Being OK with not being extraordinary

Post by ck425 » Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 11:40 PM UTC

MaximumYComb wrote: post #212

I feel there is a common trait of extraordinary people that anyone can develop and it pays dividends. That trait is industriousness. When you listen to interviews from successful people like Elon Musk all the way through to Arnold Schwarzenegger, they all talk about working hard. Terry Toa almost failed the general exams at Princeton due to slacking off, and it was a valuable lesson for him. I don't care how gifted y…

Post by feteru » Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 11:47 PM UTC

econnors wrote: post #103

mettamage wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you do leverage these strengths? I have a somewhat similar profile and I simply feel like a fish judged by its ability to climb a tree. Yet, I: - Help with hiring/marketing/leading scrum sessions (when the actual scrum master is ill) - Conduct pentests - Do the frontend and backend (what I was hired to do) If they'd let me, I'd help with the writing efforts as well as my writing ability is better than that of…

Not OP, but had a similar experience. The key, I've found, is figuring out the role that maximizes your strengths, and converting your current role into that (gradually) or finding a company that has a position that matches. For example, I loved a lot of aspects of being a PM (leading the team, breaking down complicated tasks/releases, designing great UX) but am an engineer at heart. So I worked with my PM to take ov…

Post by munk-a » Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 11:49 PM UTC

wjossey wrote: post #66

umvi wrote: post #2

> Climbing to a higher vantage point can also unlock new forms of extraordinary that you might have never noticed before. I read an article once about how the amount of work to get into the top tier in a single area is astronomical, but the amount of work to become top tier in a combination of 2-3 fields is attainable by almost anyone. For example, becoming a top tier statistician is hard. But becoming a top tier sta…

This is my career so far in a nutshell. I’m an average programmer. I’m an excellent problem solver. I have an above average work ethic. I’m an excellent communicator. Basically, I combined all of these traits and found roles that leveraged these traits to maximize my impact. Not for nothing, but this is why my liberal arts college was profoundly impactful for me, despite not getting a “top tier” CS education. My writ…

Post by ZephyrBlu » Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 11:51 PM UTC

shoes_for_thee wrote: post #124

bradlys wrote: post #67

I think it's important to also reframe what extraordinary even means. Many people are comparing themselves to the most privileged of backgrounds - where they were at the top from birth and only had to get a bit higher. I'm considered extraordinary in comparison to the place I grew up - just because of my background and where I am now. On top of this - I am wary of being singly great at something. Living in Silicon Va…

“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.” Robert A. Heinlein

Post by brettinternet » Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 11:58 PM UTC

tmatthe wrote: post #223

mattbillenstein wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you hosting this?

HostPapa. I contacted them and they said it was a problem with their server, so I can't do anything about it sadly.