Adam Grant is always a solid read. If you don't know his work, listen to this podcast. I just started re-reading his book Originals and a couple things stood out. One, that people who focus on achievement become less creative because they fear failure. And many icons including none other than George Washington and Steve Wozniak had to be cajoled into action. Steve wanted to stay at HP and it was Steve Jobs who convinced him to leap. Even George Washington had to be pushed into action. He preferred managing his businesses. Our minds push us towards the safe path. We want to do what everyone else is doing because we won't risk looking stupid. Yet that's not the path to breakout success. Conformity doesn't lead to originality.

If that is the case, then stepping out from the norm is the price of admission. And it may work fabulously. Or may not. You'll only be able to connect the dots after the fact. Unless you're a rare unicorn with a crystal ball. If so, let's talk!

"The greatest source of wealth will be the ideas you have in your head." - James Dale Davidson, The Sovereign Individual.

Last week I talked about the parking lot for your ideas that didn't fit your current plan but that you didn't want to lose sight of. This week, I want to talk about opportunity cost as something behind why we hedge our bets and lose focus. We give up when things aren't working because we fear we're wasting our time. If it's hard it must not be 'right.' And so we don't give things a chance.

Unoriginally irrational

Let's talk about our collective irrationality. We all suffer from it even if we think we're not gullible. I know I do. I have a penchant for Porsches I cannot buy. And Leica cameras I don't need. Now, I've never owned a Leica camera, but I have wanted one or two for a long time. You see, I'm a sucker for form factor. For things that feel good in the hand. Or good to the ear. For example, did you know that Mercedes Benz engineers their car doors to make a particular sound that exudes quality?

There are many many cameras that produce amazing images. In the hands of a good photographer, most any camera will produce a great image. Leicas are ridiculously expensive. Cameras 1/3 the price are as good if not better in terms of capability. But that's not why you buy a Leica. They have personality. Presence. They inspire you to shoot. Which is a lot more than mainstream cameras do. You WANT to carry a Leica around. And when you do that, you're apt to make more and better photos. Just like most any car today gets you from point a to b and have all the doodads one needs. But not all put a smile on your face in the process. Not all inspire you to drive.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because you should strive to be like a Leica. (See what I did there?) Different. Exceptional. Not for everyone.

Combine this with the thinking of David Perell and Jack Butcher on defining your niche. They recently did a workshop (watch it here) on creating your personal monopoly. It's similar to what I mean by owning your cow. It's about being in the driver's seat of your life rather than life driving you. Their premise is to not define your niche but create one. One that only YOU can own.

How might you do this?

By combining competence, curiosity and character to eliminate your competition. Competence alone is not enough. Anyone can develop it and push you aside. Competence with curiosity lowers your competition but others can also be curious. I also personally believe that success hinges on curiosity.

Those that aren't won't rise to the same level. It's something I will frequently write about and seek in those I work with. Jack and David, though, say adding character is where you leap ahead. That is what's unique to you.

They distilled what I've been thinking for awhile now quite eloquently. It takes introspection to figure out where this intersects for you. You need to try a few things. And you'll need to do your thing for awhile because you'll suck when you start. You have to be irrationally passionate PLUS patient. It can't be some flavor of the month.

Opportunity has a price

Herein lies the rub. There's an opportunity cost to everything you do. If you buy product A, you can't buy product B because you spent your budget. When it comes to our time, it's easy to say yes in the moment. Much different to actually do it.

We don't always know, or plan for, how long success takes. There's a saying that we overestimate what we can do in a day but underestimate what we can do in a year.

On the flip side, we often have difficulty making decisions because we're not sure what's the best use of our time or what will lead to the success we seek. If we can't assign a value to the time our pursuits require, it's hard to estimate the cost. It's a worthy exercise though to figure out a quick and dirty test of an idea.

Spend just enough time with something to understand how you can make it better or different or if it fits. Then move on. Gut rank the ideas in your parking lot.

Something I was prone to do early in life was to keep my options open until the last minute. I didn't want to choose because what if something better came up? If I chose too early, I might miss out on something cool. What a tragedy that would be! A serious case of FOMO anyone? The net result was that I'd likely end up alone or not doing what I could because I waited too long to choose. BUT at least my options were still open!

When you consider your options and the opportunity cost of choosing one over the other, try not to fall into the analysis paralysis trap. Commit and go. Skip the buyer's remorse. It serves you not.

For simple choices, consider making some rules for yourself that eliminate the need to choose. For example, if you want to improve your writing, it's important to write everyday. Yet easy to put it off because writing is hard. You don't always know what to say. But if you make a rule that you write everyday you don't have to think about writing. You just show up to write. The rule doesn't say you need to write 500 or 5,000 words. Just that you write. Maybe somedays you write a sentence or two and weren't feeling it. But you showed up. And pros show up. Eventually you'll improve. And more likely achieve your goals.

"Make a single decision to eliminate 1000 decisions." - Tim Ferris

Start. Make crap. Get good.

Where does your competence, curiosity and character intersect? How original will you choose to be?