Archives for January 2016

Traditionally, specialization has been the path toward making more money. A brain surgeon can make more money than a physician who is in general practice. An engineer that specializes in building long-span bridges can make more than a general engineer. This makes sense because the more specific a customer's need, the fewer people there are normally going to be to fulfill that need, and when there are fewer people to choose from, the price will migrate higher. Based on this, some of the most common advice for making more money is to develop more specialized skills. However, another shift that has occurred over the past 5 to 20 years is that the new tools are increasing the amount … [Read more...] about Specialization vs. Broad Skills

The trouble with most New Year's Resolutions is that they aren't focused on something quantifiable and specific. Vague resolutions are very easy to break because it is never clear if you are actually achieving them or not. For example, with a resolution like "exercise more" you'll never know if you actually did it or not. But a resolution like "do three pull-ups every night" is much more specific. There is no ambiguity about whether or not you did three pull-ups or not. One of the best ways to track New Year's Resolutions is to get a calendar where you can mark your progress each day. So for the pull-up example, you might put the calendar on the wall near your pull-up bar and put an X … [Read more...] about Productive New Year’s Resolutions