When we are learning to drive, we pay close attention to every aspect of what we are doing. When we change lanes, we think through every step.
As we gain experience, we begin to group together many of these tasks and internalize them in our subconscious.
“When viewing a particular situation—such as a car accident—the experienced driver has a better understanding of what may have occurred than a newbie driver who will have a surface-level and likely inaccurate understanding of the what and why of a particular situation,” Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x.
2: As a child, author and learning expert Josh Waitzkin was a chess prodigy. In time, he became a chess champion. He then pursued mastery in various forms of martial arts. Once again, he became a world champion.
“Making smaller circles” is how Josh describes the process of cultivating finer distinctions.
“Which is a process of zooming further and further into something,” Dan and Ben write. “The better we understand and experience something, the more our brains chunks our understanding together with other things. The psychological term for this is automaticity and it’s how we go from consciously doing something to mastering it on the unconscious level.”
“Most people,” Josh notes, “would be surprised to discover that if we compare the thought process of a Grandmaster to that of an expert (a much weaker, but quite competent chess player), we will often find that the Grandmaster consciously looks at less, not more. That said, the chunks of information that have been put together in their minds allow them to see much more with much less conscious thought. So they are looking at very little and seeing quite a lot.”
3: To go 10X, we must choose where to focus our attention and energy. All of us are becoming something new.
“We are optimizing for something—whatever our standards are,” Dan and Ben write, “even if that something isn’t well defined or intentioned. We’re making finer distinctions and developing expertise in whatever we’re focusing on.”
There is danger in not being intentional: “In our world of distraction, many people are developing finer distinctions and expertise in random things like celebrities’ lives, video games, etc.,” the authors note.
“Whatever we focus on expands,” they observe. “Whatever we focus on, we create more of.”
What do Dan and Ben believe is one of life’s biggest goals? To develop mastery in what they call our “Unique Ability,” which is “the purest and most honest expression of ourselves,” they write. “Our Unique Ability is how we create value and wealth that is unique and specialized. It’s our radically unique way of doing what we do, such that no one else can compete with us even if they wanted to.”
When we develop mastery in our Unique Ability, we are “living our our unique calling and purpose at the highest possible level,” the authors state. “It’s a continuing process of developing higher value and quality of freedom in all key areas, and doing so in your own unique way.”
This requires us to be specific: “Whatever we pay most attention to becomes our filter to the world. Our attention filters what we see and what we don’t see. It also reflects who we will eventually become,” Dan and Ben observe. “Our continued focus develops extremely fine distinctions and expertise in whatever we commit ourselves to.”
Which is why we must be precise about how we define and measure success. This becomes our standard, and it is specific to us.
“Our 10x transformation will also be our own,” the authors write. “Who we become will incomparable and unique to anyone else. Our 10x transformation will become highly specific. It will also make us into someone more specific–and more valuable and unique.”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: What am I optimizing for? What do I ultimately want to be and do? What standards do I want to create and realize? What minimum standards—such as the level of client I work with or the time it takes to run a marathon—will help me adapt and evolve to where I want to be?
Action: Journal about my answers to the questions above.
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