Note: After reading the article, I’ll let you decide which group you belong to. Furthermore, it is not a strict requirement that you be part of a particular group; you are free to overlap depending on your personal situation.
This year, I plan to devote at least 3 hours every day to learning. When I say to learn, my primary source of learning is through books, which means reading.
I already knew the book Deep Work by Newport. I already read a couple of pages but never read in a way to deeply understand the concept and then make sure to implement it. After all,
Ideas are cheap
Execution is expensive.
Why these three groups?
In this chaotic world, these are the only three groups that have the advantage of thriving while the rest suffer.
Group 1 — The people who can work well and creatively with the intelligent machines
Group 2 — The people who are best at what they do.
Group 3 — The people with access to capital.
Let’s explore each group and take a couple of examples to understand at the core level.
Group 1
It’s straightforward for people who can work well and creatively with the machines. As technology, especially automation and artificial intelligence, is continuously evolving, making our lives easier, the people who know how to adopt the new technology are at an advantage.
When I say adopt the technology, it’s paramount they are using the technology to enhance productivity and problem-solving. Let’s take a couple of examples to solidify the concept.
I am a petroleum engineer who falls in love with how the go-to-market strategy works for technology companies. From a career perspective, being a data scientist, technology analyst, software developer, and digital marketer is an advantage to go ahead in life.
Group 2
Who are the best at what they do, especially with the depth of knowledge — I will take the example of the top writer Tim Denning, who has accumulated 325,000+ followers on Medium.
Mastery of a particular thing, in Tim’s case, it’s, writing, can lead to high demand and recognition. Let’s take a couple of more examples to solidify the notion.
It could be a renowned artist, expert programs (10 or even 100x of an average software developer), or a top-tier athlete who is at the top, for example, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, etc
Group 3
#Inherit
Those with access to capital. Everything starts at the tiny level; my grandmother used to say that we cannot say $100 bills as $100, even if $1 is less.
I consider myself to fall into this group; I am fortunate to have some extra funds available to invest in real estate and shares. Last year, I bought two properties to put them on rent.
I took a step further to advertise the property on an Airbnb platform to 3x the rental income potential. So far, it’s going great, but that’s not my long-term strategy.
I am a kind person who depends on making more money by using my brain, especially compounding activities by reducing the hours of input.
Where do you belong?
First, I will go; based on my preliminary analysis, I belong to groups 1 & 3.
Why?
It’s pretty simple: by trade, I’m an engineer and enjoy consulting work, which brings me capital. It’s not massive money, but it’s okay to buy 1–2 rental properties per year, which puts me in groups 1 and 3.
However, this year, I decided to do massive, means deep work on group 2 to spend a gigantic amount of time on writing and make a living from just writing.
What is my strategy?
Again, it’s pretty straightforward; I am doing only two things to achieve it.
- Creating content: When I say creating content, I mean writing on Medium and X and possibly LinkedIn, but I will leave LinkedIn for the first six months of 2024.
- Reading/learning is the only way to write a lot.
Tip: If you want to become a prolific writer, first learn how to become a prolific reader. Your brain has to become an idea-generating machine.
Bonus — How does one become a superstar in the 21st Century?
Early is a priceless timepiece owned by the successful. — Johnnie Dent Jr.
There are only TWO possibilities to become the superstar that will bring you massive success.
1- The ability to rapidly master hard things.
2- The ability to produce at the elite level, especially in terms of both quality and speed.
Credit: I got the idea from the following book, Deep Work by Newport. Here is the link if you would like to explore it further.
The bottom line
After exploring these three groups, I conclude that the groups are arbitrary. It’s possible an individual does not belong to any one of the groups and still be successful.
The key is to keep learning, exploring, and especially implementing. Before I leave, let me recall the groups.
- Who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines
- Who are the best at what they do
- Who has access to capital
In the comment, let me know which group you belong to and why.
