96. rounding the edges

The professionals we choose to listen to and the people we choose to pay attention to, are often at the extremes of their craft. Why? Because they dive deep into a subject and uncover things that people in the middle tend to miss. They are intriguing, simply because they chose to passionately explore something they love without the burden of paying attention to things that don’t matter to them. Their captive attention allows them to become the best, and is seen in the creative knowledge on display as a result of their efforts. 

There’s a reason we gravitate towards these people when we are looking for a coach, a doctor, a graphic designer, a financial advisor, or any other profession really. It’s because we love what these people have to offer.

On the other hand, years of schooling and cultural indoctrination pushes the majority of us to fit in, to sand down the edges and become well rounded. When we went to school, it was better to have a bunch of B’s, than an A+ in one subject and D’s in another. We push children (who turn into adults of the same mentality) to focus on their D’s and ignore their A+. All the while, repeating the mantra “a Jack of all trades is a master of none.”

What could happen if you chose to follow something to the extreme? If you broke free from the paradigm of institutionalized mediocrity? If you chose to perfect the one thing you can do better than anyone else? That mentality is what the future hinges on.