Here is today’s Game and what’s going on.
Here is what I discovered today in our Dadly Daily Declaration readings from Chapter 18 of Atomic Habits by James Clear. The title of this chapter is “The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When They Don’t).”
Today’s readings begin giving you advanced tactics to go from being good to being great. Here are a few highlights from today’s readings:
- The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition. Habits are easier to to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when the align with your natural inclinations and abilities.
- Embracing this strategy requires the acceptance of the simple truth that people are born with different abilities.
- Our environment determines the suitability of our genes and the utility of our natural talents. When our environment changes, so do the qualities that determine success.
- Competence is highly dependent on context.
- The people at the top of any competitive field are not only well trained, they are also well suited to the task. And this is why, if you want to be truly great, selecting the right place to focus is crucial.
- In short: genes do not determine your destiny. They determine your areas of opportunity.
- The areas where you are genetically predisposed to success are the areas where habits are more likely to be satisfying. The key is to direct your effort toward areas that both excite you and match your natural skills, to align your ambition with your ability.
- Your genes are operating beneath the surface of every habit. Indeed, beneath the surface of every behavior.
- Our habits are not solely determined by our personalities, but there is no doubt that our genes nudge us in a certain direction. Our deeply rooted preferences make certain behaviors easier for some people than for others.
- Learning to play a game where the odds are in your favor is critical for maintaining motivation and feeling successful.
- People who are talented in a particular area tend to be more competent at that task and are then praised for doing a good job. They stay energized because they re making progress where others. have failed, and because they get rewarded with better pay and bigger opportunities, which not only makes them happier but also propels them to produce even higher-quality work. It’s a virtuous cycle.
- There are a series of questions you can ask yourself to continually narrow in on the habits and areas that will be most satisfying to you:
- What feels like fun to me, but work to others?
- What makes me lose track of time?
- Where do I get greater returns than the average person?
- What comes naturally to me?
- When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different. By combining your skills, you reduce the level of competition, which makes it easier to stand out. You can shortcut the need for a genetic advantage by rewriting the rules. A good player works hard to win the game everyone else is playing. A great player creates a new game that favors their strengths and avoids their weaknesses.
Those gems lead us to today’s Dadly Daily Declaration:
You should build habits that work for your personality. You don’t have to build the habits everyone tells you to build. Choose the habit that best suits you, not the one that is most popular.
There is a version of every habit that can bring you joy and satisfaction. Find it. Habits need to be enjoyable if they are going to stick.
