#089 – Cowboys & Exceptional Talent

Good morning everyone,

Hope you’re having a great week!

Let’s jump in.

read online on my website 

read time 3 minutes 

#089 at a Glance:

• Quote: Everyone is jealous of what you’ve got...

• Podcast: Life lessons from a modern cowboy.

• Interesting Phenomenon: 37 omens of exceptional talent.

• Article: Why jacks-of-all-trades win.

• Tweet: Complicated problems, simple solutions.

Quote I’ve been thinking about:

Podcast I listened to:

Modern Wisdom #869 – Dry Creek Dewayne – Life Lessons From A Modern Cowboy

In a recent episode of the Modern Wisdom podcast, Chris Williamson engaged in an awesome conversation with Dewayne Noel, a seasoned cowboy and founder of the Dry Creek Wrangler School.

Full of timeless life lessons that resonate more deeply than ever in our modern world.

Key takeaways for me:

• Balance as service. This is the essence of true masculinity. It is only when we are physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually balanced that we are in a position to most effectively serve those around us.

• Whether it’s in business or personal relationships; clarity, patience, and empathy can build bridges faster than force ever will.

• It only takes 1-2 generations of bad fathers in society to ultimately cause the downfall of an entire nation.

• Give yourself more credit not only for the things you do, but the things you don’t do. Sometimes, “I didn’t stuff anything up today” should be celebrated just as much as “I exceeded all of my goals for today”.

There’s a reason why this was the highest-ranking podcast episode across the US in one of the weeks in December last year.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

[Podcast Length: 1 hour 54 minutes]

Interesting Phenomenon I came across:

37 Omens of Exceptional Talent 

As a key member of the Special Projects Team at OpenAI, Alexey Guzey has had the privilege of working up close and personal with some ultra high performers.

Think about the likes of Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI), Patrick Collison (CEO, Stripe), and Tyler Cowen (Economist and Columnist).

Here are 37 omens that he has observed in those who possess exceptional talent (quoted):

1. i’m scared that they might be better than me at everything and that i’ll be out of job if they try to do whatever it is i’m doing

2. drop everything and work non-stop on a single thing if decide on the right thing to do

3. exceptionally clear writing

4. fast when it matters, slow when it doesn’t

5. really get “if you’re not sure what to do, just do the right thing”

6. deliver on an agreed schedule, even if it means getting best effort rather than perfect thing (and their “best effort” tends to be impressive given the timeline)

7. figure out assignments from people they respect on their own and deliver way above expectations on them

8. ahead of me on important thoughts, questions, insights, achievements (if very young: ahead of me at their age)

9. are clearly much better than me at ≥2 important things

10. seriously ask the biggest questions & do their best to go all the way answering them

11. keep promises

12. impatient yet patient; brilliant yet dumb

13. ask questions that make people they talk to smarter and more specific

14. not scared of interrupting people

15. do what’s required to get where they want to get (rather than only doing what they’re good at)

16. have specific, correct hot takes (if young, on the path there)

17. delivered a ton of interesting projects that weren’t helpful for anything in particular (whether it’s writing, coding, leading or anything else)

18. learn really fast & you can see it from their behavior

19. actions reflect beliefs

20. have a history of embarrassing cold emails

21. have a promise of good taste

22. i have no clue how they’ve done what they’ve done

23. take ideas seriously

24. type really fast (clearly a spurious correlation but still interesting)

25. ok with being low status & not afraid to do things that are not viewed as “normal”

26. consistently surprise me

27. not afraid to majorly change a (successful) career path, if needed

28. drop out of undergrad or grad school (for non-academics)

29. when i look at their resume i feel embarrassed for myself

30. have 6 months+ periods of unemployment/underemployment

31. don’t give up (eventually)

32. see the future

33. don’t settle for proxies, zoom all the way in & out

34. keep doing what they believe is the right thing in the absence of any positive feedback or only negative (even if only perceived) feedback from others

35. have thought through everything

36. use first principles when there are no priors & use priors when there are priors

37. extremely curious

Numbers 6, 12, and 34 really stood out to me.

An exceptional individual prioritises efficiency over perfection, is impatient yet patient, brilliant yet dumb, and remains unequivocally persistent in the face of negative feedback from others.

Source: guzey.com/talent/

Article I read:

The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack-of-All-Trades

Really enjoyed this article by Tim Ferriss on the competitive advantages of being a Jack-Of-All-Trades.

I would summarise his perspective with the following:

Applying the 80/20 principle allows proficiency in many areas, while diverse skills prevent boredom, build confidence, enhance empathy, and create richer, more fulfilling experiences.

You can check out the full article here.

Tweet I liked:

Complicated Problems, Simple Solutions

Thanks for reading! Grateful for your support.

Stay hungry, stay humble, stay curious. ⚡

You can read all previous editions of Five to Thrive on my website here.

Think someone else will enjoy reading Five to Thrive?
They can subscribe here. 

Get in touch with me via email ([email protected]) or you can also find me on LinkedIn.