I believe the Quote "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." will help clarify and put things in perspective.
Why not multi-specialist? Getting tired of this assumption that someone can't sufficiently specialize in a variety of topics, as if it's some super-human impossible thing
@@thebrunoserge Well you absolutely can be a multi-specialist. You are limited in time, so you have to pick your topics. Just pick multiple topics that don't have much depth to them and master them. Voila! You are now a multi-specialist. Just make sure you are not picking a topic that is very deep, like 3D design, (quantum) physics, biology, psychology, sports,... etc that take half a lifetime to master.
@@Slava-om1sz I really recomend the book of Robert Greene, Mastery, A lot of historical people differ with the idea about being trapped in an alone way which you are bound to be the best, it isn't the real Mastery mindset, absolutely not(you can find it at the final of book)
@@thebrunoserge Of course, but it really set a lot of questions, I spend the double or triple of the time learning that could have been spent take care of my family, knowing new people, setting up a business about that field, become a mastery in the field, take care of my self, enjoy things that I love to do too,...? I know that we need to set priorities to rise up to the peak that we really want to, but the freedom that bring only study one field of the knowledge is so appealing
Yesterday I got a phone call for my first job and before discuss anything I told them x amount of money per year I am looking for if you can pay then we discuss my skills and job roles otherwise I don't want to waste mine and your time...then they told me to come for an interview and I did my interview and today I got my joining letter and a msg from HR " I like your confidence in my 10 years of the selection process I never see a fresher candidate who told me first about how much money he is looking for and everything after that" and I was like FULL CREDIT GOES TO THE FUTUR Thank You (Sorry for my English)
People may be confused by how he means to specialize. To specialize doesn't mean going into one thing and ignoring everything else. That actually would be pretty much impossible. Could you imagine if all typography was black and white because no one who knows typography knows good color theory? Your niche is like a tree. People are looking for that great big oak! But you need roots to support that tree. And if those roots are big and strong it can even be a selling point for the tree. Have you ever went "Wow this tree has some cool looking roots. All twisty and woven together"?
This. It really surprises me why there's a specialize vs general question when it's actually very simple. Specialize in one or two things, BUT don't neglect the broader field you're working in. Some jobs need to be super specialized like being an athlete, but in most cases, specializing with strong general skills and knowledge is where it is at. You need to be both to be great.
I came out of Uni a generalist Graphic Designer in 2009, I felt my way through industry jobs to see how they 'valued' me. Most of that value seemed to be from Motion Graphics. So I doubled down on Motion Graphics the following year.. plus it was double the pay as a junior graphic designer. Feel your way through your industry to know the most value you can bring to people than double down.
You’re such an amazing teacher Chris! When you said Creatives are addicted to ‘New’ so true! It took years for me to narrow down into a niche and I’m still refining as I go. Love your teaching style. It just ‘clicks’ in my brain.
OK. I now realize that we have a love-hate relationship: I love what you’re teaching and I hate that you’re right! All this time as a freelance artist, I believed that being a generalist, promoting my “diverse skill sets”, as I like to say, was helping me get noticed. Though, this mindset has actually been crippling my art biz because I am all over the place. It’s no wonder I attract very few high-end jobs. Thx for your help!
This is really interesting. I am 100% sold on niching, I think it's inevitable if you want to build a sustainable business. But I've never seen the external/internal comparison before. This should totally put to bed the concerns people have about niching down. Stay curious and try new things, but only sell the ONE thing. Use all your learnings on the stuff you do behind the scenes to make the ONE thing even better. Very inspiring!
Great content, and don't forget, there are many ways to specialize. You can either specialize by · What you know (logo design, website design, accountant) · Who you work with (restaurants, ecommerces, hospitality businesses) You can obviously combine both (for example, I am a marketing mentor for ecommerces), but be carefull to not super limit your potential audience
Yeah, specialization can happen along many axis: - function (marketing, sales, design, etc) - product (logo design, website design, education, etc) - industry (e-commerce, hospitality, etc) - size (startups, mid-size, corporations) - channels (social media, direct sales, etc) They are many other factors that "specialize" you. So what you do is only part of the business game.
I've been working for a few years in the food and beverage industry mainly focusing on packaging needs, brand identity, but being in house you work on random small jobs like laying out brand catalogs, presentations etc. I'm self taught as far as digital and want to go more towards web/ landing page type of stuff. But nobody will give me a chance. I sort of pigeonholed myself with packaging and its not like packaging jobs are readily available all the time. This is also the worst time to be looking for work. ugh..I'm starting to rethink my whole design career.
pooky they are people that work on packaging and have a lot of work. How are you publishing and sharing your work?, are you participating in any community sharing what you do?, have you tried solving a big packaging problem and sending a proposal?
this is a nice insight. thanks. I've been thinking about this a lot. I can't really pick one specialty so I decided to go for graphic design + ui/ux. and decided to put my photography as a hobby. since I can't pick one, I decided to pick a client niche, the one "who you work with" and I'm currently going for musicians and record labels. it's a weird niche but I'd like to try it. I'd like to make posters, album covers, websites, branding, art direction for them. But still, I'm also open to anything.
And suddenly it 'clicked', big thank you for this explanation! As someone who always seemed to search for the exact answer on what to choose, being a specialist or generalist, this video finally gave me the needed insights. This video also confirmed that I'm doing great and that I subconsciouly already chose that exact path without even knowing it.
This is so timely. I've been procrastinating on redoing my portfolio and finding my niche because I just feel so lost. The more I researched..the more I get confused. After watching this everything finally made sense! Thank you! 🥺
I was once told by a Creative Director during an interview that they were a bit confused about my portfolio because I was trying to sell myself as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Art Director. Sometimes the pressure of choosing which specialization pays better or which has more demand, which one will earn you more respect from people in the industry, and how processes change over the years with AI and UI/UX confuses me more, and I end up not mastering everything. I struggled for years to find what I'm good at and what personal, unique style I have in art. Sometimes I feel that it's too late to specialize. But it's good to learn the basics of everything you desire to do creatively and focus on your strengths and master that. You will know what your strength is because people around you will notice it and give you praise on a regular basis compared to the other skills you have.
interesting, i came to a similar realization when i looked back at my old resume when applying for jobs, i basically introduced everything i knew on it, and graphic design was among those things, but i also included sales skills and other skills related to old jobs i had, so they didn't knew on what thing to focus in order to hire me, i also made the mistake of not giving everything a proper power structure, like the most relevant job at the top and the rest as not so relevant experience.
Great topic and discussion - Ive always had this "issue" of having many varied creative interests and pursuits which is a blessing and a curse as Im a swiss army knife, a one man band able to handle a great many projects as a one stop shop which is cost effective, one point of contact efficiency for clients but on the other side im forever studying, researching multiple disciplines and keeping up to date with all these skills is a job in itself. I wish I could "pick a lane" and focus and go deep and what holds me back are two things - fear of doing same thing over and over stuck doing just one thing and also that by focusing on one area say 3D only or photography only and creating seperate sites and portfolios around those, that clients may not want that -
I face the same problem. One way to go about it is to pick one main area and a platform for content. share 80% about that niche and 20% about your other interests. same way on some other niche platform, post 80% content on it of that niche and 20% of this former one. its like slightly blending two aspects while also keeping them separate. Hope it helps
@@aymena6029Exactly my worry but with a different take. If I love photography +, motion graphics - naturally they may not connect unless I find some style to merge them together. But, yeah, I wanna mix 'em to keep myself interested, working both of my talents Yet, also because probably during winter time- photography slows down so you gotta offer other talents to keep the money flow ( also motion graphics don't demand a lot of production or being dependent on people's schedules). How to handle both of these fields? I have no clue.... 😊
You maybe a generalist in your attic but be a specialist in your shop. Like a Chef who gathers vast spices and roots from far off lands but cooks it all into ONE dish that he can sell for a premium and his clients can enjoy a cosmos of taste on a plate. Have your roots to the deepest crest, but sell the ONE fruit that's Best (niche)
I really wish I heard this advice about 25 years ago when I finished my first degree in engineering. I was too afraid to specialize further and I ended up generalizing more. Asa result, my degree ended up failing to produce meaningful results. I would have also had time to spend on other interests. So I'm middle age now, doesn't mean I can't apply this information now. I always thought keeping my options open was a good idea and to some degree it is but there's a point where you have to put limits on it. I had no limits. There's a Russian proverb, "Chase two rabbits and you'll go hungry."
it seems that being a generalist only works for the long term, while in short term you have to go for being a specialist in order to give you a good boost.
I've been looking for a video or just information about this for so long. It really stuck when you said become a specialist externally and a generalist internally, you unlocked it! 🔑🙏
What strongholds can stop us from specializing and narrow down our path? Just want to share some from my own bitter experience: 1. FOMO... If I chose this field I will miss out on opportunities on "that" field" 2. Expectiations. "If I choose this field my family, friends will feel let down" 3. Moral." In this field I might be doing something against my conscience, or accidents etc might happen..." 4. Finance. " I don't know how I will earn.. will I be good enough? What if I don't make enough." May God bless us all and help us settle and find peace and the path forward...
The best piece of advice for me right now, as in career and Individual Its so ironic that a lot of people struggle in life (we all do) bumping into many obstacles not knowing what they're doing and some 10min can change radically the way you look at things and help you move towards the direction you want. Keep at it guys, I've been watching your content since last summer (or even before) really good!
WAIT thats crazy I just realized that I have not gotten a single AD on thefuturs videos although i have been watching for days now... WOW May you all stay blessed and loved... And thank you!
You have to love what you do if you are going to specialize, because it will also show, take James Victore as an example. Thanks for the great info, I have been having a little trouble deciding since my studio does videos for companies, and that is very wide, but I have been having a hard time attracting clients, so I decided that I was not connecting to clients because I could not target them well....
There, someone said it. The big elephant in the room! Thanks for tackling this topic TheFutur team. This was also very helpful in all other aspects of expertise.
Rewatched this again haha and just reminded me of the halo effect with Michael Jordan, who was able to switch over from professional basketball to professional baseball.
I was just reading the book Range by David Epstein - I’ve been having this dilemma because I identify with the multi-potentialite persona as someone with multiple interests and passions (but also believe in certification specialization for both credentials and credibility purposes); I want to do just about everything! The statement how “creative people are addicted to new/novel things and being bored of doing the same things repetitively is so true” - I get bored VERY easily. But listening to this video and the case scenario especially helped put the focus into perspective (because whenever there’s a problem, we want someone who’s had the most experienced or has the most expertise to help solve that particular issue) because truthfully I love working and caring for children I’ve felt this way for the longest time but I guess I’m still learning though how to balance it with my other activities.
Thank you The Futur for creating this video. As a 2D animator and illustrator, I have been contemplating on whether I should offer a ton of services related to this field such as logo animation, explainer videos, short animated films, banners, or simply offer the service of just creating short animated films. After watching your video, I have now decided to focus my energy on selling my animated short film service to my clients. Thank you so much.
For the IT folks like me. This video is relevant! Watch it until the end. We struggle if we need to be a jack of all trades or a master of one tech and as Chris explains in this video. That's not a hard cut off decision, it's not zero or one, one or the other. Find your bread and butter and cultivate that into a masterpiece and keep learning on the other areas that interests you.
Here I saw interesting things, agencies told me "I see you've done lots of this, did you also have done that and that ?" Brands say the same thing. At the end, agencies don't hire me, brands did (even when they didn't see their categories in my portfolio)
I never knew about the "Halo Bias" theory until I watched this video. That theory has worked in my favour so many times. Just because I was great in academics, people used to think that I would be great in other areas as well like debate, elocution, essay writing or sometimes even in presenting research papers. I was also selected in a drama/play just because I was great in academics. That's such a faulty way to look at things
I love this one Charlie Munger quote: “Its not a competency, if you dont know the edge of it!” I do believe both generalist and specialist have their own competence in this world. But one should know their limits and one must not be denial. Unless it will lead to bad ideas, killing the good outcomes.
Update you're self is main thing, do graphic design later shift to motion graphics then go to 3d animation go with trends experiance doesnt work here updation nd workspeed is important
this is my problem right now. you read my mind. I'm the kind of person who likes to learn a lot so I can do a lot of things from 3d, video and film, photography, graphic design, web design. I even took "Multimedia Arts" in college because I love them all. But there's no denying that every area is broad, I've been thinking about this lately. Companies so far that we I had interview told me that they liked us who took multimedia because we can do a lot of things instead of hiring multiple people. But I can't help but think to myself, there's also something special about having a specialty. Being a master at something. What I'm doing right now is eliminating, I decided to go for now on graphic design and UI/UX. and put aside film and photography as a hobby. As an example too, I am learning 3D more right now so that I can use it to create 3D assets on websites. It's going to be a fun journey. Maybe I'll narrow down to even one specialty in the future. For now it's Visual Design for me (Graphics + Web)
I struggle with this all the time. My career is built on my skill in coding. I’m a software engineer by trade. But when I started out, i was freelancing doing the whole thing from sales and marketing to design and coding. I’ve noticed my obsessions switch from coding to design to filmmaking to illustrating to photography and to music. I normally get bored of one thing and move onto the other. My longest streak was about 2 years of filmmaking. Now coding at the moment but already have the urge to get back into illustrating. Schizophrenic creative. Does anyone else have the same problem?
I don't have professional career in coding other than freelancing but since I am wanting to officially have a brand, I get concerned about the low-code movement and which platform to go to. Or is it mandatory to go to 2 platforms and I enjoy graphic design who loves alot of niches but can't narrow down because I think I will get bored. I'm neurodivergent do idk if that plays a part. I sort of take these videos lightly tbh.
I have a problem wanting to learn and invest in so much other skills which did help me. I dont like asking for help. I'd rather learn and solve things myself. I know its bad but I also know my real specialty. The bad part is, investing in other skills takes so much time. Luckily im a naturally grindy type person. if I want and need to learn something just to solve another problem I will learn it now. Usually takes around a month, everyday focusing, to learn a new skill (decently).
Imagine this, it takes a general understanding of anthropology, psychology, philosophy, politics & governance, & business to decipher and understand the field of defence. You need to be an external specialist in Defence but an internal generalist in the above-mentioned constituents.
I think people have forgotten the idea of mastery in the 21st century, partly because we're so distracted all the time and sometimes even manipulated to go in a different direction/path.
❤ general lysing is more fun and versatile and specializing is more goal, oriented and comparatively more profitable. Regardless, a lot of the underlying content, creation, philosophy goes into both. However, before anyone starts at their continent project, it’s best to pick either generalization or specialization and commit to it. Thank you for the great video. This was fun to watch.❤
This is giving the Rich Dad Poor Dad model where you focus solely on one thing until its mastered or at least functioning well enough for you to move on to the next thing.
Yup but gp becomes gp faster, Have more free time, Have less responsibility, Can find new job faster… Money is no dilema… spec is higher but is money everything on this world lol? Happines/stress 🤔
This is one of the biggest struggles of my (professional) life! Picking out a field of expertise... I think I found one, but I've been wrong on this before...
Nobody is Jack of All Trades in Everything. From What I learned is We can know about a lot of things, but not everything we know is really what we good at.
I actually have been feeling VERY down about my generalizing tendancies, as I struggle to go deep in ONE area and tend to stay broad. I thought I was just sucking at everything or too lazy, but learning that it is a creative people thing cheers me up a bit. Thanks for this video ! It motivates me to fight that back and go deeper purposefully
Extremely , i wasted 25 years being a generalist too and still broke i got tired now i'm looking to be a specialist now. and learn how to outsorce and delegate my generalist activity .
How do you define a lane though? "I specialise in UX design" - this is too vague. What do you actually do? "I specialise in Visual Design" - but what do you really do? "I specialise in wireframes and prototyping" - this seems to be the minimum level of specificity required for a description of a design specialisation.
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I believe the Quote "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." will help clarify and put things in perspective.
The perfect balance is be a T person, wide knowledge through different topics and one deep specialization
Why not multi-specialist? Getting tired of this assumption that someone can't sufficiently specialize in a variety of topics, as if it's some super-human impossible thing
@@thebrunoserge Well you absolutely can be a multi-specialist. You are limited in time, so you have to pick your topics. Just pick multiple topics that don't have much depth to them and master them. Voila! You are now a multi-specialist.
Just make sure you are not picking a topic that is very deep, like 3D design, (quantum) physics, biology, psychology, sports,... etc that take half a lifetime to master.
@@Slava-om1sz I really recomend the book of Robert Greene, Mastery, A lot of historical people differ with the idea about being trapped in an alone way which you are bound to be the best, it isn't the real Mastery mindset, absolutely not(you can find it at the final of book)
@@thebrunoserge Of course, but it really set a lot of questions, I spend the double or triple of the time learning that could have been spent take care of my family, knowing new people, setting up a business about that field, become a mastery in the field, take care of my self, enjoy things that I love to do too,...?
I know that we need to set priorities to rise up to the peak that we really want to, but the freedom that bring only study one field of the knowledge is so appealing
I love that. Spot on!
Yesterday I got a phone call for my first job and before discuss anything I told them x amount of money per year I am looking for if you can pay then we discuss my skills and job roles otherwise I don't want to waste mine and your time...then they told me to come for an interview and I did my interview and today I got my joining letter and a msg from HR " I like your confidence in my 10 years of the selection process I never see a fresher candidate who told me first about how much money he is looking for and everything after that"
and I was like FULL CREDIT GOES TO THE FUTUR
Thank You (Sorry for my English)
This is the kind of stories that motivates me to keep going :)
Out of curiosity, where did you get all that info about this level of confidence?
Shivam Tiwari what segment was this piece they spoke on cos I want to watch it
@@howlbeast Watch Melinda Livsey series and in thefutur there are 100s of videos about money and value pricing
@@xamlevin Watch Melinda Livsey series and in the future there are 100s of videos about money and value pricing
Great job
People may be confused by how he means to specialize. To specialize doesn't mean going into one thing and ignoring everything else. That actually would be pretty much impossible. Could you imagine if all typography was black and white because no one who knows typography knows good color theory? Your niche is like a tree. People are looking for that great big oak! But you need roots to support that tree. And if those roots are big and strong it can even be a selling point for the tree. Have you ever went "Wow this tree has some cool looking roots. All twisty and woven together"?
great explanation.
The T rule
Thanks so much 🤗
wow!
such a good analogy...
This. It really surprises me why there's a specialize vs general question when it's actually very simple. Specialize in one or two things, BUT don't neglect the broader field you're working in. Some jobs need to be super specialized like being an athlete, but in most cases, specializing with strong general skills and knowledge is where it is at. You need to be both to be great.
I came out of Uni a generalist Graphic Designer in 2009, I felt my way through industry jobs to see how they 'valued' me. Most of that value seemed to be from Motion Graphics. So I doubled down on Motion Graphics the following year.. plus it was double the pay as a junior graphic designer. Feel your way through your industry to know the most value you can bring to people than double down.
You’re such an amazing teacher Chris! When you said Creatives are addicted to ‘New’ so true! It took years for me to narrow down into a niche and I’m still refining as I go. Love your teaching style. It just ‘clicks’ in my brain.
Thank you
generalist is like having a lockpick, specialist is having the key
nice!
The thing is, that the lockpick fits every lock!
Yeah...to one lock.
Why not have a key AND lockpick🤦🏽♂️
False. The generalist is the master key. The specialist is the lock pick. We open more doors for specialists when they run out of ideas.
@@messagedeleted3526 i like that!
OK. I now realize that we have a love-hate relationship: I love what you’re teaching and I hate that you’re right!
All this time as a freelance artist, I believed that being a generalist, promoting my “diverse skill sets”, as I like to say, was helping me get noticed. Though, this mindset has actually been crippling my art biz because I am all over the place. It’s no wonder I attract very few high-end jobs. Thx for your help!
This is really interesting. I am 100% sold on niching, I think it's inevitable if you want to build a sustainable business. But I've never seen the external/internal comparison before. This should totally put to bed the concerns people have about niching down. Stay curious and try new things, but only sell the ONE thing. Use all your learnings on the stuff you do behind the scenes to make the ONE thing even better. Very inspiring!
Great content, and don't forget, there are many ways to specialize. You can either specialize by
· What you know (logo design, website design, accountant)
· Who you work with (restaurants, ecommerces, hospitality businesses)
You can obviously combine both (for example, I am a marketing mentor for ecommerces), but be carefull to not super limit your potential audience
Yeah, specialization can happen along many axis:
- function (marketing, sales, design, etc)
- product (logo design, website design, education, etc)
- industry (e-commerce, hospitality, etc)
- size (startups, mid-size, corporations)
- channels (social media, direct sales, etc)
They are many other factors that "specialize" you. So what you do is only part of the business game.
I've been working for a few years in the food and beverage industry mainly focusing on packaging needs, brand identity, but being in house you work on random small jobs like laying out brand catalogs, presentations etc. I'm self taught as far as digital and want to go more towards web/ landing page type of stuff. But nobody will give me a chance. I sort of pigeonholed myself with packaging and its not like packaging jobs are readily available all the time. This is also the worst time to be looking for work. ugh..I'm starting to rethink my whole design career.
pooky they are people that work on packaging and have a lot of work. How are you publishing and sharing your work?, are you participating in any community sharing what you do?, have you tried solving a big packaging problem and sending a proposal?
this is a nice insight. thanks. I've been thinking about this a lot. I can't really pick one specialty so I decided to go for graphic design + ui/ux. and decided to put my photography as a hobby. since I can't pick one, I decided to pick a client niche, the one "who you work with" and I'm currently going for musicians and record labels. it's a weird niche but I'd like to try it. I'd like to make posters, album covers, websites, branding, art direction for them. But still, I'm also open to anything.
And suddenly it 'clicked', big thank you for this explanation! As someone who always seemed to search for the exact answer on what to choose, being a specialist or generalist, this video finally gave me the needed insights. This video also confirmed that I'm doing great and that I subconsciouly already chose that exact path without even knowing it.
This is so timely. I've been procrastinating on redoing my portfolio and finding my niche because I just feel so lost. The more I researched..the more I get confused. After watching this everything finally made sense! Thank you! 🥺
Glad to hear
Your analogy of specialist and generalist makes me smile, so mind-blowing. You are so amazing.
Thanks
I was once told by a Creative Director during an interview that they were a bit confused about my portfolio because I was trying to sell myself as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Art Director. Sometimes the pressure of choosing which specialization pays better or which has more demand, which one will earn you more respect from people in the industry, and how processes change over the years with AI and UI/UX confuses me more, and I end up not mastering everything. I struggled for years to find what I'm good at and what personal, unique style I have in art. Sometimes I feel that it's too late to specialize. But it's good to learn the basics of everything you desire to do creatively and focus on your strengths and master that. You will know what your strength is because people around you will notice it and give you praise on a regular basis compared to the other skills you have.
interesting, i came to a similar realization when i looked back at my old resume when applying for jobs, i basically introduced everything i knew on it, and graphic design was among those things, but i also included sales skills and other skills related to old jobs i had, so they didn't knew on what thing to focus in order to hire me, i also made the mistake of not giving everything a proper power structure, like the most relevant job at the top and the rest as not so relevant experience.
This is the question I've been looking for answer for past 6 months and by watching this video it helped me in figuring it out in someway
Glad to hear
Wow, Chris...
"If you suck at one thing, they assume you suck at everything.." and vice versa.
What a point!!!!!!❤❤❤❤
This is one of the best arguments I've heard for specializing. The halo bias really puts it into perspective. TY!
Great topic and discussion - Ive always had this "issue" of having many varied creative interests and pursuits which is a blessing and a curse as Im a swiss army knife, a one man band able to handle a great many projects as a one stop shop which is cost effective, one point of contact efficiency for clients but on the other side im forever studying, researching multiple disciplines and keeping up to date with all these skills is a job in itself.
I wish I could "pick a lane" and focus and go deep and what holds me back are two things - fear of doing same thing over and over stuck doing just one thing and also that by focusing on one area say 3D only or photography only and creating seperate sites and portfolios around those, that clients may not want that -
I face the same problem. One way to go about it is to pick one main area and a platform for content. share 80% about that niche and 20% about your other interests. same way on some other niche platform, post 80% content on it of that niche and 20% of this former one. its like slightly blending two aspects while also keeping them separate. Hope it helps
@@aymena6029Exactly my worry but with a different take.
If I love photography +, motion graphics - naturally they may not connect unless I find some style to merge them together.
But, yeah, I wanna mix 'em to keep myself interested, working both of my talents Yet, also because probably during winter time- photography slows down so you gotta offer other talents to keep the money flow ( also motion graphics don't demand a lot of production or being dependent on people's schedules).
How to handle both of these fields? I have no clue.... 😊
You maybe a generalist in your attic but be a specialist in your shop.
Like a Chef who gathers vast spices and roots from far off lands but cooks it all into ONE dish that he can sell for a premium and his clients can enjoy a cosmos of taste on a plate.
Have your roots to the deepest crest, but sell the ONE fruit that's Best (niche)
I really wish I heard this advice about 25 years ago when I finished my first degree in engineering. I was too afraid to specialize further and I ended up generalizing more. Asa result, my degree ended up failing to produce meaningful results. I would have also had time to spend on other interests. So I'm middle age now, doesn't mean I can't apply this information now. I always thought keeping my options open was a good idea and to some degree it is but there's a point where you have to put limits on it. I had no limits. There's a Russian proverb, "Chase two rabbits and you'll go hungry."
it seems that being a generalist only works for the long term, while in short term you have to go for being a specialist in order to give you a good boost.
I've been looking for a video or just information about this for so long. It really stuck when you said become a specialist externally and a generalist internally, you unlocked it! 🔑🙏
Glad it was helpful!
What strongholds can stop us from specializing and narrow down our path? Just want to share some from my own bitter experience:
1. FOMO... If I chose this field I will miss out on opportunities on "that" field"
2. Expectiations. "If I choose this field my family, friends will feel let down"
3. Moral." In this field I might be doing something against my conscience, or accidents etc might happen..."
4. Finance. " I don't know how I will earn.. will I be good enough? What if I don't make enough."
May God bless us all and help us settle and find peace and the path forward...
Thanks for sharing
@@thefutur thank you too for sharing this wonderful video.
I like the clothes Chris wears here, great style
Thanks
I started listening to this guy for the past week and I am always fascinated by the things he talk about...
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As always, time well spent. Love the internal/external solution, and halo bias - good stuff.
Thanks, finally a youtuber who shows me a way
The best piece of advice for me right now, as in career and Individual
Its so ironic that a lot of people struggle in life (we all do) bumping into many obstacles not knowing what they're doing and some 10min can change radically the way you look at things and help you move towards the direction you want.
Keep at it guys, I've been watching your content since last summer (or even before) really good!
WAIT thats crazy I just realized that I have not gotten a single AD on thefuturs videos although i have been watching for days now... WOW
May you all stay blessed and loved...
And thank you!
Guys a genius when it comes to perspective. That one initial diagram nailed it. Deep and specialized Vs general and wide. No brainer.
Mind blown by this example. I love it. Thank you for this.
Ironically been watching this scene in loop for the past couple of days. Like you guys read my mind 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
5:53 "God he's ugly, he must be bad at everything."
Damn that hurt.
it can.
🤣
You have to love what you do if you are going to specialize, because it will also show, take James Victore as an example. Thanks for the great info, I have been having a little trouble deciding since my studio does videos for companies, and that is very wide, but I have been having a hard time attracting clients, so I decided that I was not connecting to clients because I could not target them well....
Halo Bias - _If you are good at one thing, you must be good at everything._
There, someone said it. The big elephant in the room! Thanks for tackling this topic TheFutur team. This was also very helpful in all other aspects of expertise.
Damn this just solved one of my dilemmas... wich you'd organise your playlists though.
We do
Rewatched this again haha and just reminded me of the halo effect with Michael Jordan, who was able to switch over from professional basketball to professional baseball.
Oh.... my..... days....
the life changing video I was looking for!
Love you! Forever grateful ❤️❤️❤️🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I was just reading the book Range by David Epstein - I’ve been having this dilemma because I identify with the multi-potentialite persona as someone with multiple interests and passions (but also believe in certification specialization for both credentials and credibility purposes); I want to do just about everything! The statement how “creative people are addicted to new/novel things and being bored of doing the same things repetitively is so true” - I get bored VERY easily. But listening to this video and the case scenario especially helped put the focus into perspective (because whenever there’s a problem, we want someone who’s had the most experienced or has the most expertise to help solve that particular issue) because truthfully I love working and caring for children I’ve felt this way for the longest time but I guess I’m still learning though how to balance it with my other activities.
Thank you The Futur for creating this video. As a 2D animator and illustrator, I have been contemplating on whether I should offer a ton of services related to this field such as logo animation, explainer videos, short animated films, banners, or simply offer the service of just creating short animated films. After watching your video, I have now decided to focus my energy on selling my animated short film service to my clients.
Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome
Amazing insight. This isn't just valuable for designers, its useful for entrepreneurs overall.
For the IT folks like me. This video is relevant! Watch it until the end.
We struggle if we need to be a jack of all trades or a master of one tech and as Chris explains in this video. That's not a hard cut off decision, it's not zero or one, one or the other. Find your bread and butter and cultivate that into a masterpiece and keep learning on the other areas that interests you.
Man that was superb.... I dnt know about the guy who asked question but it crystal cleared lot for me
Glad to hear
This video is so amazing. So valuable and so helpful. Thank you so much for collecting best parts of this original video 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Here I saw interesting things, agencies told me "I see you've done lots of this, did you also have done that and that ?" Brands say the same thing. At the end, agencies don't hire me, brands did (even when they didn't see their categories in my portfolio)
I never knew about the "Halo Bias" theory until I watched this video. That theory has worked in my favour so many times.
Just because I was great in academics, people used to think that I would be great in other areas as well like debate, elocution, essay writing or sometimes even in presenting research papers. I was also selected in a drama/play just because I was great in academics. That's such a faulty way to look at things
I love this one Charlie Munger quote: “Its not a competency, if you dont know the edge of it!”
I do believe both generalist and specialist have their own competence in this world.
But one should know their limits and one must not be denial. Unless it will lead to bad ideas, killing the good outcomes.
Update you're self is main thing, do graphic design later shift to motion graphics then go to 3d animation go with trends experiance doesnt work here updation nd workspeed is important
i love the way you present your content, its so refreshing. keep up the great work.
Thank you
"Halo bias" awesome concept !!! 🔥👌🏽
I see the whole sponsor part just cvause DAMN this is valuable love you guys.
Thank you 🙏
This is an eye opener..... Thanks the futur... Thanks chris.
this is my problem right now. you read my mind. I'm the kind of person who likes to learn a lot so I can do a lot of things from 3d, video and film, photography, graphic design, web design. I even took "Multimedia Arts" in college because I love them all. But there's no denying that every area is broad, I've been thinking about this lately. Companies so far that we I had interview told me that they liked us who took multimedia because we can do a lot of things instead of hiring multiple people. But I can't help but think to myself, there's also something special about having a specialty. Being a master at something.
What I'm doing right now is eliminating, I decided to go for now on graphic design and UI/UX. and put aside film and photography as a hobby. As an example too, I am learning 3D more right now so that I can use it to create 3D assets on websites. It's going to be a fun journey. Maybe I'll narrow down to even one specialty in the future. For now it's Visual Design for me (Graphics + Web)
You just decibed me in a nutshell , im just coming to the realisation of that now .
Very well said! Really helpful
Bless this soul. Second video I've watched -- both spectacular.
Thank you
Love it love it love. We specialise only in comedy video production for companies. Only comedy.
Pretty good advice. I hadn't though about the externally / internally expertise.
OK, I am convinced totally and also agree with the points, but the next problem would be which lane should I choose to go deep ?
Whatever makes you forget to eat
@@keifer7813 Right, I got it now.
I struggle with this all the time. My career is built on my skill in coding. I’m a software engineer by trade. But when I started out, i was freelancing doing the whole thing from sales and marketing to design and coding. I’ve noticed my obsessions switch from coding to design to filmmaking to illustrating to photography and to music. I normally get bored of one thing and move onto the other. My longest streak was about 2 years of filmmaking. Now coding at the moment but already have the urge to get back into illustrating. Schizophrenic creative. Does anyone else have the same problem?
I don't have professional career in coding other than freelancing but since I am wanting to officially have a brand, I get concerned about the low-code movement and which platform to go to. Or is it mandatory to go to 2 platforms and I enjoy graphic design who loves alot of niches but can't narrow down because I think I will get bored. I'm neurodivergent do idk if that plays a part. I sort of take these videos lightly tbh.
Have you considered checking if you have ADHD?
So powerful, it’s like studying philosophy than marketing
daaamnnnnn I have been facing this problem for so so long. Thank you for the video
Chris!!!!
This is just too good man.
Thank you for putting out this value for free.
Lesson learned!
Specialize externally, generalize internally.
✊
Thank you
Well said, man. I’m a fan of Jordan B Peterson myself!
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."--Bruce Lee
I have a problem wanting to learn and invest in so much other skills which did help me. I dont like asking for help. I'd rather learn and solve things myself. I know its bad but I also know my real specialty. The bad part is, investing in other skills takes so much time. Luckily im a naturally grindy type person. if I want and need to learn something just to solve another problem I will learn it now. Usually takes around a month, everyday focusing, to learn a new skill (decently).
U are describing me, now i'm at a stage where i just want to just make money and save time .
This makes me think about "So good that they can't ignore you" . Still, great content as always! Thank you for your sharing! Muah!
Your video content is plucked straight from the questions I ask myself. Best channel out there
Imagine this, it takes a general understanding of anthropology, psychology, philosophy, politics & governance, & business to decipher and understand the field of defence. You need to be an external specialist in Defence but an internal generalist in the above-mentioned constituents.
Amazing... this is so "open eyes".
We'll need this video💰👍 great video thank you!
Chris Do is great, great and great.....🔥💯
Minddddddd BLoooooown. Yoooooooooo Needded thiiiiiiiiiissssss. It explains niching down so well, while keeping experimenting with our interestssss
I think people have forgotten the idea of mastery in the 21st century, partly because we're so distracted all the time and sometimes even manipulated to go in a different direction/path.
Excellent advice, the reason I am tuned in to this channel!
I love that & wish you make more of those classes
This is the best advice I need to hear
Thanks so much
Wow thanks great thoughts on this topic!
Halo bias, so genius. When the world sees your amazing at 1 thing, they assume you're amazing at everything!
❤ general lysing is more fun and versatile and specializing is more goal, oriented and comparatively more profitable. Regardless, a lot of the underlying content, creation, philosophy goes into both. However, before anyone starts at their continent project, it’s best to pick either generalization or specialization and commit to it. Thank you for the great video. This was fun to watch.❤
Gems 💎
Amazing ... Thanks for your insight... i'm a photographer/videographer and i think it applies for other creatives too...
Knowledge gained from simply studying and memorizing vs. expertise gained from trial and error.
This is giving the Rich Dad Poor Dad model where you focus solely on one thing until its mastered or at least functioning well enough for you to move on to the next thing.
CHRIS DO TALKING ABOUT JORDAN PETERSON ? BEST CROSSOVER EVER
Jordan Peterson is canon 💯💯
Wow thank you so much Chris!
General practitioner (doctor) $150 an hour. Brain surgeon $1,500 an hour.
Says it all.
Yup but gp becomes gp faster,
Have more free time,
Have less responsibility,
Can find new job faster…
Money is no dilema… spec is higher but is money everything on this world lol? Happines/stress 🤔
This is one of the biggest struggles of my (professional) life! Picking out a field of expertise...
I think I found one, but I've been wrong on this before...
Nobody is Jack of All Trades in Everything. From What I learned is We can know about a lot of things, but not everything we know is really what we good at.
True
I actually have been feeling VERY down about my generalizing tendancies, as I struggle to go deep in ONE area and tend to stay broad. I thought I was just sucking at everything or too lazy, but learning that it is a creative people thing cheers me up a bit. Thanks for this video ! It motivates me to fight that back and go deeper purposefully
Extremely , i wasted 25 years being a generalist too and still broke i got tired now i'm looking to be a specialist now. and learn how to outsorce and delegate my generalist activity .
The jazz music though!
wow.. I needed this ❤️ thanks Chris
Needed this so much!
How do you define a lane though?
"I specialise in UX design" - this is too vague. What do you actually do?
"I specialise in Visual Design" - but what do you really do?
"I specialise in wireframes and prototyping" - this seems to be the minimum level of specificity required for a description of a design specialisation.
I really needed this...such mind blowing advice😎
Love this video! Thank you so much.
This helps me alote as a student
This video was really needed. Watching now......
The question should be like this : You wanna be a Book or a Library ?
that's a great and clear way to put it thanks a lot guys. I like the halo bias concept.
I’ve replayed this video like 12 times. 🤓 So interesting 🤔
🤓