Can a Deck of Cards Really Mentor You? Exploring Seth Godin’s Mentor Dec

“The only way to repay your mentor,” Seth Godin writes, “is by showing the guts it takes to grow and to matter.”

That’s a bold definition of mentorship — not comfort, not advice, but courage in motion. And it got me thinking:

Can a card deck do that?
Can a physical object actually push you to grow, reflect, and act?

Recently, I got my hands on something called The Mentor Deck, a card deck created by Seth Godin … the same Seth Godin who’s been teaching us about courage, shipping work, and making change happen for decades. What intrigued me most was that this deck combines his philosophy on mentorship with artificial intelligence.

Let’s unpack how that works.

Mentorship, Accountability, and Reflection

We all need mentors. The people who challenge us, hold us accountable, and remind us of what we said we were going to do.

When I think about my own mentors, I realise how often I hate that accountability part — because it’s uncomfortable. But that discomfort is the point. As Godin often reminds us, mentorship isn’t about instruction or praise; it’s about developing the inner drive to hold yourself accountable.

True mentorship pushes you to reflect and then act. It’s not about getting all the answers — it’s about asking better questions.

And that’s exactly where The Mentor Deck comes in.

Inside the Box

The deck comes in a sleek magnetic box (mine included a small beta booklet with some extras). Inside: 52 cards, each featuring a different mentor or theme.

You’ll find well-known names like Seth Godin himself, Warren Buffett, and Thelonious Monk, along with others covering topics such as bootstrapping, negotiation, and sunk costs. Some cards focus on a person’s philosophy; others zero in on a specific idea.

The design is simple (minimal, direct, and very Seth). But here’s the twist: each card includes a QR code.
Scan it, and you start a conversation with an AI “mentor” trained on that person’s ideas.

You’re not chatting with Warren Buffett or Marcus Aurelius, of course … you’re speaking to a digital coach that understands their worldview and helps you apply it to your own challenges.

Democratising Reflection

Now, does this replace mentorship? Of course not.
But it does something equally valuable: it democratises reflection.

It gives you a simple reason to pause, to think about your work, your habits, or your leadership; and to do so in conversation with ideas that have stood the test of time.

I’d love to see future versions that include more analog exercises or reflection prompts for offline use, but as it stands, this deck already does something meaningful: it helps you build a mentorship habit; even when there’s no mentor in sight.

And that’s something worth celebrating.

You can explore The Mentor Deck at promptdecks.com/mentor