Most people are normal. They’re good at some things, but not that good at other things. Some people are extraordinary; they’re so good at something that they become known as gifted or talented in the thing they’re good at. The girl who always tops the class is extraordinary. The guy who regularly wins the poker tournament is extraordinary. The athlete who is the best in the world for more than 4 years in a row is extraordinary.
Being good at everything is extraordinary, but being the best at one thing is also extraordinary. It’s getting harder to be good at everything. The domain of human knowledge now is far too great for a single person to learn. Competition is far too fierce for anyone to be the best at more than one sport. I would bet that more extraordinary people today are only extraordinary in a very narrow domain compared to extraordinary people only 100 years ago.
The good news is that there are more opportunities to be extraordinary today because there is more to do today than there was in the past. You could be the bests player of a particular video game or the best lecturer in the university. If you’re the best, you will be noticed and labeled extraordinary. Being noticed gives you the power to influence those who noticed you. With that power you can become more extraordinary.
When it comes to being extraordinary, the sum of above average skills across a large variety of disciplines is not perceived to be nearly as extraordinary as being the best at one thing, even if the narrow focus of becoming the best made you below average in many other skills.
I guess the lesson to learn here is to invest in becoming extraordinary, because being somewhat good at lots of things is only just above mediocre.
This post was inspired by “Why the 80-20 rule is wrong“.
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