“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your energies on a limited set of targets.”

Nido Qubein

 We’ve all heard the idiom, “Jack of all trades.”  The middle class performer takes that as a compliment and answers humbly, “Master of none.”  This “renaissance man” philosophy is romanticized and celebrated by the masses, but this line of thinking is literally the kiss of mediocrity.  Being a “generalist” is no way to rise to the peak of your field.  To make it to the top tier, you must master the skills of your trade (i.e. you have to pick one) and rise to the level of “specialist”.

The Peak Performers, the world class, the champions, if you will, all have become adroit masters of their particular profession.  The average folks spread their energy and focus on too many things, never honing one specific skill set.  Multi-tasking is the bane of the middling, doing a lot of things at once but never being great at anything.

I have many friends that have a shotgun approach to their careers or businesses, and just like birdshot, the farther it travels – the more ineffective it is.  Go with the sniper’s approach of “aim small, miss small” micro-targeting.  Refine your sight picture to one very small point and concentrate all your fire power on that point.

Find your niche, and focus all your energy on becoming great at that one thing, before moving on.  Being a “jack of all trades and master of none” is a guaranteed ticket to being second tier at best, so at least master one.

Ask yourself, “If I were to focus all my energy, and concentrate on mastering one thing, what would it be? And do I have the discipline to stick to it?”

Boo yah!