I got a good chuckle out of this line: "Watching them run back and forth to keep everything from crashing to the floor was amusing, (those were simpler times)"
I completely agree though. Anyone who is truly the best in the world at something is fanatical about it. Take the classic Michael Phelps example of not missing a day in the pool for 10 years or whatever it was.
Now maybe you don't want to be the best in the world at something, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not a goal of mine. Maybe a better question, as popularized by Kevin Kelly, is how you can be *the only* in the world at what you do. Nonetheless, becoming "the best" or "the only" will require insane dedication and ruthless prioritization, identifying the high leverage tasks and ignoring just about everything else.
As it goes for buckets, I currently have three: 1) Writing, 2) Exercise/Fitness, 3) Relationships
I get what you're saying with balance and achievement. For the past few years I've been getting my financial situation into shape. I've been spending a whole lot less and saving/investing more. If I were to have perfect balance with my finances, I'd spend as much as I save, which wouldn't get me to my goal. Right now, I'm aggressively saving so I can have more balance later in life.
Yes, priorities. Focus. I think some of the umbrage may be the perception that you're saying "do one thing, and go all in on that one thing", which I don't think you're saying. I agree, average in everything is meh. But putting a few specialties together in the above average category is the golden mean between excessive specialization and excessive generalization. Simone Biles is a master of the full range of gymnastics events (Balance, Floor, Bars, Vault, etc), not just one.
Those are great points Adam, and to be honest I intended to create a bit of umbrage. I love your point about the range of gymnastic events. In a way this is like keeping the spinning plates close together, as many of the same skills are required. The other way of viewing generalization is like Scott Adams, being a decent cartoonist with a decent sense of humor and an above average background in office work to draw from. I think the key is to find the plates that you love to spin and finding a way to make them work together.
I got a good chuckle out of this line: "Watching them run back and forth to keep everything from crashing to the floor was amusing, (those were simpler times)"
I completely agree though. Anyone who is truly the best in the world at something is fanatical about it. Take the classic Michael Phelps example of not missing a day in the pool for 10 years or whatever it was.
Now maybe you don't want to be the best in the world at something, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not a goal of mine. Maybe a better question, as popularized by Kevin Kelly, is how you can be *the only* in the world at what you do. Nonetheless, becoming "the best" or "the only" will require insane dedication and ruthless prioritization, identifying the high leverage tasks and ignoring just about everything else.
As it goes for buckets, I currently have three: 1) Writing, 2) Exercise/Fitness, 3) Relationships
thanks for the shoutout, John! appreciate it, as ever.
Of course, You post reminded me that you have to prioritize the occasional personal time in you hope to be at your best as a parent. Thank you!
I get what you're saying with balance and achievement. For the past few years I've been getting my financial situation into shape. I've been spending a whole lot less and saving/investing more. If I were to have perfect balance with my finances, I'd spend as much as I save, which wouldn't get me to my goal. Right now, I'm aggressively saving so I can have more balance later in life.
Yes, priorities. Focus. I think some of the umbrage may be the perception that you're saying "do one thing, and go all in on that one thing", which I don't think you're saying. I agree, average in everything is meh. But putting a few specialties together in the above average category is the golden mean between excessive specialization and excessive generalization. Simone Biles is a master of the full range of gymnastics events (Balance, Floor, Bars, Vault, etc), not just one.
Those are great points Adam, and to be honest I intended to create a bit of umbrage. I love your point about the range of gymnastic events. In a way this is like keeping the spinning plates close together, as many of the same skills are required. The other way of viewing generalization is like Scott Adams, being a decent cartoonist with a decent sense of humor and an above average background in office work to draw from. I think the key is to find the plates that you love to spin and finding a way to make them work together.
Yes, I think Adams calls that “talent stacking”- you create a unique combo, become “world class” at a special blend of talents.