Jack of All Trades – Master of None?

May 13, 2011 by admin

By Jimmy Krug –

I’ve tried many different types of businesses (online and offline) in my lifetime. I’m not old, but I’m not a “kid” either! I’m what people lovingly refer to as “middle age.”

I’ve experimented with quite a few business models since graduating from college. I burned through a lot of money, too, experimenting.

The idea of focusing upon one business alone wasn’t exactly a great fit for my personality type. In my opinion, it wasn’t much better than punching a clock. The thing is, as the old saying goes, I was running the risk of becoming a Jack-of-all-trades and master of NONE.

My question was – do you actually have to master something in order to be successful? There are people who own multiple businesses throughout their lifetimes, who diversify and make quite a bit of money in the process, aren’t there? Sure. If you take a closer look, however, you’ll discover there are one or two skills they’ve mastered that have laid the foundation of each endeavor.

There isn’t a right answer that applies to every single case. If you’re not happy doing one type of business the rest of your life, so be it. There are certain skill sets you want to have no matter what circumstances bring around the next corner.

Consider a Bill Gates. He did one thing and, at least in the financial aspect of the business, mastered it. Windows has had its issues throughout the years, but that didn’t keep Microsoft from becoming the software giant that it did. Today, more people use PC’s with Windows as the operating system than Macs. That was the master plan from the beginning and the mission was accomplished.

Now, he can do whatever he wants with his life (invest in new businesses, write books, go on speaking tours, etc.). The sky is the limit. You don’t need to score as big as Bill Gates to enjoy freedom. You do, however, need to score.

One person can come out of nowhere and have a spectacular game in a Superbowl, World Series, World Cup – you name it. The next year, they’re millionaires. Whether they continue at that level or not is another thing. The point is, if they’re smart, they save some money and they’re set for life.

Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame did more with a single recipe than anyone else in the food genre who immediately comes to mind. Although he started late in life (after his retirement) and experience several setbacks, he kept with it and the rest is history. The fact that Mr. Sanders experienced so much success late in his life should be an encouragement to many people who’ve read and continue to discover his story.

Stephen King wallpapered his room with rejection slips until he finally broke through with the novel – Carrie. His wife actually pulled it out of the wastepaper basket and said, “I think there’s something here if you rewrite a few sections.” She convinced him to stay with it until he had the formula that’s right for him.

Many times, the Jack-of-all-trades syndrome comes about because you’re not experiencing the type of success you’ve been expecting in a particular business venture, so you bounce from one to the other. For every person who’s successful in multiple niches, there are hundreds, possibly thousands who aren’t.

In Jim Straw’s case, success in one business type (see his Millionaire’s course), led to opportunities in many other areas. But first, he had to master one specific thing.

Most people who do “twenty-different-things” are perpetually broke. Have you been there and done that? It’s no disgrace is you bought the ticket and have the shirt. The disgrace comes in when you don’t learn and keep buying the same ticket.

Not all people measure success the same way, of course. If you’re interested in putting a website together and selling a few things online for the sake of “having done it,” that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with trying something for the sake of the experience itself. I got involved with rock climbing in Arizona for the sake of the experience when I was in my 20’s. The thrill of not falling off a cliff seemed like a good challenge at the time. Once I made it to the top of the mountain, I vowed to God I’d never do it again if He got me down to the bottom safely. To say it was dangerous would be an understatement. I kept my promise.

Was I a success a rock climbing? Depends on how you measure success? Do you get my point? Not everything has to be or should be measure in terms of dollars and cents. But don’t use that to justify failure. At the end of the day, your business is either prospering or it isn’t.

The one area you can’t afford fall by the wayside with is MONEY. Notice I didn’t use the word “fail.” You can fail with money and lose it a bunch of times and still land on your feet in the end. Walt Disney is a good example of this to an extreme. Walt Disney, however, wasn’t a Jack-of-all-Trades was he?

Diversification seems like a good idea – especially when you’re younger and trying things out for the first time. Sooner or later though, it’s a good idea to focus, grow some financial roots and be involved in something that has more to it than just short-term benefits.

5 Steps to Planting Roots with Your “Big Picture” Business

1. Make a list of all the things you’ve done in the past all the way up to the present, on a piece of paper. Big or small, don’t worry about the size of the list.
2. From your master list, identify qualities or strengths (it can even be things others have said about you) in each of those particular ventures and write them on another list next to or below your first list.
3. On a third list, write down the reasons why (in your opinion) your previous efforts were not as successful as they could have been. Be brutally honest. It doesn’t have to be your fault something didn’t succeed, but if it is; don’t be afraid to admit it. No one will see your lists but you.
4. Determine what it is that you must do differently and write a “letter” to yourself” telling yourself what must change and what you must do differently this time around in order to be success.
5. Read the letter aloud to yourself. You may feel stupid, but there’s something to hearing yourself with your own ears. Reading aloud helps seal the deal on a subconscious level.

This simple little exercise will create a subtle shift in your thinking. You may want to keep your letter and reread it from time to time.

Right now, there are more tools and more information available than ever before to help you succeed in business. Jim Straw’s methods are timeless. Will they work for you? That’s up to you. If you don’t know how to swim, can you learn? That’s up to you, too. How long will it take? Again, it’s up to you and how you respond in “real time.”

The information that’s out there will work for you as long as you’re willing to stick with it until you get the results you’re after.