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How to Become the Best in the World at Something

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Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#61

Post by cgufus »

mindgam3 wrote: post #42

> You will not be the world’s greatest writer, nor the top chess player, nor the most masterful public speaker. > It’s not about being great at any one thing — you just need to be pretty good at an array of useful skills that, when combined, make you truly one of a kind. As somebody who was the world’s #2 chess player for my age as a kid (okay, not the “top” but close enough) - I’d like to say that the advice in this…

I don't think the original article was about not giving the best to achieve things, but more about diversifying skills to achieve a reasonably high level more efficiently compared to focusing on one skill.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#62

Post by criddell »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #17

I think there is yet another path: hyper specialization in one ludicrously specific niche no one else cares about or has good reason for not getting into. If you spend 10k hours perfecting something no one else even thought of trying, chances are you'll be the best in the world at it.

> hyper specialization in one ludicrously specific niche no one else cares about or has good reason for not getting into

So... like get a PhD?

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#64

Post by markus_zhang »

mindgam3 wrote: post #59
markus_zhang wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I'm wondering maybe the striving to best mentality is also in the genetics or early education. But I do agree that this mentality helps tremendously.

I'm not going to lie, my parents pushed me really hard, which helps develop the mentality. (Probably too hard, but that's a different story) But the great thing about the "striving to be best" mentality is you don't need anyone else to give it to you, and if you didn't get it as a kid it's never too late to start. You just need to be passionate about something and then be crazy enough to see how far you can go with i…

I agree with you. My parents also pushed very hard for me playing piano and I gained skills quickly. However I never really had a lot of interest in it so forgot most of it in recent years.

I don't have the mental power to be crazy, but you are right.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#65

Post by reroute1 »

lbacaj wrote: post #60
mindgam3 wrote: post #42

> You will not be the world’s greatest writer, nor the top chess player, nor the most masterful public speaker. > It’s not about being great at any one thing — you just need to be pretty good at an array of useful skills that, when combined, make you truly one of a kind. As somebody who was the world’s #2 chess player for my age as a kid (okay, not the “top” but close enough) - I’d like to say that the advice in this…

I was pretty good at Chess myself growing up, consistently got trophies in tournaments. Ranked in the top 5 nationally (within the US) for my age group, the trophy I earned for that was bigger than me (I was 12 at the time). Still though being top 5 in the US for that age group dosent mean very much, the US is one country out of many others. On top of that as you stack against other ages especially say when I became…

I agree, also this should have been called why to be pretty good at lots of things.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#66

Post by BlameKaneda »

Two of my greatest loves are tennis and photography. I've been playing tennis for over 20 years (nearly a decade competitively) and I started taking photography seriously about 7 years ago. In both of these fields, especially tennis, I'm comfortable enough where I can teach it to just about anyone.

In the first few years of doing both, there were plenty of times where I was intimidated by better people, where I'd ask myself "why can't I be more like X?"

At some point, there came a time when I became comfortable enough in my abilities so that I no longer think that way. All in all I think I'm an excellent tennis player and that I take great photos. So what if Alice is a better tennis player than me? So what if Bob takes better photographs?

If anything, and this is especially true with photography, whenever I come across a better person I try to take away something from their skills that can use to improve myself.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#67

Post by agota »

markus_zhang wrote: post #57
agota wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another person in this thread pointed out that "skill stacking" boils down to becoming good at two skills, "X + marketing". I think that's a good example of "Good at A + hates B", say "Good at software engineering + hates marketing". But what are the other "Good at A + hates B" skill combinations?

Good tech skills plus hate human interation. Or vice versa. Some people just have the innate to get good at both. I think if you want you can definitely train very hard to be OK for sth you hate but is it worth it?

I think whether it's worth it depends on if the goal you are trying to achieve is worth it.

I remember reading about this couple of I believe software engineers who achieved financial independence at I think age 30.

If I recall correctly, she didn't have any natural aptitude for software engineering, she struggled to keep up with her classmates, she didn't enjoy her work, etc.

Still, she got her degree, got a job, made six figure salary, and retired at 30.

From what I understand, for her it was worth it.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#68

Post by agota »

cgufus wrote: post #55
agota wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point. However, I think the question is how likely it is that you would be able to become the best in the world at something? I think that people who are the best in the world at something tend to be genetic freaks. Are you one? Probably not. In that case, attempting to become the best in the world might mean setting yourself up for failure, though presumably you would still be more successful than an a…

I guess people being at the 99 percentile of one specialized thing probably are better compensated (with respect to salary) than people being at 99 percentile of their array of skills. However, maybe for the latter, also compensation is an array consisting of work-life-balance elements like sports, free-time, hobbies, happiness on the job and family life aside from pure monetary compensation.

I think that's definitely something to consider. In theory, everyone would love to be the best in the world at something, but in practice, how many people would want to live a life required to achieve that?

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#69

Post by playing_colours »

matwood wrote: post #49
mindgam3 wrote: post #42

> You will not be the world’s greatest writer, nor the top chess player, nor the most masterful public speaker. > It’s not about being great at any one thing — you just need to be pretty good at an array of useful skills that, when combined, make you truly one of a kind. As somebody who was the world’s #2 chess player for my age as a kid (okay, not the “top” but close enough) - I’d like to say that the advice in this…

> The only way to get world-class at something is to work your ass off. To have discipline and apply yourself consistently to the practice, day in and day out, for years. I completely agree with you. I have commented many times on HN about discipline and how much it can change your life (it changed mine). I probably have nowhere near the discipline you have cultivated, but I'm working every day to get better.

Could you share please how you cultivate the discipline, and maybe, books/ podcasts that inspired you?

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#70

Post by markus_zhang »

agota wrote: post #67
markus_zhang wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good tech skills plus hate human interation. Or vice versa. Some people just have the innate to get good at both. I think if you want you can definitely train very hard to be OK for sth you hate but is it worth it?

I think whether it's worth it depends on if the goal you are trying to achieve is worth it. I remember reading about this couple of I believe software engineers who achieved financial independence at I think age 30. If I recall correctly, she didn't have any natural aptitude for software engineering, she struggled to keep up with her classmates, she didn't enjoy her work, etc. Still, she got her degree, got a job, ma…

I agree 100%. It depends on personal goals.

Another thing is we can train skill B by using a method that we enjoy, to remove half of the pain.

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