Every day you get out of bed, you have choices to make whether you realize it or not. The funny thing is how many choices we make subconsciously without even realizing we are doing it. We are always heading in some direction with every choice. As the old saw goes, “If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
I had an excellent conversation a few days ago with Robert Menard. An industry expert in purchasing negotiations and systems for over a decade, Mr. Menard has a depth of experience that few posses. He has spoken to Congress about better ways to purchase. Mr. Menard and I talked at length about how he built his business to be one inch wide and a mile deep. I asked him about buying a car, and he referred me to someone else. He isn't a buying expert, he is a purchasing expert.
After the conversation I walked by a repair on our family house that I had made 10 years ago. The previous owners had a large dog and right at the front of the house was a dog door big enough for most 5 year old children to walk through. One day someone walked in and helped themselves to a bunch of my stuff, and now the dog door is gone.
That dog door got me thinking about how different people cultivate different skill sets. In fact our “do-it-yourself” society encourages you to be a jack of all trades. The guy at the local home center convinced me that I could cover the dog door myself. On the outside of the house, my woodworking and painting skills are such that you would never know the door was there. On the inside we have a whole different story. My sheet rock installation skills are on par with my 5 year old nephews water skiing skills . We both rough up the surface and it isn't pretty.
The more I considered the dog door the more I thought about Mr. Menard's comments, and how much I had learned about focus over the years. When I was in high school, I wanted to be good at water skiing like my friend David, good at accounting like my friend Danny, good at fixing cars like my dad and good at construction like my friend Ron. None of these people were great at what they did, and I wasn't really looking to be great yet. None of those skills really connected or added any depth to my life either. I was just the guy that could do a little of everything, and mastered nothing and looked like I was having fun when I wasn't. I didn't realize back then, just knowing I didn't want to be a dentist was a step in the right direction.
At the end of my junior year of high school I didn't have any idea what I was doing, where I was going or why. When I asked other people in my class what they were doing, most of them had the same answer. There were a few that knew, a few wouldn't say. One day the the high school quarterback told me that he expected an NFL career, a few kids said something like “I'll just be working for my dad”. Since my dad was a dentist, and I had no desire to be a dentist, I couldn't even see spending another year in high school, so I left and took a shot a college thinking I could be a computer programmer. After all I was a teenager and knew everything.
There I was, 16 years old, pretty proud of the fact that I got into college before I was 17. It turned out I was wrong, I didn't know anything I needed to know for having a fulfilled life or to pass a college class. Needless to say, I failed miserably at college and at 17 I left home to join the military. I was still seeking something that would give me some direction. I didn't know I was looking for direction back then though, I just knew I wasn't happy yet.
Knowing I didn't want to be a dentist was a step in the right direction if I wanted to take the long road. Can you imagine trying or investigating every job or career there is in the world one at a time and using the process of elimination to find happiness? That was the path I set out on. I really didn't have a clue.
The saying “A jack of all trades and master of none.” is a great way to look at your options in life. One of the questions I always ask is “Who do you look up too or who do you want to be like?” With that question answered, I then ask “Why?”. Never has anyone ever said they really want to be like anyone they know that is the “jack of all trades”. The truly successful are like my friend Robert Menard. They are only a few inches wide and a mile or more deep.
My dentist friend, Jack Stephens, is an excellent dentist and has several other “hobbies”. None of his hobbies take away from his dental skills. In fact watching him work with his hands, you can see him honing his skills that make him a great artist at dental work. Dr. Jack Stephens never loses focus on what is important to his success. When he is changing the brakes on our rust bucket racer race car or finishing a room in his house, he has an attention to detail in everything he does that says “if I fix your teeth, they are going to be this good.” Because he is such a sought after dentist, he only has to work a few days a week and still generate an income level that other dentists dream of. When someone looks at your work, what are they thinking about your professional skills?
Dr Stephens is an excellent example of how you can go one inch wide and a mile deep, then go another inch wide and gently go more than a mile deep in the core area. 10 years ago when I made my dog door repair I was still working on becoming the master of everything. Of course that didn't work out so well. I know business, focus and technology. Those three areas when put together create my one inch wide channel that is one mile deep. Racing with Dr. Stephens is different for me than it is for him. For me it is a way to practice my focus skills and techniques. For him it is a way to hone his hand craft skills.
These days, I realize that my tape, float and sheetrock installation skills didn't meet any of the criteria of a skill set that would help me find success and happiness. There is not a lot of focus practice, there is zero technology and not much business training in covering a 2'x2' hole in the wall with sheet rock. To correct this deficiency in my skill set I have created a great relationship with three sheetrock pros. If I had done this with more of my life sooner, I would be having a lot more fun. The ability to manage the sheet rock pros helps with my business skills. The “jack of all trades” type person would have me work on my sheetrock skills instead. To achieve a greater success in my life I am better served working on my people and business skills and not my sheetrock skills. Now I understand this and that is exactly what I did when I started working with my first sheetrock pro.
With every course of action we take we have to see if it fits with our life goals. The first step is to become aware of what you want to do in life, the second is to become aware of your choices. Where are you going to go deep and find happiness?
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Thank you for your insights.