Ask HN: I want to be an expert in many things but my lifetime won't be enough

Is it as simple as having information and experience?

I have read everything on being a carpenter but I have never practiced, so therefore I am “book smart” when it comes to carpentry?

I guess this doesn’t really cut it because when someone claims their “steet smart” as a way to combat feeling inferior to someone else they have credited as “book smart” what they’re really trying to say is that they have knowledge that’s more useful in different situations? Or more practical situations?

The more I think about this the more it seems like claiming to be “street smart” is just saying “hey, I’m smart too, just in a different way” when you’re feeling a bit less than someone.

…your ability to appreciate one pursuit or subject will be forever impaired by the existential urgency to “catch ‘em all”.

I realized long ago that I’m addicted to novelty. And I’ve accepted that and I’m okay with it - I love ideas and starting things high on the inspiration and vision for the future, only to lose steam and switch to something else (lack of higher purpose and discipline).

For me, I think it’s all about a drive for significance. So I do a lot cuz I want to matter and be important, make an impact, dent the universe, etc. I don’t want to be an expert in terms of knowledge, but instead in execution and realizing the initial vision. To decide what to go with right now, I’ve come up with the following priority scheme:

0) things where I have passion, highest excitement, engagement, you will not be the best or be an expert if this is not true - non-negotiable step 0 1) youth and time advantage - things that need me you look younger or be unrestricted by family, mortage, energy 2) risk appetite/tolerance advantage - which things are higher risk that I can surely accept now but maybe not in the future when I have more responsibility 3) unlocking other freedoms or opportunities - which things will unlock everything else and make them effortless to start - like exiting a startup with major $$ so you can put it all into ungodly expensive hobbies like becoming an expert rally car racer. I can’t do that financially right now :( 4) what will help myself and my family, friends, tribe in a meaningful way 5) what will help the world in a meaningful way, end suffering 6) discover new truths and scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity.

It’s essentially a tie-breaking algorithm , shameless hacker plug ;).

I’ll close with a few quotes/ideas:

- with the strategy above you need to set a clear, achievable short term goal with explicit success criteria so you can be honest with yourself if discipline wavers and want to switch to something else. Trace it to the root cause!

- you should go all-in on it. prioritize, but make it short term so you can course correct, do a personal check-in on how it’s going. Give it at least a week, never more than 90 days. Bite sized goals are better because you can have a tighter iteration on your process and see if you’re happy.

- C’s make CEOS because they are smart enough to execute but dumb enough to not doubt themselves, enumerate the ways for failure, be distracted by exciting new ideas, etc.

- people saying “life is short” made me anxious and stressed for a while, and one day my girlfriend said “relax, life is actually pretty long”. I’m having a better time thinking like that.

- the most important part of life is other people. I heard some obscure YouTuber say that about 4 years ago, and I thought it had to be more complex than that. I’m increasingly believing he’s right.