Former TIME editor-in-chief and head of the Aspen Institute, Walter Isaacson, has written a series of biographies and wrote that a criterion he uses for choosing his subjects is whether they have combined disparate interests. For example, Da Vinci merged art and science. Ben Franklin excelled in invention and politics. Steve Jobs described Apple’s philosophy as the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. When Einstein was stuck on a physics problem, he often pulled out his violin.
Few people will rise to such accomplishment, but the concept of combining interests and expertise remains useful to us all. It can build a personal identity that differentiates you from the crowd, and it can facilitate your having an unusual career niche, making it easier to brand and market yourself.
My Psychology Today article today offers examples from my clients as well as from my own life.
No comments:
Post a Comment