The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win

by Jeff Haden

To most people, professional “specialization” indicates accomplishment and success, when in fact the opposite is true. You, me, all of us—we’re too good to specialize. Venus is too good to specialize. She is capable of more than tennis. She’s too good to be just one thing. None of us should be just one thing. We all possess, or can possess, a variety of skills—including skills we aren’t using. Don’t say, “I can’t afford to spend the extra time on an ‘and.’” You can’t afford not to spend the time. If your “and” is professional, then you create a buffer against downturns, shifts in market conditions, or the loss of a job. If your “and” is personal, you get to add a little more fun to your life. And don’t say, “I don’t know where to start because I don’t know where I want to end up.” One of the biggest reasons people don’t start doing, well, anything is that they think the first step must be a component in a comprehensive grand plan, one where every step is charted and every milestone identified . . . and because they don’t have that plan, they don’t start.