Well-rounded people belong on college applications. There isn’t anything wrong with having diverse interests and skills, but it will definitely not get you noticed. The memorable people are the ones who were fantastic at one, maybe two things. I remember the socially awkward violin virtuoso from high school orchestra, but I can’t recall any details about any of the other mediocre musicians. They were presumably all well-rounded kids, whose extracurriculars included everything from debate club to the tennis team to volunteering at the animal shelter. I bet their college applications were packed with all the details admissions advisors drool over. But it’s the fantastic violin player that I can easily recall. She ended up at a top music school and is now doing what she loves for a living. Accomplishments aside though, she was memorable, and memorable people are not well-rounded. Memorable people are successful.
Anyone considered a visionary, genius, or leader of their field, is not well-rounded. Steve Jobs, Jane Goodall, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Stewart; as diverse as the group seems, all of these people were not interested in being well-rounded. They recognized their strengths and went to great lengths to refine and leverage them. They obsessed over their skills and how to capitalize on them to create the best product/idea/service, and it happened naturally. Realizing you’re good at something, then seeking to get better at it, is not a ground-breaking phenomenon. Little kids do this regularly, and it explains why some kids ended up on the soccer team, and others ended up in piano lessons (unless you had parents who early on decided your talents). And while kids might have a million interests, there are usually only a handful of things they want to pursue, and they don’t really care about getting good at other activities. I wanted to play violin, and I didn’t care that I flopped around the pool during swimming lessons, or never made a tennis ball over the net. The idea that we can grow the most in areas we are deficient in is outdated, and limits our real potential. If we narrow our focus to a few skills, then we can truly master them.
In Cal Newport’s manifesto for new job seekers, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You,” he elaborates on this idea and redefines how we should be going about our job search. The “Passion Mindset versus Crafstman Mindset” implores us to hone our skills and produce the best work we possibly can. Instead of asking “What does the world have to offer me?” (passion mindset), we should be asking “What can I offer the world?” (craftsman mindset). This is one of the keys to finding work you truly love, according to Newport. Taking pride in how good you are at what you do is absolutely essential. So let your obsessive side shine. Hope that people remember you as being ridiculously good at that one thing. Let’s not be pretty good at an array of skills and activities. Let’s be wildly good at a couple of things. As Steve Martin would say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
And if you need more career advice and inspiration, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” provides refreshing insights and strategies on finding work you love. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is on the hunt for a job, or looking to get more out of their current job.
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