27,375 days is the lifetime of the average American.
In my previous post, I talked about the renowned trope – ‘Memento Mori’ as a remembrance of our limited life in this world.
To some it can feel bleak knowing the end of time will capture us all, but what if we could change that perspective?
How can we spend our time living a fulfilling and authentic life?
For that reason is why I was inspired to write this post on the proactive element life gives us.
To balance the demands of the modern world while honoring our deepest core of who we are.
The first element is to be vigilant with what we pursue.
I’d like to introduce a concept that inspired me to think differently about my development and the beauty of the time we have been given.
Believe it or not, the concept came from playing video games.
The concept is – The Skill Tree.
In games that involved leveling up your character, your task was to complete missions. Each time you level up, points are rewarded for boosting your character profile.
In what areas and why you upgraded your character’s abilities could result in an entirely different game outcome, not to mention playing style.
For example, would I upgrade the speed and strength of my character so that I could be formidable in combat?
Or I could go down the path of upgrading my stealth, magic, and accuracy so that I could be effective in ranged attacks.
The choice was unlimited. Although, even though I could boost any ability, it made strategic sense to upgrade areas that I wanted to pursue. Areas that complimented other skills or made my experience in the game better.
Similarly, the concept of a skill tree can be applied to your life.
We only have limited capacity to learn and upgrade skills throughout our lives.
You could be okay at many things, or exceptional in a few.
The result could be the difference between mediocrity and raving success.
If we view our time as currency and the necessary years needed to dedicate ourselves to becoming proficient in a few things, why not cultivate success in the areas of life that matter to us?
In Dan Koe’s letter he said;
“Jack of all trades master of none VS jack of all trades master of ONE.”
I agree with Dan’s comment, that being specialized earlier on has huge benefits, mainly in the direct exchange of value to another. However, learning and adopting more subdomain skills aid in your effectiveness in your main focus domain.
Keep in mind, that having a vision and goals in life are key in acting as guidelines to build your skill tree around.
Why not develop the abilities that benefit us in multi-faceted areas like;
- Personal satisfaction
- Contributing to society
- Developing authority
- Financial income
The idea of finding your ‘niche’ then, is dangerous because it limits our potential in other areas of life that we are naturally inclined to.
Don’t do that. Find ways to expand your natural curiosities and abilities in a calculated fashion.
Make life a game in which you plan and develop yourself to hone your abilities in skills of life in that you want to become proficient.
You can not be amazing at them all, but you can be at the ones that matter to you.
