A Life Lesson Mike From Suits Taught Me

For those of you who have never seen the show Suits on USA, you need to watch it! The show is absolutely great. It literally has me hooked and they haven’t even aired new episodes for months.

Before I can give you the life lesson I learned from Mike Ross on Suits, I have to give you some background on him and the show. This show has been airing on USA for a while now and they recently finished their second season. I found out about this show only a few months ago and literally completed 2 seasons of episodes in less than a week.

The Background

Mike Ross has an eidetic memory, which basically means he can remember everything. During some point of his life, he meets a guy named Trevor Evans and gets into some bad stuff with him. He begins smoking pot, selling it, and almost getting caught.

Through a dramatic chase, he ends up in an area filled with lawyers interviewing for a position. Desperate to escape the perpetrators chasing him, Mike decides to ‘pretend’ like he’s applying for this job. He makes a clever remark and is able to make it into Harvey Spector’s office.

Harvey Spector is a badass. That’s really the best way to put it. He’s one of the best closers and attorney’s in New York and works for Pearson Hardman. He wins every case, he plays by his own rules, and he really doesn’t answer to anyone.

Not only that, but he has one of the most brilliant minds and is only looking to hire someone as good as him. As you can imagine, Harvey does not take well to Mr. Ross who is completely befuddled. As the interview comes along, Mike Ross shows just how valuable he can be by outsmarting Harvey.

Long story short, Harvey has a dilemma on his hands. He knows that Mike is the perfect hire, but Pearson Hardman only hires the top Harvard grads. Being the rule-breaker he is, Harvey hires Mike Ross by creating him a fake diploma.

Mike Ross has a huge secret to hide, but brings unbelievable value to Harvey and the firm. There are many times when his secret is close to being exposed to the wrong people, but it never happens. So how does this crazy weed-smoking memory freak teach me a life lesson?

The Reality

Well it’s actually really simple. I not only loved the show, but I really admired Mike Ross. Here he is going toe to toe with some of the greatest legal minds who have accredited degrees and further education. However, Mike quite often dominated them.

Yeah this is a television show, but I have met many people who are better than the ‘more formally educated’ counterpart. Do you really need a formal education? Is there really any value in it?

I honestly started seeing lower and lower value in a formal education after experiencing the business world first hand. School didn’t teach me how to market my business, close deals, or build a successful business. I had to learn that all myself.

This education was very informal. My main source of education was experimentation. I made mistakes, failed, and did things wrong many times, but I eventually found the right way to do it.

I know people who graduated college with business degrees from top schools, but have found no value in their degree. They graduated, couldn’t find a job, and decided to create a business. This is a typical story, which also has a very typical result.

They struggle and they cannot implement much of their college education into their business. What do you really learn at college? As a college student, 90% of my education involves memorizing definitions or policies.

What can a policy really teach you? If an optometrist knows the definition of a cornea, will he really be successful with a cornea transplant? Hell no!

The truth is, you learn by performance, not by memorizing. I can memorize a 100 definitions and get an A on my next test, but I really did NOT learn anything. You learn when you get a hands on experience.

That’s what entrepreneurship is. Entrepreneurs will very rarely ever find value in a degree. Mike Ross taught me that no matter how highly people value a college degree, it still won’t make you skilled in a specific field or sector.

The Lesson

You don’t need a big education, tons of experience, or anything else to be successful. I believe going to college is about finding yourself, what you enjoy, and how you want to spend the rest of your life.

If you know what you want before going to college, why go? My good friend Spencer Costanzo knew what he was going to do by the age of 18 and he skipped college. What was the result? Over $500,000 in revenue in less than a few years.

Mike Ross taught me a very important life lesson that really fits my story well. I learned how important it really is to put your career into action. Not only do you really find out how much you like it, but that’s the only real way to be successful at it.

I haven’t heard of anyone come out of college and be a complete genius in an industry without ever applying what they learned. Application and engagement are the only real ways to learn, improve, and become the best at something.

Conclusion

Mike Ross’s example should be a good one for many people out there. In my opinion, college is more about finding what interests you than it is about coming out ready to be successful. Success cannot be taught, it is achieved through application.