You Need A Mentor

We will move right into Chapter 1 here (Introduction: Unlocking the Truth). This chapter reviews the beginning of my quest and my journey on improving and progressing and trying to figure out what was going on in life.

College is where my journey toward finding the truth began. During my experience at Arizona State University, I became involved with the construction leadership group led by Professor William W. Badger. Dr. Badger was old enough at the time to have served on both my father’s dissertation committee and my own. Dr. Badger’s only rule was that he had no rules. This allowed me freedom in my academic career to shape my research and education into what I wanted. Dr. Badger and my father who was also a professor at ASU, helped me realize the keys to finding truth.

To start my journey, I quickly found out two pieces of wisdom that has helped me along. The first, is that nobody makes it alone. Everybody who has ever become successful has always had support and they have had a lot of support. Dr. William Badger and Dr. Dean Kashiwagi (my father) were the start of my support. I had many people who helped me, but you just need to start with one.

The second thing I learned had to do with my area of study. Dr. William badger was not in my career field. I wanted to go into industrial engineering and supply chain management. Dr. badger was in construction management. I actually went into the master’s degree program in the construction school because of him. So, here’s the wisdom: When you find someone respectable, someone who you believe knows what’s going on, and that will support you and help you along the way, you do not let that person go.

Going into the construction master’s degree program was the best decision I ever made. Because, under his tutelage and also under the mentorship of my father, I discovered my career path. Surprisingly, I’m not a construction manager today, but it my mentors helped me find out more about myself and what I’m good at. The freedom that they gave me allowed me to make the best use of my academic career.

Weekly Challenge

So your challenge this week is: if you do not have a mentor, if you do not have a good support group that is helping you, that you can talk to, that can help you to figure out your path, GO GET ONE!

This is a very easy thing to do. You go find the person that you respect the most and ask them to become your mentor. Usually, someone who’s respectable will always want to help and so you shouldn’t have any issue with them agreeing to being able to support you on your path.

Finding a mentor might be the best decision you make in your life. It is one that many people do not take advantage of, but one that will really help you out.

Thank you so much for joining me! Hopefully you have a great week!

In Search of Truth is an independent publication by Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi. All proceeds are donated to the Leadership Society of Arizona 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. 

The views expressed in the book are based on independent research and personal experience. This publication does not necessarily represent the views of LSA.