how to become a generalist

I rarely go out, but today luck wasn’t on my side

My mom wanted to visit her mom and she needed a bodyguard at her side

I just got home and needed to make some edits to this newsletter so i apologise for the delay

Anyways let’s get back to the topic

‘I happen to be passionate about everything that I set my focus on. It’s hard to stick to just one thing, not because it gets boring, but because there are so many competing interests in my world that eventually something else becomes the center of my focus.’

If you’ve ever felt lost or stuck as a young person, you’ve likely run into the one path only problem.

It’s the idea that we choose one path in life and stick to it till death

Colleges promote this idea

Generalism is the complete opposite to this

Most people think you have to be a genius to be a generalist, not really

Being a generalist means you have to discard almost every piece of advice you have ever heard and follow your curiosity and interests

It is overwhelming and takes more time and effort to build something of value, but if you can struggle in the short term, you will blow past everyone in the long term

If you’re like me and you don’t want a routined, predictable, and boring life, here’s how to become a generalist:

1. Be a student

You know much less than you think you do. And when you think you know it all, you close your mind to learning anything new.

That is a recipe for staying dumb.

Generalists are lifelong learners.

Their education doesn’t stop at the end of high school or college.

They keep learning.

They love to explore different domains and connect dots

2. Read. A lot

I love books as much as i hate people

I started off with historical fiction, then moved to crime fiction, then, i should keep this a secret, then trendy self help and business books, now i’ll be transitioning to literature and older books

Weird progression, i know

Books are where ideas come from.

Books are where you learn about people’s lives you’ll never meet.

Books are how you gain decades worth of wisdom in a week

If you want a competitive advantage over most people, read books no one else is reading.

Every current best selling book is a polished concept from an ancient book

You can still read trending books if you have a monkey brain that can’t make sense of the complexities from an old book, but older books are better in general

3. Love to Be the Dumbest Person in the Room

I am really dumb at most things, to the point where people often mistake my questions as sarcasm

I used to be afraid of looking dumb, so I clung to a false image of myself and pretended to know everything.

This made me settle for a lower quality of life because I cared too much about others thinking I was smart, when, in reality, they neither thought about me nor cared

You don’t learn if you don’t ask questions.

There is no such thing as a dumb question. only a person too afraid to ask one because of some unwarranted fears

4. Explore Your Curiosity

Curiosity is stamped out of us as soon as we graduate college and are sentenced to four years of chasing goals designed to serve someone else’s best interests.

Sad.

Being a generalist means having no label

One day, you’re a writer, the next, a student. Then a grandmaster, and another day, a chef.

5. Build Your Mental Latticework

Charlie munger calls it a "latticework of mental models" - the interconnected frameworks that let you see the world clearly

Most people operate with maybe 5-10 mental models they picked up from parents, teachers, friends, or their surroundings.

Generalists actively collect hundreds.

Each one gives them a new lens to view a situation from.

When you face a challenge, run it through multiple models:

How would an entrepreneur approach this? What would a military commander recommend? How would a doctor treat this?

This how you develop creative advantages over everyone else

6. Learning Is a Curse

Wait, what?

Sit down, i’ll explain.

Give a man a few books, a smartphone, and an internet connection, and he’ll dedicate his entire life to becoming ‘smart’ - if it means avoiding action

Most people don’t apply knowledge.

They don’t do stuff. They don’t experiment, fail, iterate.

Generalists are intentional

They learn something and then look for ways to apply it in their life.

All their learning is tied to a goal or a life they want to live.

It’s not mindless consumption, but mindful consumption

Being a generalist does not mean stacking interests like medals on your chest

You should be clear about the life you want, then reverse engineer the skills and interests you need to learn and adopt

Final thought:

Being a generalist doesn’t require permission or a certificate on the wall.

Learning is an opportunity we all have access to, and it’s a miracle. Developing a love of learning opens up a fourth dimension of opportunities.

Being a generalist is how you accelerate your learning and connect the dots, also known as creativity.

And creative people are in high demand as artificial intelligence replaces most day to day tasks