Friday, January 25, 2008

Excelling vs Sucking

This post is inspired by Jeffrey Combes book "More Heart Than Talent." In his first chapter he gives a brief overview about Heart vs Talent. Personally, I want to apply more colloquial terminology.

It's better to suck at stuff than to be good at stuff. Most people, most of the time, restrict themselves to only doing stuff they are good at. Unfortunately, most people aren't very good at the things they are good at. People don't get anywhere. They don't learn anything new. They grow only slowly. It's people who were willing to do what they suck at, to do what needs to be done, to reach outside themselves who change the world. A brief example is that for a long time Thomas Edison really sucked at making light bulbs. He tried an incredible number of times to make a light bulb and kept on sucking until he got it right just once, and he changed the world. Warren Buffett is a more modern example of someone who sucked at making a T-Shirt company called Berkshire Hathaway successful at selling t-shirts. The fact that he sucked at making t-shirts led him to change the purpose of Berkshire Hathaway, and he is now one of the top 5 richest men in America.

The challenge now is to constantly find things you suck at and do them anyway. Personally, I draw, play guitar, and write self development articles. Continually trying new things will eventually lead you to something fulfilling.