In 1787 William Wilberforce championed the abolition movement of both the Slave Trade and Slavery itself. It took 20 years for Parliament to abolish the Slave Trade in the British West Indies, and another 26 years after that for the Slavery Abolition Act to be enacted.

William Wilberforce was a British politician and philanthropist. He entered the House Of Commons in 1780 during which time he upheld the Corn Laws (tariffs on imported grain) and repressive measures against working-class agitation.¹

In late 1784 William Wilberforce converted to evangelical Christianity, and it was at this point in his life that he found himself at a crossroads. As he stood at the intersection of his interests – politics and Christianity – he was torn between which path to take.

Writing in a journal entry in 1787 that “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners (moral values)”, William Wilberforce concluded that he could in fact do both.

A Specialized Generalist

Our educational system instills in us to focus on the nouns we want to be rather than the verbs we want to do. Nouns = doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc. Verbs = writing, singing, painting.

It is the specialist vs the generalist debate.

Specialists are the child prodigies who fascinate us in their appearances on talk shows and viral videos. They possess natural talent, laser-focus goals, brilliant work ethic, and a seemingly clear trajectory or narrative path to future success. They spend thousands of focused hours practicing a single skill²

Generalists on the other hand dabble in many areas and possess a range of knowledge. Some people call them jack of all trades.

Specialists go deep, generalists go wide.

Our cultures fascination with specialists has led to a mindset that you should pick one thing and stick with it with laser focus precision. But as a result, individuals are putting themselves in boxes. The only problem is we’re too big for one box because we’re more than just one. Every individual has more than one passion, and more than one interest.

The key is to become a specialized generalist. In becoming a specialized generalist, you have great depth in many things.

The Triple Threat Theory

To illustrate the concept of becoming a specialized generalist, I’ve come up with what I’m calling The Triple Threat Theory, which states that becoming a specialized generalist requires you to combine a few interests that are rarely combined but more valuable together. For example, an interest in writing, history and drawing can translate into a writer who draws the events of history.

In the case of The Triple Threat Theory, we are combining three interests. In cultivating a combination of three interests you essentially give yourself three keys instead of one. With three keys in your arsenal you can open more doors, giving you access to many possibilities. With one key, you can only open one door, thereby limiting your chances.

We see three such interests stand out in the life of William Wilberforce; abolitionism, Christianity and his command of communication both in written form and spoken form. It is said of William Wilberforce that he was an eloquent and indefatigable sponsor of antislavery legislation. In 1789 he introduced 12 resolutions against the slave trade and gave what many newspapers at the time considered among the most eloquent speeches ever delivered in the Commons

The Search vs. The Feed

We’re a culture now whereby new technologies and algorithms alter the structure of your interests: the things you think about. We’ve become passive consumers, accepting the feed of information that have been meticulously curated instead of thinking about what we want and then actively searching for it. The search is a path of your own making, leading you to your own interests. The feed is a construct of technology directing your attention. It’s always with you on your phone, tablet, and laptop and its ready to pour at you with just one click. If you don’t have something you’re interested in, the world will provide it for you through the feed³ It’s crucial that you take the lead in searching for your interests and not let them be fed to you.

The cross-pollination of your interests are what guide you to your personal monopoly – your unique convergence of skills, interests and personality traits where you can be known as the best thinker on a topic in your field and industry. Your personal monopoly is a reflection of your innate interests, not what you think the world wants⁴ As of this writing humanity is 7 billion strong and if you’re chasing a trend it is more than likely that someone else has already taken the lead. But when you follow the path of your interests you fill empty spaces and in an empty space you are a pioneer.

Center Stage

Thus far, the developed world has transitioned from an agricultural economy (pre-Industrial Age, largely the agrarian sector) to industrial economy (with the Industrial Age, largely the manufacturing sector) to post industrial / mass production economy (mid-1900s, largely the service sector) to knowledge economy (Information Age, late 1900s – 2000s, largely the technology / human capital sector) to digital economy⁵

We are now living in the creative economy in which individual creativity is the main source of value and the main cause of transactions.

As the digital economy set the stage for the creative economy individuals have now become the conductors of their very own orchestra, piecing together the instruments of their interests that create their symphonies. Now more than ever before, there are more ways to capitalize on creativity as new platforms allow anyone to monetize unique skills. For example on a platform like YouTube, you can transform your passion into a livelihood by simply sharing your ideas and interests. The creative economy is ripe with opportunity for people to follow their interests and get rewarded handsomely.

Follow the path of your interests because when you do you’ll fill the pages of your book with your own narrative, as you author your own unique story.

1. William Wilberforce.
2. David Epstein examines the generalist vs specialist dichotomy in his book Range.
3. A quote from Austen Kleon in an interview.
4. The idea for Personal Monopoly is originally from David Perell. You can read his post on the concept here.
5. Knowledge economy.