It’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, having spent most of my life building a skillset that’s broad but shallow. I think there were two fears behind that: Picking an option I’d come to regret, and of failing in something in which I was trying to excel.

@dbtest117

Ай бұрын

For me it's that I get boered with with doing the thing I should do and other interests take over. Simply I have difficulties focusing my interests long enough on one single thing. I really don't lose interest I loose momentum when I need to implement it. I'm full of ideas constantly but fail at executing.

@mikeearls126

Ай бұрын

@@dbtest117 One of my friends calls me a dabbler. I get into something, I do it for awhile and gain some knowledge and then in a few weeks, poof, it's gone. I am 56 and always have been like this. All of my time getting into things has really gotten me nowhere besides feeding my curious mind.

@schtefel

Ай бұрын

I'm surprised about your comment and many people agreeing based on the likes. I'm as well spending lots of my time building and broadening my skillset in many different areas of life (degree in Finance but transitioned into data and having seen different kind of industries and currently for the first time working as a consultant, learning a ton of different sports, having practiced cold approaching and talking to all kinds of strangers no matter gender or age, having solo backpacked in many different parts of the world, having learned a new language all through self-study and talking to people while traveling, etc. in the future it may be learning an instrument or whatever excites me) and I have to say it is one of the most rewarding decisions I took in my life when I decided in Summer 2019 to not only hit the weights in the gym or do Calisthenics but to learn new skills by myself from scratch, or when I had the balls to go on my first solo backpacking trip etc. For example I met locals during my trip and had a blast hanging out with them just because I had learned that new sport a Summer ago, or always having new challenges at work, or having the courage to approach people and have an interesting conversation with them, etc. The reward you get from having a broad skillset is absolutely amazing! There are also other reason why it makes sense, for example you're effectively managing risk, imagine your highly specialised in something and within a couple of years only half of employees are needed anymore because AI can do the job - well no problem if you have a generalist profile you just move on to something else and quickly upskill to get the specialist knowledge you need to at least enter into something new. Or you get badly injured (or simply lose interest because all your good old friends quit) in the one and only sport you have been doing all your life - well, many people will just quit it all together but then don't start anything new. I could go on and on with examples. I'd highly advise for most people, especially younger people, to really broaden (but also deepen at the same time) your skillset and don't over-specialize in something

@shailstube

Ай бұрын

@@schtefel "Jack of all trades and master of few" has been my approach in life so far. I have also changed those "few" in the last 20 years and am completely satisfied with my decision.

@leichin5778

Ай бұрын

@@schtefel I have to say, you sound like a very interesting person. Which is even more of a reason why it's so rewarding. I'm like you and while I do struggle to decide what I want to (do due to having so many interests and skills), I feel like I have the ability to do many different things/jobs and this is something very valuable in life. So when something fails, I can always switch to the other. Having only one thing with what you identify yourself with is a huge risk. Because if you lose that, suddenly you find yourself in an identity crisis or even existential crisis.

Think in Projects, not Careers. I think people will always have varied interests in many fields in life. However, they need to learn to take it one project at a time. And Slowly build those projects till they come to fruition. It is nothing wrong in having varied interests, what is wrong is not putting in efforts to actually keep leveling up in those areas of interests.

@PolishBehemoth

Ай бұрын

Dang. Thats smartest comment thus far.

@jacobmarley6781

Ай бұрын

I agree. I do this as well. There are seasons in life.

@colinb8332

Ай бұрын

I like the advice, but it gets tricky when you factor in how much money is needed today to just make it by. It’s easy for projects to get shelved when work starts consuming so much time.

@danish2462

Ай бұрын

@@colinb8332 yes. agreed. However. A time will come when you will have to quit your day job to manage those projects that have the potential to reach the next level and you can leverage to start another project. Eventually it is a long game and the hustle will be there till the projects start managing themselves or turn revenue or you hire someone to manage it for you.

@JoaquimGonsalves

Ай бұрын

This is what makes sense.

My piano teacher told me: "Better to practice 20 minutes every day than 3 hours once a week". And his advice worked very well. At the same time I can't break complicated things into small time frames, so your advice is also good.

@_nebulousthoughts

2 ай бұрын

My fitness regime is based around that methodology

@ricomajestic

Ай бұрын

I find that the most efficient practice method is to have a good practice routine and practice every other day. Take a day off in between practice sessions.

@Mayaaa-desuu

Ай бұрын

I code 8hours everyday

@BWater-yq3jx

Ай бұрын

​@@ricomajestic Reasonable if you've already been playing for many years, and don't have to learn a lot of new techniques and material; otherwise it's not the best path to proficiency.

@ricomajestic

Ай бұрын

@@BWater-yq3jx It is true even for beginners. It is the way the brain works. If you tire the brain then it won't learn at all. That's just a fact. So practicing the same thing for 8 hours in a row is a lousy way to practice. You learn just as much practicing correctly for 1 hour. Practice doesn't make perfect...Perfect practice makes perfect and resting!

If you’re just doing them for enjoyment, no need to choose. If the goal is to make meaningful progress, then narrow your focus. I do my hobbies sheerly for enjoyment. I’m crap at almost all of them, but I’m happy because I have plenty of variety.

@carmenM-ey6qy

Ай бұрын

Good point!

@anxskhxn

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the advice! I'm considering a few career options going forward which requires different skillsets and i often keep switching between them to learn making no progress at all :(

@dee24298

Ай бұрын

This is so important! Not everything in life is productivity - sometimes it's just for joy even if you're bad at it!

@lucasblanc1295

Ай бұрын

Actually I felt like crap not having any progress at language learning (as a hobby) besides English, and I consciously told myself I need to stop being so sloppy, and I could use it as an opportunity to do lateral knowledge transfer when it comes to the work ethics of having meaningful progress, in other words, I had to stop dabbling with a bunch of different languages that were too hard for me (Lexical Distance & My personal availability) to go past the threshold for enjoyment, I can learn French as a Portuguese and English speaker mostly by listening/reading to it, as opposed to picking on Russian that's so much more linguistically distant I need to do much more upfront hard boring work to get the same level of enjoyment I can get from French because of its lexical/grammatical similarity. So for some things, meaningful progress is tied with how much enjoyment they get out of it. For some, picking Arabic and having to go through the first 2000 most used vocabulary to even start to get a fraction of the understanding (in their immersion sessions) of another closer language, can be for them really enjoyable. I just found that French was the sweet spot for me. Spanish and Italian are too close to Portuguese (my native language) that it didn't feel enough of a challenge for me, but I want to pick up a good pace on them eventually.

@SarahC2

9 күн бұрын

Same here! I do a lot of stuff, biology, digital electronics, 3d modelling, coding, juggling, arty stuff, Ham radio, crap at all of them! But it's fun! Why be "productive"? That's a business strategy!

Most of us think we have many interests… starting something new feels hopeful so we’re constantly chasing after the next thing. Social media makes it worse.

@ianodonoghue3165

Ай бұрын

Agreed, as soon as one thing becomes even slightly a challenge we drop it and find something else. For me personally it's like I'm addicted to the novelty - starting something new which could be due to lack of exploration however I've heard sticking through hobbies even when they become challenge generates more reward for us than constantly stopping and starting something all over again. Something for me to work on and "simplify" I feel

@bennemann

Ай бұрын

I think you meant "hopeless" there, not "hopeful".

@EmilGhiurau

Ай бұрын

I'm at this point too where to many things are taking my focus. But finding that intersection where your passion meets your skills and the potential for financial reward can indeed lead to a fulfilling path. It's a balance of what you love, what you're good at, and what the world needs or values.

@calisongbird

Ай бұрын

@@bennemannno, they meant “hopeful.” Starting something new fills them with hope and excitement. They’re addicted to the novelty of new things.

@SR-fx5sm

Ай бұрын

Agreed. Its called FOMO

"He who'd arrive at the appointed end must follow a single road and not wonder through many ways." - Venerable Seneca

Once you get away from the economic imperative, life is way richer with varied interests. And i find there tend to be connections and overlapping knowledge between many. But it is true everything you say about what one needs to sacrifice for mastery. Excellent video

@markenriquez6937

Ай бұрын

Very well said.

I suffer from having a lot of interests that I’d like to pursue. Something I may try and suggest is to tackle one or two things in a 6 month long or 1 year period and see how much improvement you make. Then if you feel satisfied go and tackle the next thing on your list in another 6 month time block.

@KatJaguar1122

Ай бұрын

Excellent. That’s kind of what I had in mind. I should probably just lay it down officially to do just that.

@EponaDreams-AmbientDreamscapes

Ай бұрын

I found that no matter what I do, it usually takes 18 to 24 months to get meaningful and lasting results with continuous effort. You might be different, so base your time period on your own historic successes in case you stop something too soon.

Ай бұрын

Look up the book Refuse To Choose by Barbara Sher. I'm just like what you described, and it really changed my worldview on these issues

@user-cz3ik2ek1b

Ай бұрын

​@thanks

@el_micha

Ай бұрын

@ I can also recommend reading Barbara Sher. Just starting on this book. It's not just a read but an interactive tutorial to understand oneself better and find a meaningful life as a person w/ many interests.

I asked this question and had no idea it was answered! KZread served me the video this morning. Thank you Cal and Jesse, this video found me at just the right time.

@Xxh0mEr0xX

10 ай бұрын

This is a very bad take. If you have an array of interest of skills you want to dive in, yes there will be trade offs, but mostly time management. If you dont have any more time, you just wont be able to add nothing new. But I say this for a reason, skills, real knowledge or understanting, it takes TIME, and im talking serious time, years of dedicated, focused work. Will a year of only focusing in a thing get you to a point of mastery? Most likely no, but it is your best bet. BUT BUT BUT, do you want to master something or you just doing for the sake of it? You want to be the next Michael Jordan or just improve your handles?. Are you going to stop reading because you want to improbe your handles? Life happens and you just cant stop everything for something new. Manage your time and keep in mind it's better to add frecuency than add volume (if you want to spend 6 hours a week you are better of 1 hour a day than 6 on saturdays)

@helin779

3 ай бұрын

your comment makes no sense, it just sounds like an idiot pretending to say something profound LOL@@Xxh0mEr0xX

@marktovey273

Ай бұрын

Dude look up diminishing marginal returns. This guy's advice to you is backwards. The longer you spend on one thing the less each unit of time returns. Like when you begin learning guitar, the first 6 months you go from nothing to being able to play the chords that make up almost all popular songs. That's amazing progress. Now what is the difference between someone who has played 10 years vs. 10 years and 6 months. You see? 6 months at the beginning yields a lot more than later on. So to my mind you actually get more benefits by spreading your time over multiple pursuits

@j-station

Ай бұрын

@mghenry13 where can I hear your music

@francisdayon

Ай бұрын

I prefer to be really good in one or two things than to be mediocre at multiple things. You need to be at least better than average to truly derive happiness from a hobby. IMO

Great clip - super important advice for something I also struggle with. Possibility and potential are awfully shiny, they are representations of what you _could_ be, notions that you can happily fantasise about and chase around . You _could_ be a successful author, musician, actor, athlete, business owner, content creator, scientist, professor, doctor, or "anything you want" as you may have been told growing up. And so, by narrowing yourself to one or two things, you are destroying all of those other possibilities (creating painful impossibilities) which requires acceptance and understanding of your limits: you only have so much time.

@robyoung64

Ай бұрын

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

@DaMomento

Ай бұрын

⁠amazingly said 😮❤

This question is me. Want to do a lot in one lifetime but cannot figure out how. Thanks for answering, Cal.

@roamingmompreneur792

2 ай бұрын

There’s more than one lifetime. You’ll do it all ❤

Ай бұрын

I suggest taking a look at the book Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher, for an advice in the opposite direction (that has been much more useful in my personal life!)

@anxskhxn

Ай бұрын

You just spoke my mind haha :)

Yeah I have this problem. I have two kids and a full time job, I train BJJ, lift, want to start running soon, do game dev, recently picked up drawing (which I've been neglecting due to lack of time). I also like video games. Honestly, with two kids and a job, you can really only pick one of the above. For a while it was JUST game dev, or JUST BJJ, and both of those things flourished as they got my full attention. Even just adding (playing) videogames back in has messed with my progress and motivation. I sometimes think hobbies are a modern luxury and we should be grateful that we get to practice even just one. Trying to do it all might be some form of gluttony.

@NKolev-om9cg

Ай бұрын

"Hobbies are a modern luxury"... Bleak times we live in.

@rohitchaoji

Ай бұрын

@@NKolev-om9cg I blame post-industrial revolution way of working. I think people (at least people with some degree of privilege) had a lot more time to pursue other interests outside of work.

@IVIRnathanreilly

Ай бұрын

Hobbies are definitely not gluttonous or a modern luxury. Animals play and relax too. If you just mean pursuing multiple hobbies being gluttonous I can't disagree more, you simply don't have a preference. If you only enjoyed 1 thing and pursued that for the same amount of time you spend on multiple, would that be gluttonous?

@Alistair

Ай бұрын

@@IVIRnathanreilly he is talking from the perspective of having kids. Having gone through this transition myself, I can see what he is saying. If you have massive responsibilities in your life, you can't expect to have time to do all the things that you used to do. When you are single you have a ridiculous amount of time, even if you don't realise it because you waste it all scrolling through social media. Add a partner, and you start having to be more careful what you choose to do and when. Add kids, and you can kiss most of your free time goodbye for quite some time. You can get organised and take turns with your partner to get some time back, but good luck getting time for both of you regularly unless you have good family or friends that can help out. And if one of you gets sick, then you are basically going to have periods of no free time.

@shiptj01

Ай бұрын

​@@IVIRnathanreillyOnly the elites could have hobbies for most of history.

This is my problem too. The curse of being curious about everything. Super helpful advice!

@quercus21

Ай бұрын

Me in a nutshell. 😂

My mentor told me "a little here and a little there only adds up to a little" and "you can only dance at one party at a time". Also Buffet's quote you can't have a baby in a month by getting 9 women pregnant. I struggled with the the same thing though

@Kn0wOneNos3

Күн бұрын

BBUUUT you could have 9 babies in 9 months if you get 9 women pregnant 🤔🤣🫡

In order to be a subject matter expert in any field, you need to do that thing every day. It needs to be your primary focus. This guy is absolutely right. A professional brick layer or a heart surgeon does that thing every day. Hence, they become subject matter experts.

As someone who didn't just start their career, specialize specialize specialize. Broad general skills will stop paying dividends around 35-40 years old in tech. You've been in the industry for 10-20 years and garner a much higher salary but with broad skillsets. It will become evident very quickly that there is someone half your age who can also do the same thing at half your cost. You need to either specialize and/or step into that staff/principal role where you are adding value to the business that others cannot. Also, having 3 different business ventures with 10 different hobbies is absolutely not feasible with a family. Your kids, family, spouse will all require a huge chunk of your time. One business venture with something brewing on the side like a side hustle, along with 1-2 hobbies is really what I recommend if you also have a family.

@andreypopov6166

Ай бұрын

if you find a good niche then specialisation will be rewarding. But currently, for example software development job market leans towards "full stack" but not specialists. I would say - you should know one domain quite well for sure, but also should be well rounded enough.

@nacpatil

Ай бұрын

Not sure this works always. Sometimes the niche you are expert in can loose relevance. So there is no one for all answer.

@7BlackShadow

Ай бұрын

Polymaths have a different perspective with broad skillsets. Forming mote connections. I like to study psychology, soziology, politics and history. Combine all these things and you get a unique perspective, if you can combine it sucessfully that is.

I appreciate the idea of “baselining” interests. Like your caller, I have several hobbies (in addition to my day job) and in the one that matters, I’ve made almost no discernible progress. But I don’t want to abandon those other interests, and baselining gives me a way to maintain or make slight progression on those items while having the majority of my attention on the big prize.

I had this problem at work. Between 8 and 10 micro-tasks trying to progress all at the same time, each incrementally, and wasn't delivering any of them, over several weeks. I reached out and my manager asked me to plan the tasks out sequentially, maybe one or two in parallel with some overlap. As soon as I did that, I delivered the first one in a couple days.

This advice is wonderfully captured and greatly elaborated upon in the book “The ONE Thing”

can relate as I'm deep into guitar, singing, playing cricket, road cycling, graphic design, video editing!

We have to be VERY careful here! What we can't do is coach Leonardo Da Vinci to "just focus" and be more into a small set of things. Surely there are different kinds of people and some are more virtuosic in narrow areas and some are more interdisciplinary. Society needs BOTH kinds of production because we need specialized progress AND connections between different areas revealed. Along with some of the other commenters below I use a rotational system where I have a 'quarter' curricula. Only a couple things get total focus in any given 3 month segment, but there can be hard pivots several times a year. Of course, I will not reach the same realms of achievement as a specialized expert, but that is not the point of my efforts anyway. I hope to enhance connections between 'dots' while others move those fields forward at deeper levels.

@MylotheZooLovingScientist

Ай бұрын

If you don’t mind elaborating, I would love to hear more about how you organize and then implement your “quarterly curricula.” I am in an uncharted transitional period in my life and think that pursuing some long(er)-term personal projects and starting on some deep, self-paced study of my areas of interest would be a great thing for me, but am feeling a bit lost on how to even begin that process, having never really had the free time to devote considerable time and attention to personal projects and having never really had to structure learning for myself.

@dielaughing73

Ай бұрын

Do you think da Vinci would be seeking advice from a youtuber on how to manage his varied interests? Or would he already have figured it out, as you seem to have. I don't think this video runs much risk of discouraging any nascent polymaths from following their (unique and vanishingly rare) path

@DanBlabbers

Ай бұрын

@@dielaughing73 da Vinci had wealthy patrons. He could spend all day every day focusing on whatever he wanted.

@dielaughing73

Ай бұрын

@@DanBlabbers I guess that's the real pro tip huh?

@nile7999

10 күн бұрын

mistake 1: comparing yourself to davinci delusions of grandeur

For anyone watching this and empathyzing with the question being asked: I urge you to take a look at "Refuse to Choose" by Barbara Sher, for a different perspective on the same issue. Hers is an approach that has personally helped me much more than the "just focus" crowd, of which mr. Newport appears to be part of (no offense intended -- his book "So Good They Can't Ignore You" also changed my life, although in aspects different than the one discussed in the video).

I used to think it's a semi-curse that am interested in almost everything. I have gathered a few skills on the way, from a PhD in engineering (also here ranging from differential geometry to heart surgery), painting, composing music, graphical design, tailoring clothes, I speak 5 languages, including "exotic" ones like Finnish and Japanese fluently (meaning I can speak on more or less any topic and could teach my university classes in any of them). A lot of DIY/maker, building stuff, Golf, martial arts, fitness, cooking .... I really went in any direction and in retrospect, I must say I am not sure I regret it. I rarely did things much in "parallel" but rather in short extreme bursts and sure, I am never as good at any of these things like someone who does them professionally, but many of the skills really interacted in helpful ways and I am surprised how far I actually did come in many of the skills, such as languages and sports. My nightmare would have been to put all eggs in one basket - for a few reasons: These days things move quickly and individual baskets may become meaningless overnight. I would feel bored and empty. I am happy not being the best at one single thing. If I could start again, apart from setting the "weights" a bit differently, I would do things exactly the same again. It's brought me amazing opportunities across all areas of life, from career to hobbies, friends and general satisfaction.

God can i pay you to sort my life out please? my whole life since i was 17 has been constant mismanagement of hobbies and interests. add to that side hustle projects and I'm lost. I'm 40 now and I have achieved nothing other than a dayjob. I also suspect I might have ADHD.

@tprs_ita

11 ай бұрын

I can sort your life for free: there's nothing to fix. You like excellence but achieve only mediocrity for your too many interests. You are like this, I am like this, the world is full of people like us. Your only problem is you can't get over it. My suggestion would be to do some work for charity, or to help other people. There even mediocrity is acceptable and the uninterested work does make you a better person, which is a good side effect. Good luck!

@mytube1333

2 ай бұрын

Same here with 43! I just sometimes wish to life in a box!

@sp123

2 ай бұрын

​@@tprs_itawe have to pick our battles because no one can be good at everything

@ericjeker

2 ай бұрын

Read the book: The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han. ADHD might be a symptom and not a cause.

@john.8805

2 ай бұрын

Some good responses here, let me add my own suggestion: as an adult you have 5 buckets in life - 1. income, 2. obligations (family chores etc), 3. fun (friends and distractions), 4. rest (your energy level and spiritual balance) and 5. aspiration (hobbies and what you want to see become reality in the world). Everything else is out of your control. Anyone who is excellent at one of these is considered a success as per society. If you are excellent at 2 you will be the one eyed king among the blind and people will love you for that. Amateurs seek to be excellent in all 5 (impossible). Failure is considered to be so bad at one bucket that it negatively effects the others. Most people are passable at all and periodically good at one or the other, depending on the circumstances. Pros are talented in one area and know it early so they can spend the most time on that bucket and hire help for the other buckets. How to sustain your buckets: pick the top 3 things in that bucket, focus on nr1 and be ok/passable at the other 2. Outsource/mitigate/ignore the rest. This will keep you alive and going forward and able to commit towards your favorite bucket where every effort committed is a x10. The world has an interest in letting you know what bucket is your 10x, the more data you collect, the surer you will be. Don’t despair and manage towards beneficial outcome until it becomes obvious. Thats it.

Of the articles/videos I've watched on this topic, this is the best yet. Cal always has it : )

I believe very much in what you saying here. To focus on a couple of things each times. It has been proven my science that learning two languages at the time actually can be more beneficial than only solely focusing on one (it is a little what you are saying here). I would like to add one thing though. Journaling. Try to keep a journal following your pursuits. That makes it easier and keeps you on track and focused. To write down the goals themselves has never worked for me (it kind of weakens them for me, at least). But to track to way towards them is very good. Kind of contradictive, I know.

My Intrests: Mathematics and Computation, Science, Engineering, History, Martial Arts, Bodybuilding, Business, Firearms, Politics, Farming, Philosophy, Economics

@agnimitram340

Ай бұрын

I thought it was only me. I have formal training in mathematics and computer science but due to this distraction of other hobbies I am not exceptional at either of them. I know about politics, philosophy, sociology more than most programmers but it has no value. I learnt it the hard way. Now I am all in into AI.

@willjones8825

Ай бұрын

lol you should add trolling cause what even is your profile picture/handle?

@MethanoicAcid

Ай бұрын

@@agnimitram340 yes, it is very difficult to be exceptional at any of your interests when you have too many of them

@adamcylee

Ай бұрын

@@agnimitram340At least you are an interesting person, your peers must be exceptional bores

@rowser4472

Ай бұрын

@@willjones8825some guy that overdosed

Thank you very much. I needed this reality check badly.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 01:50 💡 If you try to make progress on multiple things simultaneously, you may make meaningful progress on almost none of them. 02:33 📈 The relationship between effort and reward is often non-linear, meaning that concentrated effort on one thing can lead to significantly greater rewards. 03:42 🚀 Simplify your focus by choosing one or two main areas of attention, and baseline everything else, giving most of your time and effort to the primary focus. 05:22 🎯 Focusing intensely on one or two things at a time can lead to unlocking significant rewards, compared to frequently switching your attention. 05:50 🌟 Simplification and concentration of effort are key principles for achieving meaningful progress in various areas of your life. Made with HARPA AI

@vandayahall957

2 ай бұрын

Bless you ❤

@PolishBehemoth

Ай бұрын

Extra blessings your way!

Lots of wisdom here, subscribed.

I would say that you should learn thing's one by one starting from most important to less important Because if you'll try to learn all those things at the same time (side by side ) You'll learn nothing This will make you confused and you will end up doing nothing (also you'll feel dimotivated) I hope this will help you 🙃

My philosophy is to work on a singular project you are passionate about, and become exceptionally good at one thing that is most important in achieving that project. For me, I learned the last years software development has been that one thing, and to this day it still hasn’t bored me to the extent I felt like switching to another interest. Going deep gives a tremendous amount more gratification than going broad, even though I feel to the outside world it has made me a more boring person. Therefore I have one extra interest that I can use to release all my creative energy: making music, either on the computer or by improvising on piano. I actively see that I’m not as good at making music as I could be, but that’s okay.

@devotionvisuals

Ай бұрын

What an amazing way to look at it mate. I have adhd and now that i am 32 i finally understand this myself. Working on one thing for the money or out of pure passion. Become a master at it. And have an amazing hobby/creative passion to nourish the soul on the side. And the trick is to keep this for you and not monotize that and kill the love. For me that’s photography

@grain9640

22 күн бұрын

For me, the one thing that doesn't bore me when I go deeper is painting. I always wake up ready to paint, and I always want to improve.

Amazing piece of advice. Very clear in delivery and choice of words.

Yes, this topic resonates with me deeply. Thank you for the advice! I need this reality check so badly. :)

I look at myself with this quote “Jack of all, master of none”. Because I’m curious to know new things by leaving old interests behind. After thinking, Reason I found “I’m too scared of sticking to one thing as my life filled with boredom. Which makes me to hunt for next exciting thing on earth”.

@el_micha

Ай бұрын

I can relate. You might want to look into the idea of being a "scanner" person. Barbara Sher dedicated her life to making these ppl live a fulfilled live. You should check out her books!

@kranthikiran8318

Ай бұрын

@@el_micha Hey thanks for that! I’m just sharing this scanner topic and questions from “Refuse to choose” with my scanner friends. Actually it will be awesome if this work continues rather than ending with Barbara. This is my second youtube comment in last 13 years. Your reply helped me a lot. I think it is going to have a great impact on me. Thanks again

It's about your mental cache. Once you focus on something each level of the cache is filled with that stuff so you move fast. If you do many things, the cache has to be rebuilt on each switch.

This was needed very much. Thanks a lot!

Idea: Outsource interests. Find mentors or partners in every field you want to grow. Then you grow really fast and don't waste time.

This video was super important for me!

I needed to hear this, thanks!

Bunch of thanks Cal.... It helped me a lot as I too face similar difficulty on having multiple interests but don't know how to handle or get rid of it. Now I got the point.

I suffered with this for years, but eventually had my own realisation that having too many pursuits at once leads nowhere.

Great advice. Thank you.

This is gold thank you

I’ve had a number of interests for years. In the past I have struggled (especially with free time) to pick what I want to focus on. It can be a hard cycle to pick one hobby, then later regret your choice of the session didn’t go well. I’ve found that the most effective approach for me is relentless commitment. Find inspiration, execute the vision, and keep working until you’re happy with the result. Progress will be slow initially, but your focus and skill will improve dramatically with a few of these. I also find it helps to seperate “interests” from “passions”. An interest is something you enjoy, while a passion is something you would quit your day job for, even at a pay cut. The end goal isn’t necessarily making money, but it is making steady and meaningful improvements to your passions which fulfill you more than your interests.

I’ve learnt this lesson the hard way. However, I have found that if you have a couple of interests which support each other, that this works. For example, I am completing a PhD which relates to the area of IT that my business is focussed on.

There was a word in this video that I didn't want to hear but it was likely most useful for me. There are so many fascinating things I often feel annoyed that I need to sleep because I'd rather dive into another book. To choose the interest or the creative direction (as work) seemed impossible for me. "You need to be realistic..." "Realistic" sounds depressing, but it's in a realistic choice, in focusing on one main thing, that we get the reward, the satisfaction. And frankly this is the way to confidence because we get better at this one thing.

This is the advice I so needed but did not no I needed. Thank you so very much for this.

Excellent advise thanks, very helpful! I always suspected this reward/ effort system but you put it very eloquently.

Wow! You broke it down to math. That was awesome. I subscribed.

This is definitely me. I've gotten away from so many hobbies but the same thing seems to materialize on the professional level as well.

this was satisfyingly well explained

Super Helpful!!

Very insightful!

Great video!! Really excellent advice. So many things come down to “less is more”

So great!!!

Great advice. I'm just like the caller. Doing everything buy nothing.

I figured this out myself some time ago. So now I have 3 main focuses which is currently these: 1. Skills: Learn Chinese. 2. Health: Get in shape and keep it. 3. Hobby: Write novels. As I finish one I will switch for another. E.g I want to learn to code, when my chinese skills is good enough that we can talk it at home I can start coding. Also of course I do other stuff too, e.g I have a small garden, takes some time but not a lot, basically it takes care of itself.

I think the trap and the danger is not to have too many interests, but to become extra ambitious with improving in all of them. We know that the world is filled with exceptions, but most of the time it takes way less time and effort to go from complete beginner to intermediate than it takes to progress from intermediate to advance and especially expert lvl. There is the limited amount of things you can become an expert on, due to the amount of time it takes. And I believe it's even more true for complicated areas to master. The trap is to think you can become expert (on the same level as professionals in that area) in all of your interests. I believe a good rule of thumb is to dedicate good chunk of yourself to become an expert in your profession ! or whatever you want to do in live. And keep enjoying and having as many hobbies as you can! its beautiful to be well-rounded, I have many hobbies myself, but strive to grow from beginner to intermediate and be very carful aiming to become an expert ! The sacrifice might not worth it at the end and could be a big mistake !

@ingridn712

Ай бұрын

That's a precious reflection, and I'll keep thinking about it. Thank you for sharing it! ⭐

Great advice.

Leonardo Davinci has entered the chat.

@aryansrivastava727

10 ай бұрын

even he divided his interests into days or he gave priority to one project and sidelined other projects.

I think it sometimes depends on some factors. The caller had hobbies or business ideas which really complimented each other. If he is versatile with tech and also has his website, he can easily cut some costs by doing it himself. And he can offer his tech services as a side hustle as well. What is important though is that you know how you rank those hobbies. I started with martial arts at 30 years of age for example and I perfectly know that I won't be the next UFC champion. But this hobby really keeps my stress levels low so I value it for what it is and try to become the best inside those limitations I set myself. I am totally fine with training 1x or 2x per week and make moderate progression. I am self employed as well and have a main hobby, those things are higher on my priority list. I compose some music too, that took some time to get the skills but now I am gifted with a way to express creativity and I don't necessarily need to learn so much more or improve in some area drastically.

I absolutely loved your book "Deep Work" and I'm now picking up your other book. It was such a pleasant surprise to find you here on KZread. For some reason, I had pictured you as being much older!

Subscribed. Great value here.

Great one

So so true. Life has so many amazing things…

Well having such thoughts on my head and actually knew the answer that doing everything or all would never get me a meaningful progress but this helped affirm and focus more on one thing

Find what you do best and do your best with it.

Hello, Cal, is it a Speedmaster on your wrist? 😃 Btw, I read all of your books and now listen to your podcast clips. Both are mind changing to Me. Thank you a lot for everything you do!

@waqarhaider2226

Жыл бұрын

He is a man of taste!

This video is sort of healing me

I disagree. The caller's main mistake was quitting his other job to pursue this interests. Its likely there will never be a career that would satisfy him. But what Cal doesn't understand is that for some people, having deep multiple interests is the skill itself. He may be a master of none, but he will be very good at a lot. And in terms of creativity and solving problems, people with multiple interests have many more resources that they can pull from. Most people are stuck in their own world and fail to see that there are parallels in other fields that they can learn from because they never get out of their bubble. For example, biology applies to computational work, etc. And this cross connection is actually a meta skill that pays off in dividends at some point in terms of productivity because the individual is always able to solve problems while others continuously get stuck trying to fix everything with the same hammer. Its not for everyone, but it can be powerful. I think where it ruins you is when you keep jumping from careers. Like I said, no career would satisfy your interest in multiple things. But a way to reframe that is to keep your eyes open for opportunities to apply some of those interests at your current job. It adds variety to your work life and you tend to be very productive because you are interested. Also, most companies always need people in most positions, so there is a good chance to cross disciplines. and help plug holes for teams once in a while.

Good advice

the opposite is true if you have an ADHD type brain, reward comes from novelty, for most interests deeper learning requires getting through a lot of grind before you get to increased reward

I agree on one or two points but respectfully disagree on others. I do think spending a valuable amount of time on the thing which you want to do as a job/career is important. I disagree in that I don’t think simplifying and spending less time on things which draw you is necessary in order to achieve what you want. I think it's a bad idea to assume that just because someone puts time into multiple areas/hobbies means that they will not gain what they desire from that effort. Even if time is split many ways, over the years the ability and insight from each area will expand and, even better, interact. I think this is a better recipe for richness in life and it doesn't involve reducing or simplifying

After 40 years in business this helped me... make a decision, any decision, then make it work.

Good lord this caller just drones on and on

SPECIALIZING IS FOR INSECTS

One can pursue several interests, but eventually, one has to focus more on one or two where one gets more results. Otherwise, one dilutes one's energy and achieves little or nothing. This said having different interests is very good for one's brain and aperture of mind, while having only one interest can make one monotheistic.and close minded.

Even hobbies you need to good at them to truly enjoy them, because you know the science and art behind it. For example, when you train for basketball professionally for maybe 2 years or more, but you end up not going pro, you choose to do something else, the enjoyment and the skills you have is different than everybody else and you enjoy it way more than other people and you don't get embarrassed. Although you are amazing at something else professionally. Even you stay 3 years without playing basketball the skills are still there and you'll get the respect of everyone watching you play.

The solution - Simplify, especially in the world of hobbies This is what you're going for in your professional life and maybe outside of your professional life you cut it down to two things, maybe three. Next, you want one point of major focus that is getting most of your time and everything else is baseline as in it is a ritual or a habit so that it's not forgotten but it's not taking much of your time and most of your time is on one thing which will give you the bigger reward when compared to the amount of time you put in. Once you've focused on one thing for a while and had a big jump in reward, then you can shift your attention to do something similar for the next 6 months, the next year, the next 2 years, whatever it takes. You have to simplify. Even once you simplify any one of two things should be getting any sort of serious attention at a time. That in the end is going to unlock way more reward than trying to keep switching back and forth quickly

Must be nice to just have fewer interests. The anxiety of having so many potentials is killer, even if you want to focus on just one of them to "make progress"

I think you can have a lot of hobbies. The real problem is quitting all the non-productive stuff, like YT. Track the time you spend doing useless or mindless things and focus on reducing that to 1-2 hrs a day. Then spend that freed up time on hobbies of things that you say you want to become good at. Its a sacrifice and it will suck, but everything worth doing is hard.

I'm interested in Language Learning as a hobby, for years the only language I was actually mastering was English. I used to dabble here and there with many languages, the analysis paralysis/jumping from branch to branch like an ape was so strong that I'd never fully immerse myself into any of them (Excluding English). At some point two years ago, I just decided on an easier language (Easier or harder is relative to the other languages you already know), and I kept having progress at it ever since, even if I kept being inconsistent. As opposed to being consistent in a way that would never give me any progress at all. The risk we take is becoming highly ineffective to the point we literally make no progress in any of them AND we are so fragmented that even putting any meaningful work load towards them is impossible. Let me give you the plot twist: It's not just language learning, I have dozens of other interests, what I told is just the tip of the iceberg, and I really mean it. I'm trying to get this handled. On the brighter side, the progress I had with English never stopped, I've over twenty thousand hours of immersion in the last ten years. It just picked up a pace of its own, because everything else I "procrastinate on" is literally in English already, so it became inescapable, it became a necessary instrumental goal of my "procrastination" lol. When we are dabbling a bunch of stuff, everything offers so much resistance.

Dear person with multiple interests I invite you to have a look at Barbara Sher's work, e.g. the book 'Refuse to Choose'. There, she shares some valuable information about living a professional and personal life with any desired number of interests. Of course, the gained knowledge then could be combined with whatever technique helps you out. Hope it helps anyone out there. Have a great life and enjoy! A fellow multi interested human

I can relate as I'm a professional software engineer who also wants to produce more music and books. I'm figuring out how to reconcile them all, but my focus is still in software.

sounds like people mistake pastime with productivity. "as long as I'm not playing videogames or sitting on the couch watching tv, I'm fine. I'm being productive." Your main goal... the thing that's going to make you money is your new job. It's work. Once you do something else besides working on your main goal, you're no longer working. you're just passing the time. It makes me think about that saying, "Jack of all trades master of none." I read somewhere the full quote is "jack of all trades master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one" I don't believe that. Not everyone can be a renaissance man like Leonardo Da Vinci. I seen dudes that never finish anything because they had way too many interests.

Good advice honestly. You want to master something in life

Awesome. You need to concentrate only on a one thing. To become a professional in that field

Never seen this dude before, very interesting conversation here. Im not a computer science person but this idea really applies to being a KZreadr. Larry

My first thought for this caller was: go all in on the website and running/training content. Supplement that with making videos and writing articles/blogs about training topics you feel are important/informative for your clients. The UI can come later after you’ve got the running business going and baseline the other hobbies for now.

Dispersion is my big problem too!

I have many interests and projects and everyone keeps telling me to choose something and pause the rest. Easier said than done! Creative people (especially the ones with ADHD) need novelty and discoveries, need dopamine. If you force a creative to work on a single project, he will stop working, like a car without fuel. I know you can't understand, and it's not logic but it's the way we function: being stuck on a task that offers no stimuli, it's very counterproductive for us. A way to resolve is to alternate 3-5 projects (work on a topic until it's boring, then switch to the next one, that in the meanwhile has become fresh and interesting again) or you can add some elements of gamification to add artificial rewards and random surprises. I agree on most structures explained on the channel, and on deep work, I am a big fan!! Simply in this situation we need different things to perform well.

Jack of all trades master of none, but still better than a master of one

To respond the caller that asnwered in, it can be done and it doesnt neccesarilly have to be a rigid schedule. 1) have one or two main focuses and work a majority of the time on them ( switch between one or the other when you start to lose motivation or get bored) -- stay committed on them for stretches of 2 weeks to a month at a time & oscilate back and forth. 2) have smaller side hobbies that give you energy as opposed to hobbies that take it away For example I take random foreign languages from italki in the mornings. I don't neccesarilly have them every day but I do them for fun because its my interest and it gives me energy for my day 3) with your other side hustles with long term goals exercise delayed gratification and set expected progress points at low intervals I have machine learning and data science courses ( not uni) that I am following with private lessons on a weekly basis. Everyweek I set at least 1 hour for the private lesson and 2 hours for review of material, those hours may not always be scheduled at the same time. (I hate timeblocks too) Discuss what you learn with a loved one and share your excitement for the topic with those who are curious like you People who don't have as many interests don't understand you. They don't have the same brain. Their advice won't work and will never feel satisfying. I also have a full time 40 hour a week stressful job. I need many hobbies and interests to keep me happy and motivated to face the days challenges. You and I just think different from others. Plain and simple. Hope this helps.

@drew-david

Ай бұрын

I wanted to add that you should cut out things that are too similar that will interfere with learning. Like for me I won't learn a language from the same language family at the same time For you, you could choose either to focus on photography or videography, but not try to learn both at the same time

@drew-david

Ай бұрын

But also starting your own business may not be a good idea if you wanna keep up yout interests my friend. You're gonna need to spend more than 40 hours a week to be succesful and you might get depressed being unable to pursue your interests which will effect your performance at work.

KZread knows exactly what kind of videos to recommend to people 😋 I can relate to having too many interests! It can really slow you down from progressing with anything! I recently created a "spin-the-wheel" video to help me decide what hobby to focus on each month. I also have split off into 4 different channels. I know that I don't have the time or energy to focus on them all at once. The plan is to only focus on posting to one or two channels at a time. On one channel I will be more consistent and on the other, casual. Trying to get clear on my niche has taken forever! I think for me the best solution is to have a few different channels and to focus on the ones that align with whatever season I am in in life at any given time. Rather than pushing myself to stick with one niche forever and ever. The channel I am commenting from now is currently my largest channel. It's my no-niche channel... which means I will be more casual about my post schedule as I know it's not likely to go very far, from a channel growth perspective. But it's nice knowing that I have the freedom to post about random things on this channel if ever I feel inspired to. Excuse the novel, just thinking out loud! 😄 I think the advice you gave this man was great btw 👍

That´s why even within a given sport you usually have periodization. And the principle works exactly like you explain with baselining. For example in Weightlifting, you may need speed, strenght, technique, mobility and muscle mass. But let´s say you are off-season and you want to change your weight class: It makes sense to minimize ("baseline") the specific weightlifting training and focus more on hypertrophy work. You may not progress in your weightlifting during this time and if you are advanced most certainly your performance will even drop for a while. But after that cycle you have built a significantly different body and you can focus on your actual sport, but with a different capacity. And luckily you will need little to none additional hypertrophy work during this time, because keeping muscle is so much easier than building it.

Deep.

No doubt this is a modern day problem that the internet makes 100 times worse. Previous generations didn't encounter this degree of choice and information overwhelm, because what they could turn their hand to was limited to what they could physically access at any one time/place. We are now in a digitally connected world where everything is accessible everywhere all the time and we never switch off. People born and raised into that, it's no surprise they struggle to focus properly or know how to prioritise. Don't get me wrong, the online world can be an amazing thing, but it can also be pretty damaging when not rationed or used with focus and intention. In that sense, less, can indeed be more.

@el_micha

Ай бұрын

Word.

I have a problem with picking interests and hobbies. Especially when I'm going through something rough I find myself making absurd future plans that won't even happen. But I do pick my hobbies in relation, first I divided them into professional(what I can market) and just personal(what will stimulate and give me a sense of achievement). Well I'm not participating in all of the interests at ones, I kinda have a phase plan and I have school too which takes most of my time. In the profession category I have a goal to do freelancing and to achieve this I'm learning website development, my first phase which I completed was learning html & css, my schedule got interrupted so I'll start javascript in May when it's school break. After learning css, html and js, in November I'll start the pern stack and graphics design. I only practice designing websites in the weekend. My hobbies that I'm currently doing are writing, poetry, learning how to play the guitar, learning how to draw portraits, and learning Japanese. It's a lot and I've set phases on each hobby, what areas I'll be focusing on for specific amount of. The only challenging part is when I start to fall behind, continuing becomes so difficult because I need to catch up and I end up feeling overwhelmed.

Great