FIND

FIND
YOUR
We've been taught to become well-rounded
We spend enormous energy correcting weaknesses, filling gaps and becoming reasonably competent at everything.
What if that is the wrong optimization strategy?
What's your edge?
Your edge is not necessarily something you're already world-class at. It's an ability, temperament, interest or perspective where you have an unusual advantage and the potential to keep improving.
"What's your edge?"
— Jimmy Carr
Stop turning every 4 into a 6
Path A
Weakness 4 → 6
Path B
Strength 8 → 9.5
Fixing weaknesses has an opportunity cost. Extraordinary rewards usually come from extraordinary strengths, not from having no weaknesses.
Look for what feels like play
"If it's play to you and work to them, you're going to win."
— Jimmy Carr
Mastery still takes effort, but people have an enormous advantage when they naturally enjoy work that others find draining.
Energy is information
Sometimes apparent laziness or lack of discipline is really lack of alignment. People can become extraordinarily hardworking when they discover work they genuinely care about.
Where does your energy go without being forced?
Specialization creates disproportionate value
Pretty good at many things
Available. Interchangeable. Competing on price and convenience.
Exceptionally valuable at one important thing
Sought out. Irreplaceable. Competing on a category of one.
Specialists become sought out rather than merely available.
Different is useful
Individuality is not something to sand away. Temperament, personality, experience and unusual combinations of skills may be part of your competitive advantage.
"Don't try and sell yourself, be yourself and wait for demand."
— Jimmy Carr
You don't need everyone
Universal appeal often produces blandness.
You don't need everyone to think you're pretty good. You need the right people to think you're exactly what they need.
Your edge compounds
Small advantages accumulate through: knowledge, judgment, pattern recognition, speed, relationships, reputation.
What begins as a small advantage can become very difficult to replicate after ten years.
Be better than last year's version of you
Specialization isn't about declaring yourself the best. It means choosing the area in which you have unusual potential and deliberately improving it year after year.
Make the edge obvious
Don't position yourself around everything you CAN do. Position yourself around what you want to be KNOWN for.
Apply this to people, careers, companies and brands.
Five questions
1
What comes unusually naturally to me?
2
What feels like play to me but work to others?
3
What do people repeatedly ask me for help with?
4
What have I become dramatically better at over time?
5
What could I become exceptional at over the next ten years?
FIND YOUR EDGE.
The goal isn't to become a better version of everybody else.
It's to become an extraordinary version of you.
Inspired by ideas in Jimmy Carr's Before & Laughter.