Watching over the shoulders of gamer friends and relatives as they choose their avatars for the journey ahead, I’ve learned about the tradeoffs involved.

You can have strength, agility, stamina, or cunning — but not all four to the same degree. Each option has its vulnerabilities and advantages. You’ve got to make decisions about what will be most useful to you, based on your own unique playing style and preferences.

Kinda like life, right? Except in life, some of us get the idea somewhere that we’re supposed to be good at everything and that there shouldn’t be any tradeoffs.

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In his now-classic book that inspired a generation of digital nomads, Tim Ferriss points out that an unreasonable or unrealistic goal is easier to achieve than a reasonable or realistic one.

Meanwhile, Cal Newport, in his book How to be a High School Superstar, shares the value of doing things that are fairly easy but sound impressive. Why compete with dozens of others to be valedictorian when you can put your energy into fundraising for your very own nonprofit?

And in another of Newport’s books, the author suggests that leveraging skills you’re already good at to become even better is the path to a fulfilling career.

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If I asked you right now to tell me what you’re really good at or point out a few things you’ve made or accomplished that you’re really proud of, how difficult would that be for you?

Would you be able to state your strengths and accomplishments plainly, without any attempt to minimize them?

Many of us struggle with this. We’re afraid to appear conceited…and maybe afraid of actually becoming conceited.

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Is Kendrick Lamar handy with a hammer?

How’s Saoirse Ronan’s volleyball serve?

Sure, David McCullough is a revered writer, but can he write funny tweets?

We really don’t care. These greats are valued for their contributions to our culture — we don’t need them to be good at everything.

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School rewards good penmanship, strong language skills, facility with numbers, social ease, and athletic ability. Bonus points if you are well organized and approval-seeking.

Forgive me for broadly generalizing here: Engineers are often good at numbers. But their other strengths — such as spatial ability, innovation, making unusual connections, finding shortcuts, tolerance for failure, skill at manipulating inanimate objects, and asking challenging questions — can be virtually invisible in a typical liberal arts-based K - 12 curriculum. 

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