How to become successful in a world of eight billion people?

Here is another reason you want to try as many skills as you can: in today"s competitive environment, with eight billion people, it is hard to stand out.

"Success isn"t about being perceived as the best at what you do. It"s about being perceived as the only one who does what you do."

Now, that is a tall order, and yet you want to get as close to that idea as you can... being the only one who does what you do.

So how is that possible? By coloring over the lines.

Everyone can have one thing they do well. Many people do two things well.

Few people think of combining what they do well into a unique skill-set. They have the mindset of either/or... doing either one or the other.


I listened to a rapper yesterday in the community van. He is also a good singer. I decided to look him up... because he has a unique skill set.

Eminem combines three skills: rapper, writer, and amazing persuader. Without this third skill he would be just another also ran.

I have clients who dream of making it to the top of ANYTHING... lol

One of MY jobs is to find their superpower.

What is a superpower? It is a talent. A unique talent the person feels are natural, and don"t need to be mentioned.

You think you know yourself accurately, but nothing is further from the truth. You don"t... at least not accurately.

But the biggest issue is: you discount some superpower abilities, because, by themselves, they can"t make money.

What you are missing is what is called, in nature, the edge effect.

The richest, most diverse areas of life on the planet are at the overlap of lake, forest and meadow.

The analogy applied to human life is: you can make yourself unique and a success, largely, only at the intersection of several skills. If you look up any of the big names: they are all polymaths... or at least eclectic. Several different areas of knowledge... edge effect.

• One of my students is a bookkeeper/accountant. A garden variety profession... people are looking for a cheap accountant. He, at present, can only compete on price.

Turns out: he is an idea machine. He is doing his BecomeAnIdeaMachine at my suggestion: coming up with a list of ten ideas, following the themes from the book I have mentioned before, Become an idea machine.

We"ll see how to combine the two professions, so he can become the go-to person... or maybe we"ll find another superpower once he has practiced this one, the idea machine superpower enough.

While I can come up with two, maybe three ideas, he is brimming with them, and they are spectacular.

Most people are like me: few or no ideas... lol... not funny. Having him in their corner could mean the difference between a stagnant boring life, and a life full of growth and riches... And, of course, they would pay him.

• I have another client/student who hasn"t been willing to use his superpower: being able to look at life backwards. He keeps wanting to look forward, and see 10% max of what there is to see.

Some societal tabu is preventing him to see how his ability would make him the biggest winner in his field of expertise.

Laziness? Shyness? Stupidity? Stinginess? You decide what you allow to hold you back from becoming a winner in life.

And just know that the Edge Effect is waiting for you too...

PS: This, the Edge Effect, also applies to products... Your services are a product too. Be a one-track pony... and you"ll be a loser in the fierce competition... But if you can combine ideas in an unusual way, you can win.

One dude, a marketer, sold his course this way. The Swedish Scientist, 10 Violinists and a Guinea Pig, blah blah blah...  combining science with fairy tale, he sold his course out. Instead of the usual: buy my course... he created curiosity. And won. Stood out.

That is, also, edge effect.