The Master of Too
Quick, name the athlete who won gold medals in swimming, fencing, gymnastics, and basketball – in the same Olympics. Stumped? That’s because no one has done it, and no one ever will.
To be the best you must have singular focus and dedication. Think Michael Phelps here – most gold medals ever won by a single Olympic athlete – and all were in one thing, swimming. And just like Phelps, you’ve got to go to the extreme. You’ve got to be TOO strong, TOO fast, TOO resilient, and most of all TOO focused. How will you accomplish that for multiple goals? Well, cloning is an option. But if you’re holding out for that you need more help than I can give!
You know the saying, “Jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” right? You may think having varied skills and projects is a good thing but in business, it’s a prescription for disaster. This ain’t no variety show, this is your brilliant idea, your innovative design, your ticket to entrepreneurial greatness. Are you willing to risk it all just to have your fingers in every pot?
Look, maybe you are a modern-day Renaissance man or woman. Maybe you really can do it all better and faster than your colleagues. But can you honestly say that you can be the BEST in your industry? Because those schmucks across the conference table don’t matter, it’s the rock stars of business you have to beat.
If you’re going to take your career or your business to the next level, you must make a choice. What skill or goal or idea is worth your total devotion? More importantly, what can you take to the extreme? Become a master of one thing and then kick it up a notch – or better yet, ten. Be TOO fast, or TOO slow, or TOO hard, or TOO simple, or TOO little, or TOO much.
The best, most hard-core examples in any industry are impossible to beat. They are masters; they own their field. Olympic athletes have it figured out. Dedicate yourself to one sport, push hard and be the extreme, the highest version of yourself. Be TOO much for the competition.
Become a TOO master and you just might take home the gold, or better yet, a pot of gold.
By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
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Tags: be the most, do more for less, Entrepreneur, extreme business
January 5th, 2009
Don’t settle for good. Push it and going for the maximum will pay off in a gold.
January 5th, 2009
OK, name a man that was president and won a gold medal.
Bush and Jenner. One is a man that was President and one is a man that one a gold medal.
January 5th, 2009
Great post – I think it’s so true. Another great point is that you should always ask for advice and help when working on a project – two heads are always better than one. Chances are if you’re working on something someone else has done it before, and they can be of some help to you. Sharing knowledge and resources can save time, money and stress!
January 5th, 2009
I think the funny thing, is better isn’t necessarily better. Meaning “faster and cheaper” which is always defined as better, isn’t really always better. You can be “slower and more expensive” and be seen as better.
The morale to the story is being the MOST or LEAST of something… but no matter what being on the edge.
Just look at the photo. No one cares about big hair… but that is unbelievably big, so it get’s attention. A bald head got Sinead O’Connor tons of attention. Regular hair is just, well, regular.
Go to the maximum… or the minimum… but just go to the edge.
- Mike Michalowicz
January 5th, 2009
@Erin I agree with you. Working with someone else can be positive. Getting feedback is always a good thing as well because we as entrepreneurs may miss some critical detail by accident!
January 5th, 2009
I agree you have to have focus in order to succeed. When I first realized I “might” be an entrepreneur…I thought I’d be doing this and this and that and that over there, but what I realized is that with every good idea comes a lot of tasks and must do’s. It took a while but I realized that I am not as much as an idea guy than a guy that can organize and plan and get things done. So at any given time I may look like I am a jack of all trades, but I am trying to one thing and one thing only…manage and organize ideas, tasks and people in order to make businesses successful…ok that’s like 5 things but you get the point :0)
January 5th, 2009
I agree that you can’t spread yourself too thin, however, I do think it’s a good idea to know everything about what you do. I don’t think I’m disagreeing by saying this, I’m just saying that knowing about your “one” thing inside and out means you have to know many, many things. For example, i own a website developement company and i know programming. But I also have to know about business and seo and how to communicate best with my clients. You see how it really entails knowing many things?
January 5th, 2009
dI agree and it is one of the hardest things for an entrepreneur to do. Entrepreneurs want to be all over the place and love jumping from one thing to the next. However doing that definitely hurts your chances at great success in any area.
So sit down think about what your doing and FOCUS.
January 6th, 2009
What a great post. I wrote something recently and quoted the famous Andrew Carnegie quote,
“You need to put all of your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.”
It applies here perfectly as well. Great post.
January 7th, 2009
[...] was a great blog post from the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur about being ‘The Master of Too‘.
January 11th, 2009
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