So one year is often simply not enough time for such a statement to be true. For example to be a champion in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and to stay on top for number of years is what separates the top guys from the rest. You can’t accomplish that in one year simply not enough time even if you could somehow get to that level. That is why that statement I think its misleading and I would imagine that its highly context sensitive.

Also “jack of all trades, master of none” is not the same thing as a polymath or a Renaissance man. There is a different implication so the title and the text in the article don’t really match. I hope the author can double check on that and correct it.

I have swung my pendulum both ways in the thought process on this issue. I think being able to understand where another is coming from is one of the most powerful tools someone can have. If you live in your own little universe you can never relate to others thus never bridge the gap between tech and art, sports and culture, product and marketing, sales and development. When you are exposed to the fears and dreams in others areas you can envision so much more, create and blend things that to a balanced well versed person intrinsically blend.

My favorite book ever was Ben Franklins autobiography but I have also read Malcom Gladwells Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. I found these fascinating. Ben Franklin tried to learn Latin at a young age but failed. He later learned French, Spanish and Italian. He came back to Latin after learning these languages and found it a breeze. The nuances, derivations and other insights he learned from the other languages helped him to come back and master Latin. It was the generalist quests for knowledge of all that led him to become a master of this skill and many.

I can’t completely buy into the 10,000 hours to mastery theory given by Gladwell and have myself been a huge believer in the 80/20 principal. I played baseball from age 3 until 15 but could start on the JV team. I took up football at 15 and was all county within two years in high school and then started four years in college. I went from never doing shot put to being 2nd in the state in one year at 17. 10,000 hours would not have made a small person better. (I’m 6’3 245) Using slow motion video of my own throws in practice was my first look into the 80/20 effect in my own life. Learing Olympic Lifts, Deadlifts, and Squats were some of the others.

The mind is the most powerful tool we have. I become obsessed with subjects, sport, bio’s, careers, etc for periods but just like anything else my enthusiasm wanes. You can push yourself to keep doing the same thing for the rest of your life but why. As far as we know for sure we only go around once. People who buck the trend seem to be much happier Richard Branson starts different companies all the time, Arnold went from lifting, to acting, to politics, to author.

Tim F understands that it’s the ability to reinvent the quench for knowledge that is the secret. When you can reset the quench the passion will follow, with passion comes drive, drive creates intensity and focus, intensity and focus with proper knowledge produce results at an accelerated pace. Results combined with productive choices will lead to a fulfilled existence.

I love to vary my own sports from skiing to mountain biking to surfing. Even if a routine might not be the best a new and different routine in the gym leads to quick gains because it is a refresher for the mind a welcome change to the body. You had previously flattened your bell curve and need to reset it.

The people who reach mastery without being well rounded often are lost without a guide and never learn how to transition or refocus. Look at Bobby Fischer, sports hall of famers, workaholics, former olympic athletes. The ending of one sided perfection is not often pretty. The mind recoils in horror due to never pushing in other directions. I think the mind has many pathways. Exploring each one to it’s fullest will lead to balance, invention and the next modern day renaissance man.

Great article as always
Walt

something came to mind the other day, and I wondered what the context was for Heinlin’s comments as so appropriately stated by an earlier post….
stands repeating I think: “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. ” Strong and meaningful words it would be nice to know what he was reacting toward or against at the time. Does anyone know the context for this?