Money. We all want to make more of it. But if possible, we also prefer to do it without putting in too much effort.
And that is exactly what I want to talk about today. The usual way to generate money is by providing some sort of value to others by solving a problem, through a product or service. But if you really want to reap the rewards, that alone isn't enough.
You also have to be good at what you do. In almost every profession you look at, it's mostly people at the top, who are making a good living. Those people are extremely good at their craft and therefore occupy the top 1% of the pyramid.
And the more our society or the markets consider that profession to be valuable, the more money those individuals will make. Likewise, people who aren't as skilled at what they do, or who picked a profession that isn't considered as valuable, are obviously going to make a lot less. And those are the people at the bottom of the pyramid who are earning chump change.
So, it would make perfect sense to try and become one of the best in your field, in order to make more money, right? That's what I believed for a long time. And for some people, that can be a good strategy.
But if you go down this path, you will soon realise that the competition at the top, and on the way there, can be absolutely brutal. You will be competing with other people who are putting every ounce of their time, energy and effort into their work. Sometimes forgoing everything else.
Not only that, but in some fields you have to be in the top 0. 01% to see any good monetary results. For example, it is already insanely difficult to even get a chance to compete at the Olympics.
But the difference in amount of money made, between the person who finishes 1st and the person who finishes 4th, is absolutely staggering. And sometimes the variance in their performance is in a tenth of a second. It's insane how cut throat it can be.
Now don't get me wrong, being in the top 1%, or even top 20% of a certain domain is often sufficient to make a really good living and not have to worry about money. The point I'm trying to make is that there's a huge earning gap between people who are at the top of their fields, and those who aren't. Well, luckily over time, I found out that you don't actually need to be the best to make good money.
Instead, there's another way to go about it. One where you don't necessarily have to put in extreme effort, but it still allows you to increase your market value enough to make exponentially more. And it's quite simple.
Instead of trying to become world-class in one skill, what you do is, you add another complimentary skill to your existing skill set. That's it. And the best part is you don't have to be extraordinary at that skill.
Being good or just above average is often more than enough. That's because in a lot of cases, good plus good is equal to, or even greater than excellent. And the more relevant skills you're able to combine, the more valuable you can make yourself.
This is a very straightforward idea that a lot of people miss, but I believe it's the easiest option to increase your market value and earning potential significantly. Scott Adams, who's the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, named this concept "talent stacking. " As Scott himself puts it; he has poor art skills, mediocre business skills, good but not great writing talent and a little bit of a sense of humor.
If his skills are examined individually, he isn't world-class in any of them, instead he's quite average. However, Scott found a way to combine all those skills for a singular purpose and thus he's able to create something not everyone else can. A timeless comic that makes people laugh, but that also brings in a lot of money.
Naturally, there are a lot of artists that can draw better than Scott, and plenty of stand-up comedians who are funnier than him. But there aren't as many artists who are funny, nor are there that many comedians who can draw. By combining two or more skills together, Scott entered into a completely new field, where there was a lot less competition.
Which allowed him to stand out. And that's why talent stacking works so well. If you're just average at one skill, nobody will notice you.
You're just one of the many who can do the exact same thing. So naturally those who are the best, the top 1% of that field, will get most of the opportunities that come along. However, those who are able to effectively combine two or more complimentary skills together, instantly become more valuable, simply because they can do something that others can't or aren't willing to do.
If you've ever wondered how some people who aren't as skilled as you, or as smart as you, make more money than you, this is it. They simply combine a few useful skills together, and almost by default they become the top 1% of their new field, simply because their skill set is so rare that there's barely any competition. And you could do the same.
Now, I'm not saying that it's easy to do so, but it's definitely easier, than betting everything on 1 skill. And the reason why it's easier, is because it doesn't take that long to learn just enough about a topic and become decently good at it. On the contrary, due to diminishing returns, the deeper you dive into something and the better you get at it, the harder it is to make any meaningful improvement.
An elite athlete could be training for years just to improve his mile time by a few seconds. Meanwhile in just a few months, a beginner is able to improve his mile by minutes. And that's what you're aiming for.
Improving in a skill just enough to be decently good at it, but not overinvesting time and effort. So for example, let's say you wanted to learn how to become better at marketing. You could go to a university and get a marketing degree, and you'll know 95% of all there is to know about it.
But it's going to take you 4 years. Or you could take an easier approach and just read a few books on that topic, or take an online course. You will learn 70% of all there is to know about marketing, and it's going to take you maybe a few months.
Sure, you won't be an expert, but you'll be above average, which is good enough. And in the time it would take you to learn an extra 10%, you could add another skill to your skill set. So while it might take a lifetime to master something, it usually takes just a few months to become above average at multiple skills, and make yourself more valuable that way.
That's why talent stacking is the easier path. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't bother mastering any skills. Far from it.
Being a generalist also isn't optimal, because it usually means you're spread too thin in too many different directions and you don't make much progress in any of them. Instead you want to pick a handful of skills that go well together and focus on those. But once you've found a way to effectively combine them in a way that allows you to generate more money, you should dive deeper and even try to master them.
However when you're still in the process of combining skills, good enough will do. But the big question is: Which skills should you spend time learning in order to add them to your talent stack? To answer that question, let me first tell a quick story.
Back in primary school, I loved playing basketball. However, I didn't do any training, except for maybe shooting the ball at the hoop. And at that time, I had a friend who enjoyed playing soccer.
But he had regular daily practice because he actually wanted to go pro. So when we played soccer at school, he obviously dominated and was the best at it. Now, when we played basketball, you would think that I was better than him.
But my friend actually was faster, had more stamina, knew where the ball was going, and he understood team play, all better than me. While he was training to be better at soccer, the skills he acquired at his practice, also transferred to other sports, and made him better at them. So unfortunately for me, his soccer training also made him good at basketball.
The point I'm trying to make here is that the skills you learn in one area, can often be applied in another. So the best skills that you should try to add to your talent stack are the ones that can be applied to multiple areas. Things like: Persuasion and clear communication.
Time management. Another language. Writing.
Marketing. Understanding psychology and people's behavior. That's just to name a few, but there are many more to choose from.
The reason I listed these options is because I believe they have a very broad range of applications. And even if your original plan with them doesn't work out, these skills are still going to be useful and will serve you greatly in other areas as well. So you can't go wrong by learning them.
With that being said, I believe that the most important skill anyone can learn to make more money, is understanding business and finance. Knowing business will significantly amplify the earning potential of whatever domain you're in. However, you need to have a skill set, which you're decently good at in the first place, otherwise there's nothing to amplify.
Now the reason why understanding business is so important, is because if you don't have at least some business skills, your earning potential is limited. You can be the best at what you do, but if you're just an employee, you're simply trading your time for a fixed salary. And you probably don't want to be doing that indefinitely.
Eventually you want to become a freelancer, self employed, or a business owner. That way you can get paid based on the value and the results you provide, rather than getting a fixed salary, based on the time you spend "working. " And you might know some people that are in the same domain as you, but aren't really that good at what they do.
However, because they have solid business skills and are running their own business, they're able to amplify their earnings and make a good living. That is why you want to have some business skills yourself. So you can eventually make a shift from an employee to a business owner, which will allow you to amplify and scale your income, instead of it being capped.
But you shouldn't be fooled. Business isn't just a simple skill. It's actually already a complete talent stack.
Someone who's good at business is already good at multiple different things, such as: negotiation, risk management, accounting and taxes, leverage, outsourcing and delegating, money management. . .
You get the point. They don't necessarily have all these skills, but a lot of them are present. However this is also probably the most useful stack you can have, because it can be transferred and applied in any field.
The industry you're in doesn't matter, the business principles will be almost the same. Sure there might be some differences, but just like my friend's switch from soccer to basketball, a lot of it will transfer over. And this added flexibility is another reason why I think talent stacking is so great.
Nowadays, things are constantly changing. And you should expect changes in your industry as well. If you're only able to do one thing, chances are that a shift in your domain might negatively impact you, as it is much harder to pivot if you do things the same way all the time.
But if you have other skills to fall back on, then the pivot is not only easier, but it can also help you catapult yourself to the top faster, as you're better equipped to handle the changes compared to others. This is why it makes sense to build other flexible skills and not just focus on one. Also the world isn't the only thing that's changing, but over time, we change as individuals as well.
What we like today, is not necessarily what we'll enjoy 10 years from now. So it's wise to prepare accordingly. If you made it this far into the video, you're probably convinced that talent stacking does indeed work for most people.
Unless you know you can make it to the top 1% with just one skill, it's simply better to build and combine multiple skills together. And this is the path that I personally took. The Better Than Yesterday channel you're watching right now, is actually another example of talent stacking.
I'm not world class at anything I do here. My animation skills are alright. My storytelling is decent.
Research and information are solid. SEO is ok. Individually, you will see that I'm nowhere near at being the best in any of these skills.
However, once you add all of them together, the end product is kinda unique. And I'm able to have moderate success because of it, even if I'm not the best, and even if I'm not working on it full time. So you can clearly see that there is something to it.
Now, I have a challenge for you. I want you to think about your current skills, and see if you could potentially combine them in a way that would make you more unique and valuable. If you don't think you can combine them in any way, then think of a new skill that could amplify or improve your current skill set the most.
I want you to consume as much information about that skill as possible for the next 1 week, in order to get more familiar with the new topic. This will allow you to really think about the potential ways those skills could be used and monetised. I say 1 week because that's not too much of a commitment.
And if you really dive into it every single day for a week straight, that's a sufficient amount of time for you to learn a ton of new stuff and apply it in a way that makes you at least a little more valuable. Remember, it doesn't take long to learn just enough. Worst case, after that 1 week is over, you will walk out having learned something new about the skill, or about yourself, that could be useful later on.
But perhaps you will learn how to combine that skill with your current skill set in a unique way, and find a way to monetise it. You really have nothing to lose. So that's my challenge to you.
Find and create your unique talent stack. Oh, and just a friendly reminder; don't procrastinate. Make sure to start today, because that is the only way, to be better than yesterday.
Thanks for watching.
