Is it possible to be really good at a lot of things?

[merveilles]

There are so many things I like and so many things I want to do. But for a lot of them, to be amazing at it you have to focus most of your life on it for years. Is it possible, to somehow be amazing at a few different things? Like you can't make more time in the day, but maybe by making the most of the time in the day, getting super organized, blah blah blah maybe you get what I'm saying?

[esmas]

By asking this question you are already on the right road. Search you mind and you will find your answers.

Say no more.

[FW85]

Originally Posted by merveilles

There are so many things I like and so many things I want to do. But for a lot of them, to be amazing at it you have to focus most of your life on it for years. Is it possible, to somehow be amazing at a few different things? Like you can't make more time in the day, but maybe by making the most of the time in the day, getting super organized, blah blah blah maybe you get what I'm saying?

I think it depends on how you define "really good" or "amazing". If you mean you want to be the #1 in a given field, I don't think it's possible to be "the best" in many different fields at the same time. Because to reach that level, you need to invest an x amount of hours, which will prevent you from doing a lot of different things at the same time, regardless of how skilled you are in time management. If you mean, "I want to be quite good at different topics", well, that's possible ofcourse.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by merveilles

Is it possible, to somehow be amazing at a few different things? Like you can't make more time in the day, but maybe by making the most of the time in the day, getting super organized, blah blah blah maybe you get what I'm saying?

I believe that you can go quite some way with that strategy. Interestingly, the pursuit of a few different interests at the same time can be productive in the sense that you take a break from one activity, to do another activity, and you thereby avoid burn-out.

[vMike]

Originally Posted by esmas

By asking this question you are already on the right road. Search you mind and you will find your answers.

Say no more.

Nice! Is that a generic auto-reply? Cause it'd fit pretty much any question

[Mogget]

Originally Posted by merveilles

There are so many things I like and so many things I want to do. But for a lot of them, to be amazing at it you have to focus most of your life on it for years. Is it possible, to somehow be amazing at a few different things? Like you can't make more time in the day, but maybe by making the most of the time in the day, getting super organized, blah blah blah maybe you get what I'm saying?

You might enjoy reading Barbara Sher's "Refuse to Choose" which provides a lot of techniques for devoting yourself to a lot of different interests depending on your style...

To DRASTICALLY improve your skill aquisition the process of NLP modelling is fantastic, you can really dramatically cut down on the hours it takes to develop real skill. Using modelling and techniques like Knowledge Engineering to map out the heuristics in combination makes for even faster skill aquisition. If you don't want to bother learning NLP yourself I know there are people out there who will work with you to facilitate a skill acquisition.... but they can be pricey....

[FazK]

No - true mastery takes years of continuous effort, think about how long and hard masters of the martial arts like Bruce Lee trained or guitar masters like Steve Vai practiced, and that's just to get good at one thing

It is best to choose something you want to do and stick with it through thick and thing, through the "Dip" as Seth Godin puts it. Spread yourself to thin and you will master nothing

[Talkofthatown919]

it's possible to be real good at alot of things. Just depends on what you see as really good

[sidsavara]

It depends on what "really good" is =)

I find that when I spread myself too thing, two things happen:

1) I get overwhelmed by everything
2) I start getting dissatisfied because progress in all areas slows relative to when I was doing just a few things well

You can be developed all around, but the difference between being #1 in the world and #100 in the world is orders of magnitude of difficulty.

[bluedragon]

Of course you can. You can be a great trainer, professional coach or counselor and at the same time, an expert in the field that you are coaching in (like finances, entrepreneurship, marketing etc). In your spare time, you can learn a martial art or learn how to use your PC like a geek.

Or you can be a tai chi instructor and a massage therapist at the same time, the two being very close related. Nobody stops you from also learning how to play the guitar or how to sing. There are singers who started very late in life and had no professional coaching and who are just amazing.

You can do anything you want. Don't let anybody tell you it's impossible and that it's a mistake to want to be more than you are.

[Danyelle]

I believe anything is possible.

I do believe it would be much harder to be #1 in several fields than it would be to be pretty good in several fields. I guess it depends on what level of mastery you crave in all of the areas you're interested in.

I am pursuing acting, photography, nutrition/wellness, motherhood... Do I expect to be the #1 best most award winning person in all those fields? nope. Do I expect to do well in all? Yup. And so far so good.

[Shane]

I would say it greatly depends on your definition of "really good".

I recently read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and in it he mentions an interesting study. You may have heard of it's findings described as "The 10'000 hour rule". Basically, comparing world-class orchestra musicians with not-quite-world-class and amateur orchestra musicians, the researchers found that the one big difference between the groups was how much time they had spent practicing. They concluded that to become a world-class expert at something, you have to invest an average of about 10'000 hours into deliberate practice.

But world-class might be aiming too high for most things. You can become comparatively good at many things, especially if you are well organized. Most people waste a hell of a lot of their time with things that don't help them progress. If you can avoid idling and spend more time working on skills, you can attain above average skill in many different areas.

[HAGITLOVE]

If you believe it, you can do it.
I paint, play the piano, write, dance and many more, the good thing is that I enjoy it and it makes me feel great - doing the things that I love.

There are no limits but those we believe are there.

Hagitlove

[esmas]

Double Post

[esmas]

Originally Posted by esmas

By asking this question you are already on the right road. Search you mind and you will find your answers.

Say no more.

Originally Posted by vMike

Nice! Is that a generic auto-reply? Cause it'd fit pretty much any question

Haha, funnily the thought was spontaneous and I've never used it before.

I actually said it to this poster for the fact that a year ago I asked a similar question. Since then, I have made the impossible possible. My life looks highly opportunistic right now. Although I must stay focused through both the extremely recreational and imperviously dull times in order to pull out on top.

[TheIronStar]

I'd have to also ask "What's your definition of good?". Others in this post have mentioned ideas of practice and mastery, so I won't rehash that. Note there's a matter of what "good" means for you, though. The ante to play at the table, so to speak, is higher in some fields than others in terms of the rewards available. If you're in a field where only the top n% of the field get any real rewards or opportunities to advance at all, that may change the relevance of "good" versus "good enough for it to matter" or whatever else.

If I wanted to play the pessimist, I would say that the Renaissance men of old were able to be accomplished in many fields simply because the fields contained less knowledge and were of far less depth and specialization than many of those same fields have today.

I won't, however, stop you from trying to achieve your goals. Definitely put in the time into things that you find valuable.

[gbarv]

If both the Pareto Law (80-20 principle) and the 10,000 hour rule are applicable, does that mean one can become "quite good" in 5 different areas in the same time it takes to "master" one of them?

[Brutha]

If I wanted to play the pessimist, I would say that the Renaissance men of old were able to be accomplished in many fields simply because the fields contained less knowledge and were of far less depth and specialization than many of those same fields have today.

There still a bunch of those people in our times.
Take Tim Ferriss as an example and he's only in his early thirties.

You can be developed all around, but the difference between being #1 in the world and #100 in the world is orders of magnitude of difficulty.

JK Rowling doesn't have a lot more training in writing than a lot of other authors. I would even think that she didn't have the full 10000 hours when she had her success with the first Harry Potter book.

The difference between being #1 and being #100 often hasn't anything to do with inherent skill but with betting on the right ideas through chance.

The more the field is about having an impact in the world and not about physical achievement like having a world record in some sport, the more important luck becomes.

[Froztwolf]

It depends entirely on what you are trying to achieve.
I myself have way to many interests and keep getting started with new things only to put them down for other more interesting ones after a few weeks.
I strive for understanding of different fields and once I feel I have that I am satisfied. I don't need achievement or mastery.

Timothy Ferris is a prime example of someone that strives for achievement in different fields. When he became the Chinese national kickboxing champion it was through exploiting a loophole in the rules, he was never that good at kickboxing itself. Not to say he doesn't care about mastery but for him it is merely a vehicle to achievement and if he can get it without the mastery he will.

The third type is then those that practice for 10'000 hours to become masters of their field. Achievement and understanding of the field would often follow the mastery but it is in the mastery itself that their motivation lies.

This third type of people will have an exceedingly difficult time in becoming "good" in many fields when compared to the first two types whose goals will usually be reached much faster.

[Conan Stevens]

Wanting to be good at lots of things IS achievable, I am very good at many things....

BUT I concentrated on each thing at a different period in my life. I focused on that skill until I was "good enough" for my long term goals.

To want to do many htings at once you will wast energy running around, chopping, changing, wasting effort. Stick with one thing and get good, very, very good this is the way to happiness and achievement.

THEN change and learn more, don't be stuck on the one thing your whole life unless it brings you total happiness.

For example I am very good at (meaning I am good enough to attain my high goals);

(1) Australian Pro Wrestling Champion
(2) Dancing, even worked on stage with a National Ballet for 3 years
(3) Fighting (worked as a security guard for too long)
(4) Crowd Manipulation (from Wrestling)
(5) Computer and Laptop repair (had a business/shopfront for 7 years)
(6) Weight Lifting - 22 years experience
(7) Personal Training
(8) Dieting and losing fat
(9) Acting (actually this needs a fair bit of work yet)
(10) Movie Stunts (I do all my own)
(11) Cooking, better than nearly every girl I know
(12) Meeting People and Socialising
(13) Public Speaking
(14) Writing - 4 ebooks and one produced feature length cinema released movie
(15) Lover (Well I enjoy it so I should try hard to be good)


etc. You see many things are related like Wrestling and Dancing as they are both to do with moving fluidly on your feet and following a lead.

But to try to learn all these at once would just show my mind was scattered and I had no clear goal.

[Scipio]

Oh Hai Conan. I remember you posted a thread on bb.com about a Thai movie you were in. Cool! Can't imagine you doing ballet at 7ft tall... heh.

[Scipio]

Originally Posted by Froztwolf

Timothy Ferris is a prime example of someone that strives for achievement in different fields. When he became the Chinese national kickboxing champion it was through exploiting a loophole in the rules, he was never that good at kickboxing itself. Not to say he doesn't care about mastery but for him it is merely a vehicle to achievement and if he can get it without the mastery he will.

Nobody does San Da, they do Muay Thai and kickboxing in the US. So Tim Ferriss went into a league with hardly any competitors and won because of his mediocre wrestling ability. And since all of his fans are ignorant about the level of San Da in the US, they think it's some great achievement to have won what he won. That's like me winning the track and field games at my elementary school when there were only 100 children at my school.

Tim's tango "accomplishment" is not that he is good at tango at all, it's that his partner did the most tango spins in a certain time frame. So he got a professional partner from Argentina who had been doing it for decades and then let her spin. Voila, name in the record books.

Tim is only good at one thing, and that's marketing himself. I can create a resume similar to Tim's as far as random accomplishments and I'm 22.

[Brutha]

Tim's tango "accomplishment" is not that he is good at tango at all, it's that his partner did the most tango spins in a certain time frame. So he got a professional partner from Argentina who had been doing it for decades and then let her spin.

In tango spins both people spin together.

Timothy Ferris is a prime example of someone that strives for achievement in different fields. When he became the Chinese national kickboxing champion it was through exploiting a loophole in the rules, he was never that good at kickboxing itself. Not to say he doesn't care about mastery but for him it is merely a vehicle to achievement and if he can get it without the mastery he will.

Again that's a question of what you think constitutes mastery.
If you think that mastery is completely about physical skill Tim Ferriss isn't a master in that area.
It's rather mastery in understanding the human body and the way you can manipulate it. His paradigm shifting work in that area will probably be more apparent after the release of the book in that area.

[Scipio]

Originally Posted by Brutha

In tango spins both people spin together.

Right, I actually saw the video of them doing it on Regis and Kelly, I'm just saying what he did was nothing. He's not a professional tango dancer by any means, it's that he learned to spin.

It's rather mastery in understanding the human body and the way you can manipulate it. His paradigm shifting work in that area will probably be more apparent after the release of the book in that area.

I will be surprised if I see ANYTHING that isn't new or hasn't been read by me before. I guarantee it will be a throw-together of a bunch of good stuff people have already come up with. Kind of like his blog--some stuff by Dr Eades, some stuff "he recommends" but 90% of bodybuilders already know, saying he has magic weight loss tricks but other people have been advocating them and they've been consistently popular for decades, etc.

So once again, he will be excelling in marketing (getting value that other people have created to large groups of people). That's not a bad thing, it improves people's lives immensely. I'm just saying that's the only thing he's good at.

[brendannz]

I think the first step towards being good at something is enjoying what you do..

That way, you'll naturally put more time into it without consciously thinking about it, and also what you do will be touched by joy.

At the same time, I think you can be really good at something you don't enjoy, or be bad at what you do enjoy. For eg. I remember Pavaroti said he doesn't enjoy singing, and I'm sure many people know someone who really enjoys singing but is a really bad singer, lol

So hard work, peserverence are good steps to getting good at something, but for the hard work to be worthwhile, enjoying it is the best thing..

I also think that it's important to believe

1/ you can be good at many things,
and 2/ you don't need to be good at everything..

Like, for 1/ I'm a good artist / painter. I used to dedicate too much of my ego to this one talent, and I thought I was better than I really was (I'm pretty good, but I still have lots of room for improvement and I'm developing) but anyway, I thought because of this one talent, I had to base my whole identity around a 'tortured artist' identity, and it was cliched and silly, anyway.. since loosening up my ego, I can enjoy many different things. Getting good at cooking, I'm playing sports more, and enjoying those, and doing alright.

and 2/ I think it's good to believe you don't need to be good at everything, because if you need to be perfect at it, it can prevent you from enjoying the activity. For example, lots of people could benefit from going for a run around the block, for good exercise, but it can be frustrating if you need to be an olympic sprinter. As well, people can benefit from learning an instrument, but if you need to play the guitar like Van Halen, then you may give up too early, and get frustrated. You could miss out on being a folk musician or a punk rocker Even if you don't become Buddha, it can be really beneficial to take up meditation, and even if you don't end up the Australian Pro Wrestling Heavyweight champion, knowing how to power slam your next door neighbour's an important skill to pick up..

[merveilles]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Originally Posted by Mogget

You might enjoy reading Barbara Sher's "Refuse to Choose" which provides a lot of techniques for devoting yourself to a lot of different interests depending on your style...

To DRASTICALLY improve your skill aquisition the process of NLP modelling is fantastic, you can really dramatically cut down on the hours it takes to develop real skill. Using modelling and techniques like Knowledge Engineering to map out the heuristics in combination makes for even faster skill aquisition. If you don't want to bother learning NLP yourself I know there are people out there who will work with you to facilitate a skill acquisition.... but they can be pricey....

I'm trying reading that book.. It's actually helping me in a lot of things I didn't mention here.. I'm definitely a Scanner.. I've never even heard of anything like that.. Could you explain it a little more? It sounds super interesting..

Originally Posted by Shane

...They concluded that to become a world-class expert at something, you have to invest an average of about 10'000 hours into deliberate practice.

But world-class might be aiming too high for most things. You can become comparatively good at many things, especially if you are well organized. Most people waste a hell of a lot of their time with things that don't help them progress. If you can avoid idling and spend more time working on skills, you can attain above average skill in many different areas.

This is really interesting.. I almost want to start keeping track of how long I spend doing something now.. lol but it seems like a big problem I have right now is I waste too much time. If I do get more organized, a lot of the time I just end up being lazy and somehow not really doing anything.. Maybe it's hard for me to stay focused too. I don't know. There's something I need to improve but I'm not sure what it is or where to start.

Originally Posted by FW85

I think it depends on how you define "really good" or "amazing". If you mean you want to be the #1 in a given field, I don't think it's possible to be "the best" in many different fields at the same time. Because to reach that level, you need to invest an x amount of hours, which will prevent you from doing a lot of different things at the same time, regardless of how skilled you are in time management. If you mean, "I want to be quite good at different topics", well, that's possible ofcourse.

I'm saying I want to be good enough that I can make a career free lancing a few different things.. There are also at least 4 or 5 different languages I want to become fluent in (besides English), but is that just unheard of? One day I want to travel all over and I think it would be amazing to actually be able to speak all these different languages.

[Shane]

I think spending too much time idling and doing nothing productive is something many people struggle with (including myself). It's just too easy to distract yourself with trivial stuff, these days.

As for language learning: Apparently, it becomes easier, the more languages you learn. From personal experience, I can give you two pieces of advice for learning languages:
1. Focus on practical, everyday conversation. Grammar and writing can follow later.
2. Speak with people in the language you want to learn, as soon as you have the bare minimum of basics. I had French lessons in school for eight years and hardly learnt anything. Then I spent four weeks in France, going to a language school and talking to French people a lot and by the end of those four weeks I could easily hold a conversation in French. So, in my experience 4 weeks actual practice > 8 years theory.