You can and SHOULD be more than one thing.
Something I’ve learned over the years is that you can do more than one thing at at time and become pretty good at all of them if you just apply yourself.
Now don’t go taking this as advocacy for multitaksing or lacking focus; that’s not what I’m saying….I am saying that there’s Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory and there’s Epstein’s be a generalist, not a specialist perspective and that they both have their validity.
Should you think that people can’t have different viewpoints, perspectives and be able to agree to disagree peacefully, productively and profitably keep in mind that these two guys are friends, tour together, speak all over the world together and go on shows together to compare and contrast their lives work.
I’m a generalist. That’s where I think most of us should be. Unless you’ve got some crazy super talent that needs to be nurtured, developed and focused on or the world will lose out from our unfufilled potential; go out and do a lot of different shit.
To most people “Specialization” indicates accomplishment and success, when I’d argue that the opposite is true. We’re too good, too curious, too talented to just specialize.
Which is why we shouldn’t limit ourselves to being just one thing. We all possess a variety of skills – including skills we aren’t using.
No matter how successful we are in one pursuit, we have other skills and interests we’d like to develop and pursue (at least I hope you do) Regardless of how fufilling our current business or job may be, we all have other things that we’d enjoy doing too. Plus, it makes us and life more interesting.
I am a partner at INSGROUP and entering my 12th year*. I train every day . I compete in The D10 Decathlon. I serve on the board of several charities, host The MidlifeMale Podcast, write this weekly newsletter and blog, play guitar in a band, coach and attend all my kid’s games, go to as many concerts and sporting events as I can, eat at as many restaurants as I can, see as many places as I can.
Am I overcommitted? Maybe.
Do I love what I do? Yes.
Do I see my lifestyle changing or slowing down soon? I hope not.
Here are 10 tips on how to make your active life more efficient.
Everything goes on the calendar! It’s a running joke in our house that if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. Then edit/reduce if it’s too much.
Communicate! Make sure your family is on board and supports one another.
Combine! Kill two, three or more birds with one stone. I workout with my boys on Fridays, go to eat/shows/trips with kate and family, the charities I’m involved with combine food, fitness, philanthropy.
90% of my activities take place in the morning. Workouts, business meetings over breakfast, emails, writing, calls. I choose day over night everytime.
Get enough Sleep! Game changer.
Say NO to anything outside of the things you want to do.
Bring your clients and friends in the mix. Extend invitations and do the things you like to do with likeminded people.
Limit TV, movies and “watching”. Amazing how much time this free’s up.
Use the time when the kids are busy to do things you want to do (Ie: I don’t watch their practices or classes, I use that time for me and then attend their actual games)
Reduce/Eliminate alcohol. I don’t recover well anymore so I really don’t drink much (if any) anymore.
Still not sure? Need someone to hold you accountable? Have questions?
Message Me. I got your back.
G
(*MidlifeMale Disclaimer: I do advocate for various degrees of specialization in your profession. In my experience clients want to work with experts in their respective fields and you can’t be everything to everyone and be truly successful in business. In life…Generalist over specialist any day for me)
