Domoire Darrell De Freitas

Plutarch said:

The Principles of Success

Specialized Knowledge

So far, on the path to success, we've spoken about the importance of Dreams, Self Confidence, and Stories. These first 3 make up the foundation of success, and while they are essential, they are admittedly a little abstract. It's the basic advice that you find posted in a curly font on any sorority wall right along with Live Laugh Love.

A tactic of success which is a bit more tangible is Specialized Knowledge.

General knowledge is useless unless you intend to compete on Jeopardy and other knowledge-based gameshows. Instead, you must develop specialized knowledge to achieve success.

Imagine that the entirety of human knowledge contained within a circle:

The black represents the unknown; green is everything you learned by the time you complete high school. Yellow for college education and the deep purple line stretching into the unknown represents the journey of getting your Masters and Ph.D., which adds a little more to the collective knowledge of the entire known world.

Generally, experts in various fields get paid more because they are in possession of specific knowledge for their area. They have spent years knowing everything there is to know about the topic. Suppose you want to know something about nuclear physics, rocket science, or brain surgery. In that case, you go to a professional with specialized knowledge, not someone with a passing understanding of the topic. Experts hold a specific set of skills and knowledge that the rest of the world does not have; therefore, they get paid more. Specialized knowledge in a field puts you in demand. If your skills are in need, you can charge a premium rate for them.

Compare this to someone who is a waiter or collecting payment for parking at the parking garage. The skills required are simple: reading, knowledge of basic mathematics, and basic communication skills. Anyone who got through elementary school can do the job.

Two thousand years ago, reading and writing would have been special skills that only the privileged few had, but today it is expected that everyone you meet can read, write and speak in full sentences; therefore, there is not much demand for those skills. Similarly, employers today expect that anyone applying for a job knows how to use a computer. It's no longer a special skill to understand the Microsoft Office Suite of products. Successful people know that they must specialize to set themselves apart from the masses.

That doesn't mean that you need a doctoral degree to obtain specialized knowledge. Retake a look at the circle:

The white spots represent areas where you can gain specialized knowledge. Notice that the white dots exist within general high school education, alongside college and doctoral information, and even outside of known human knowledge. The point is that anywhere that you can gain a deep understanding of a topic will gain you specialized knowledge. Know how to raise a particular type of animal, grow a specific type of plant, find the best spots in your city for scenic photos, and repair one specific piece of electronic equipment? Then you have specialized knowledge.

Gaining specialized knowledge doesn't require spending thousands of dollars on getting a degree, though that can certainly be one path to obtaining it. One obtains specialized knowledge by being persistent in learning as much as you can in any field. In this modern age, any topic that you want to learn is available for study via an endless supply of books and free resources online. Don't like one book or source? Just find another one suited to your taste and learning style.

Before Henry Ford revolutionized the world with Ford Motor Company, he had spent only eight years in a one-room school. By the age of 15, he had an interest in all things mechanical and taught himself how watches worked. He became known throughout his neighborhood for repairing watches, bringing him an income through his specialized knowledge. His specialized knowledge of mechanics then took him to innovate the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.

Find a field that interests you and become a specialist on that topic. General knowledge is useless for generating success. Any piece of general information is at our fingertips on the internet for free; thus, no one will pay you for what they can get for free. Successful people are always on the lookout for how they can specialize their knowledge and offset general knowledge tasks to others.

Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich

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Feb. 22, 2025, 6:43 a.m.

Feb. 22, 2025, 5:44 p.m.

Hours to sunset: -14.25