Best career/life advice from a 2007 blog
Still relevant 20 years later
Today I bring some old gold from a 2007 blog post that is still relevant 20 years later.
The pieces is from Scott Adams. The creator of Dilbert, an american comic strip popular in the 90βs.
I wish I could link to the original article but the website is not longer working.
The post goes like this:
βIf you want an average successful life, it doesnβt take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
Become the best at one specific thing.
Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I donβt recommend anyone even try.
The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but Iβm hardly an artist. And Iβm not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but Iβm funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. Itβs the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.
I always advise young people to become good public speakers (top 25%). Anyone can do it with practice. If you add that talent to any other, suddenly youβre the boss of the people who have only one skill. Or get a degree in business on top of your engineering degree, law degree, medical degree, science degree, or whatever. Suddenly youβre in charge, or maybe youβre starting your own company using your combined knowledge.β
This is already so good that I wont add anything else. Iβll explain how can you apply this tactic in your content in a future post β so if you donβt want to miss it, you can subscribe here.
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