I was reading one of Benj Miller’s weekday emails (check it out). In it, he was talking about a video from Jim Collins.
Instead of thinking through: “what am I good at?” or “what can I be the best in the world at?” instead ask “what am I encoded for?“
It doesn’t matter whether:
- You’ve done this job your whole life
- You have so much momentum it doesn’t make sense to stop
- You are the only volunteer in a certain role (and there aren’t backups)
- You’ve always done “XYZ” a certain way
Coming from someone who has been doing the same job since middle school, it’s a different way to frame the cliche question of: “what is your long-term goal?”
Perhaps this perspective shift will help guide some new thoughts.
