No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most.
Naval
Naval explains that there are three elements required to create wealth: Specific knowledge, accountability and leverage.
He describes specific knowledge as “a weird combination of unique traits from your DNA, your unique unbringing, and your response to it. It’s almost baked into your personality and your idenity”.
To help further explain specific knowledge I have summarised some of main components.
Specific knowledge traits:
- Can’t be thought, if they can train you they can replace you
- Can’t be automated or outsourced
- Found by pursing your innate talents, genuine curiosity and passions
- Feels like play to you looks like work to others
- Highly creative and/or technical (often the edge of knowledge)
e.g. a natural at sales, or politicans being charasmatic e.g. How It Works: Clinton’s “Reality Distortion Field” Charisma
This concept also appears in a lot of Tim Ferriss work, especially the 4 Hour Work Week, where he encourages everyone to double down and leverage their unique skills and talents as opposed to slightly improving your weaknesses.
While this concept is easy to grasp, the hard part is discovering your own innate talents and passions. This is the most difficult part as I know many friends and family that still couldn’t say their unique talents and passions if asked, me included.
The one trait of specific knowledge that stood out to me is that it ‘feels like play to me but looks like work to others’. For me that sounds like one of the most accessible ways of helping me determine my own specific knowledge.
Naval mentions in quite a few places that one of the first times he realised his innate talents was as a side remark from his mother. So I guess the first place for me to start is by asking my mother.
Eoghan‘s Blog 