Know what you’re GREAT AT? Probably nothing. Good news is it doesn’t matter. Other good news is when you do shit you enjoy, you’re prob not terrible at it. Nobody enjoys shit they suck at. And if you stop liking whatever you’re doing, it’s a wrap. And that’s that.
Your talent may not exist. Talent isn’t a necessary ingredient for making a living or feeling fulfilled. Emerging yourself in your curiosity is the only way to get from point A to point K. Where Point Z is, who knows?
Here’s a basic overview of my old mindset: Am I good at acting? I am. I’m an entertainer. So, I can’t take that job painting houses because it’s not playing into what I’m best at, and I should only do what I’m great at. If I’m not a natural at it, I don’t want to do it at all. I took ONE flute lesson once, and the woman told me because of the way my lips are formed (regular I think), that I could never be TRULY phenomenal… so, I quit. If I can’t be the world’s greatest flutist, I don’t wanna do that shit at all.
But you know what I’ve learned these last 37 years of existence? I’ve learned that the only thing better than knowing what you’re best at is knowing that you’re probably not great at anything at all. Phew. Isn’t that relieving? To know that you don’t need to look for what you were meant to be? There are so few people who are actually great at something, that are actually doing the thing they’re great at, that the chances of you being one of them, or trying to be, is fuckin slim.
Isn’t it better to do tons of shit you’re terrible at cause you wanna try it all out than spend years in search of what you’re destined to become? Don’t cultivate talent. Explore curiosity. If I only did what I was AMAZINGLY TALENTED at you may not be reading this shit right now at all. Know why? Go to Amazon (this website that sells things). There are millions of authors right now on Amazon who have higher reviews and more fans than I do. So why do I write books? I’m already in a millionth place. Why bother?
See, that’s the goddamn problem. The problem is the people like Jim Collins and others who write books like Good to Great teaching us to follow “the Hedgehog Concept” or all the billions of articles in Business Insider and the like, dictating for us to build on our strengths rather than improving our weaknesses and blah blah blah… it’s such a waste of time. Time is the essence of the matter here. The more you search for your golden ticket the more time you waste.
And although Good to Great is a classic, it can eat a dick. The idea that we’re supposed to focus on what we’re best at and use our talent in the most meaningful way is NOT found by sorting through character traits.
BULLSHITTERY I say, bullshittery.
Look, I (and you) will inevitably, and organically want to continue doing shit I’m great at, or at least better at than other things I do that I am not so good at, simply because it’s easier for me to do it. That’s how to figure out what you’re great at: to NOT. Just do shit you like and if you’re still doing it in a year, chances are you’re probably pretty good at it. Maybe you’re not the Einstein of robotics, but if you like building machines, build them. Maybe you’re not the Picasso or cabinetry, but if you wanna get that table saw and dick around, DO IT. If you still love it in a year you’re probably better than average, not that it matters. If you’re still doing it, that’s meaningful within itself.
I started taking classes on Youtube in physics, then realized I needed trigonometry to understand the core principles of it, then realized I needed to know geometry or whatever other mathematics I needed. So I stopped. Then I watched videos on engineering, economics, and cyber-security. I kept going and going with these classes until one day, I stopped. There’s no way to know what feels natural, or what is easier for me than maybe for others than to just… well, do it. Most things you will be TERRIBLE at, or lose interest in immediately. That’s wonderful news because you’re being active.
I was an actor as a kid, and I loved it. I spent years and years doing it. I was pretty good–not great–but talented, and so because it was easy and fun for me to create characters on stage, I kept on at it. Then it got too hard cause I failed every major audition I went on. That’s not fun. Why do it even if I’m great at it if it’s not fun? Chances are if I were great at it I woulda been cast in American Gangster or Band of Brothers (I auditioned).
Then I produced theatre and I liked that too but I never made any money, but still, it was challenging in a fun way and it led me to start a music agency, which I hated cause I don’t love music. But I did it anyway cause who knows? Maybe I’ll fall in love with it. I didn’t.
I started a PR firm in Los Angeles. I was incredibly good at getting people press, and I was even better at getting myself press, but perhaps I wasn’t as good at the actual occupation of public relations as I was in creating the relationships needed to broker those transactions.
I wrote poetry when I was fourteen, read philosophy when I was fifteen, hitchhiked when I was sixteen, did door-to-door sales when I was seventeen, marketed timeshares when I was eighteen, worked as a barista when I was nineteen (at both a coffee joint and tea house), made pizzas when I was twenty, sold weed when I was twenty-one, but I never looked for what I was good at. I only looked for what worked. If it worked, I would do it.
And that’s why some of those things I tried are still in my life, like tea. Now, what’s a guy to do with that skill? A LOT! So many people find my fun tea tidbits interesting. And I LOVE buying teaware and tasting unique teas and taking time out of my day to sip a hot cup of Royal Golden Yunnan. I stuck to digital marketing after I found it more effective than PR, and I continue writing after all these years (albeit’s not poetry).
See?
Not all those things were in vain. If I have a curiosity to get good at something, and it works when I do it, I keep doing it till I wanna stop. Simple as that. I may not be Mark Twain, but people buy my books and read my blog. So fuck it, I‘ll keep doing it. Will I be upset that I can’t string together narratives as Nick Bilton does? No. I ponder how he’s able to do it, but I don’t wanna be Nick Bilton. Writing enables me to explore subjects that interest me, and I can write those sentences however I want, and tell any story I so choose. For me, that’s the freedom that keeps me in this game.
Digital marketing has always been rewarding to me because it allows me to build a life with freedom. I can do it from anywhere (though I have a 9-5 job at the moment). I used to travel the world and market from hostel lobbies. I love learning how an algorithm works and fuckin with it till I can get it working for me; making my life easier. Technology is seriously interesting to me. So are finance and crypto and virtual reality. I love web3. These things may be confusing to you if you don’t know about it but not to me cause it’s something that comes naturally to me, but I never woulda known a free spirit such as myself would be addicted to stocks and altcoins.
I just go with the interest. When I can build something once and use it over and over again, that is exciting. That’s why I love systems, which are what books and marketing funnels provide me. I write a book for a year–grueling work, and it sits on my bookshelf reminding me of my accomplishment forever. I build a marketing funnel for months and scrap shitty code together then send traffic to it and it makes money and that’s that. The fun is in the money, but also in the “OH SHIT! IT WORKS!”
Out of all the things I have tried in my life, a ton, the things that I have kept at–tea, writing, marketing, are not in my life cause I’m GREAT at them, but because they interest me, they aren’t too hard for me to do, and they work.
I used to think I had to be a traveler; that I could never stop traveling. That’s my brand and people think I am cool because of it. But wait, that means I’ll never make any meaningful connections or retain any worthwhile relationships. What the fuck? That’s a big weight on the other side of the see-saw that is totally not worth it, but I’m glad I didn’t see that light till recently cause I was able to go so many places.
A better question to ask, rather than what am I great at is… Do I hate doing the bad less than I love doing the good about whatever it is I’m doing?
What I’m driving at here is you don’t have to figure out what you’re great at, cause in all likelihood you’re probably not GREAT at anything. Maybe you are, and cool. So what? It matters little. You just have to do what you enjoy, and a surefire way to find things you’re somewhat good at is to find things you enjoy. You’re not gonna enjoy shit you suck at. And remember, it’s better to keep learning and trying new things and finding shit you are terrible at than it is to slowly poke around for a skill you can expand on.
HOW BORING.
There’s no time to look and search and wait and examine. Just do shit you find entertaining and if it’s too hard, you’ll stop. And if it’s not too hard, you won’t have to stick to it cause you’ll end up sticking to it organically. You’ll want to stick to it (even if you don’t think you like it, you probably do).
All these books trying to help you figure out what you’re great at are a total fuckin waste of time. So, just go out there and do something new as often as possible. If you do that, five years from now you’ll be doing exactly what works best for you to be doing, and everything outside of that is where it really matters… such as sharing those experiences with the people you love (the most important thing in life).