Be A Master Of Two Subjects
By: Jonathan Adrian
Tags: Self Improvement, Work, Personal Development, Productivity, Business

In a world of 7 billion, competition is fierce and often unshakeable. Fifty years ago, a run-of-the-mill college degree would guarantee you employment, a solid pay, and a decent lifetime career. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to hear people with doctorate degrees sustain a minimal-wage job.

Some argue that they’d rather have it that way anyway, which may hold some truth, but there’s no denying the fact that today’s technology holds a large promise for the future of mankind. It’s easier than ever to learn a new subject these days, with an overflowing index of references and resources roaming freely on the internet.

Consequently, that means that the battle to the top will be fiercer than ever. Education is no longer the limiting factor, a matter that’s now easily accessible to a lot of people, and some even free for all. The problem of education distribution has long been fixed by the advent of internet, and with it, comes a new problem.

We’re all eating from the same plate. And then line up to wash our utensils in the same sink. Mediocre will not get you anywhere these days. Following the crowd will not make you stand out. Being ‘good’ puts you on par with 50% of the world. It just doesn’t cut it. You’re a whisper in a sea of cries.

One way to get around this problem is specialisation. Specialisation helps you stand out from the crowd by being a better field player. There’s a steep curve to get you there, but once you’re at the top, you get amply rewarded for your efforts.

In 2019, the average cardiologist in the United States earns $430,000, while the average family doctor — the US equivalent of a general practitioner — earns $231,000. In the IT department, a help-desk technician earns around $17 an hour, while specialisation in cyber security, on average, sees that number rise sizeably to $34. According to a 2016 study by Poets & Quants, MBA graduates made close to twice as much as others based on the field entered.

This isn’t surprising. Specialisation gives an edge to the people who are smarter, stronger, better. It’s like sifting through a batch of apples and selecting only the ripest and plumpest to later be labelled ‘Premium’. Specialists are harder to come by. Their improved knowledge and aptitude in the field is handsomely compensated for this — as reflected by their salary statistics.

But the road to being a specialist does not come equal to everyone. Competition is tougher on the higher ends of the spectrum as you’re wrestling with less people, and the skills become significantly harder to master.

And there’s more to that. Financial capital and social stature often have a fair share of voice in deciding if one breaks through to the field’s top 1%. Whether we like it or not, the meddling hands of politics makes it easier for privileged people to survive the climb and make it to the summit. It’s a journey that’s often plagued with injustice and crookedness.

That leaves the rest of us are left struggling to our own devices, stuck in the maze. Sometimes we’re even sold the lie of making it if only we “tried harder”. I’m not suggesting that it’s an impossible feat, but society gives an unfair advantage to some and handicaps others.

Master two specific things instead

At some point in our lives, we’ve probably seen Ken Jeong busting an inappropriate joke or two in his numerous comedic skits. He’s mostly famous for playing Mr. Chow in the The Hangover trilogy and Señor Chang in the ridiculously comical American sit-com Community, for which his most iconic memes were born. Oh and did I mention he is also a licensed medical practitioner in California.

Ken Jeong may not be the best actor in the world, nor is his practice the most visited in the US, but he certainly passes all general metrics of success. He’s just one example of many, but his tale is highly inspiring and adaptable to all.

Being great at two things puts you at an interesting spot, especially if those two things are uniquely different from each other. For one, you carve yourself a unique niche that not a lot of people are in, and that alone automatically makes you stand out.

Imagine an associate chef who works in an average Louisiana crab-shack. To break into the scene, she could specialise in a certain culinary focus. She would need to move to a larger city, which poses great risks on its own, and then take an advanced course or work under a Michelin-stared top dog for some years, and then perhaps open her own restaurant.

Or, that chef could learn and master a second craft. Something like photography for instance, and then start an online page where she shares her culinary journey through her expressive snapshots. That secondary skill is something she can take with her anywhere she goes. There’s not a lot of chefs who are also masters of photography. By being good at both, she has eliminated a large chunk of her competition, which could streamline her journey to the top.

A lawyer could start taking up a course in writing and start blogging about his novel ideas, build up an audience, and turn his work into a book. Or it could be a financial analyst with video editing, public speaker with sports, professional coder with digital marketing.

The best part (arguably) is that some of these auxiliary goals can double as hobbies as well, which makes work feel less like vocation, and more like vacation. Some common threads I see with these secondary focuses include photography, videography, writing, coding, graphic design, and digital marketing. But the list does not end there.

At the end of the day, there are always more than two ways to climb your way to the top and succeed. There’s always the super-specialist’s route, which I think is a lot like the hardcore training before a Mt Everest hike. But if you so happen to be competent in flying helicopters, like Dr. Chris, a NY-based interventional radiologist who also flies helicopters in his pastime, you can (quite literally) get to the summit still with less of the complicated groundwork.