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#54: Where Warren Is Wrong
When the richest man in the world tells you something, generally you should listen.
Warren Buffett is famous for talking about finding your own "Circle of Competence". I listened. Heck, my entire Advantage Mapping philosophy is based off this concept.
But, I realized after talking to many people struggling to find success, that CoC is incomplete, and that's where Warren and I have issues. -->
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Back to the newsletter --> Advantage - the missing element
Here's the thing, competence is only one element of how you can get ahead in life.
Competence is old school thinking.
Go to school, learn, fill your head with knowledge about a subject, and sail over everyone else.
This is the industrial revolution, labor stacking mindset.
But we're in the fucking information age.
Not even - we're actually in the "limitless-I-can-learn-anything-for-free-and-get-any-question-I-have-answered-by-Chat-GPT-so-what-the-fuck-do-I-focus-on" Age.
Competence is commoditized and getting cheaper by the second.
Of course there is and will always be a difference in true, deep competence and the GPT version, but the point is that the hurdle to knowledge is no longer a competitive advantage.
Choosing your focus and leverage are the new durable competitive advantages.
So how do you do that today?
By expanding your set of ways you can create an advantage for yourself and by understanding how and when to apply leverage.
There are no fewer (and probably more) than 8 areas where you can create a distinct advantage to break out of the pack and succeed. They are:
Interests - no one can beat you at what you like
Energy - no one can beat you at activities that give you energy
Aptitude - what you are naturally wired for
Personality - who you are and how your mental game is wired
Expertise - competence, yes, it's only one area
Support - money, people, systems that can guide and extend your exploration
How you learn - helps you stay away from "opportunities" where you will be slower on the uptake
Decisions - How and at what speed you make solid decisions relative to others
Then stack these in a simple sequence to find what I call a "high odds" path.
Here's my simple statement to remember on how know you are on the right path:
Let your (1) Interests, (2) energy, (3) Aptitudes and (4) Personality direct your focus which allocates your resources (time, attention, capital) towards acquiring (5) Expertise levered by (6) Support, (7) How you learn and (8)the Decisions that you make.
If you get to know yourself in these areas and stack them in this way, I guarantee you will change your life.
If you need help, give me a call or sign up for the waitlist on my Advantage Mapping Foundations course dropping at the end of the month!
You can do both below.
Bottom line is competence isn't enough today. Commit to pulling every advantage you can, and you'll find success.
Here’s to breaking your old habits and becoming the best version of yourself!
Mike
mike@careercloud.com
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P.S. My Advantage Mapping Program is all about betting on yourself and using signal to guide your decisions - giving you tools to evaluate what progress and success looks like so you can have confidence in your path. We aim to deal well with uncertainty and create a systematic, high odds approach to aligning who you are with what you do. I'd love you to check it out Join the waitlist
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The Latest Conversation on THE BREAK Pod
Jacob Morgan is the international best-selling author of 5 books, keynote speaker, and professionally trained futurist. His passion and mission is to create great leaders, engaged employees, and future-ready organizations. Jacob is also the host of "Great Leadership With Jacob Morgan," one of the world's most popular leadership podcasts. His work has been endorsed by the CEOs of: Unilever, Cisco, Mastercard, Nestle, Best Buy, SAP, KPMG, T-Mobile, Audi, Kaiser Permanente, and many others. He lives in Los Angeles, California with his amazing wife Blake, their two kids, and their two Yorkie rescue dogs. You can learn more about Jacob, contact him, and get access to his content by visiting TheFutureOrganization.com.
In this episode Jacob and I talk about quitting his job, how a cup of coffee changed his life, and we really go deep on vulnerability. How being vulnerable can help build trust, but also how leading With vulnerability is an entirely different skill set.
In fact, Jacob wrote a book on the topic called Leading With Vulnerability comes out October 3. My copy is on its way.
You made it to the end! Hopefully you learned something about breaking your career today! If so, please share this with someone you care about.
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