Be a 10 at One Thing
The power of focus in a world of noise
In a world that celebrates the polymath, the multitasker, the jack-of-all-trades who seems to do it all — there's something deeply underrated about being very good at just one thing.
Most of us are taught, subtly or directly, to round ourselves out: “Learn a bit of everything,” “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” “Be flexible.” And sure, there’s value in adaptability. But when you really zoom in on the people who build empires, start movements, or carve out a lane for themselves — they often have one core skill they’ve mastered, obsessed over, and leveraged hard.
They’re not generalists pretending to be superheroes. They’re specialists with just enough extra to operate in the world.
The Myth of the Complete Package
You don’t need to be good at everything. That’s a trap. Trying to be a 7 at design, marketing, code, communication, sales, storytelling, leadership, financial modeling, productivity hacks, and video editing — that path leads to surface-level mediocrity. You’ll burn out chasing breadth.
The better strategy?
Be a 10 at one thing. Be a 3 at a few other things. Be a 5 at the rest. That’s enough.
You don’t need to write world-class code and be a brilliant public speaker. You don’t need to be a killer salesperson and a spreadsheet wizard. If you’re incredibly good at one thing — good enough that it creates value — the rest can follow.
You can hire. You can partner. You can outsource.
But you can’t outsource excellence in the one thing you bring to the table.
Your One Thing is Your Leverage
Think about people who dominate their niche:
The artist whose style is instantly recognizable
The founder who’s not technical, but can pitch a vision so clearly people line up to build it with them
The designer who can make any product feel human and beautiful
The operator who knows how to scale a team from 3 to 300 with precision
They’re not 8s across the board.
They’re 10s in one lane — and that lane becomes their moat.
How to Find Your "One Thing"
You don’t have to wait for some magical lightning bolt. Finding your one thing is often a process of elimination and iteration:
Try widely at first — explore a lot, but with a critical eye
Pay attention to feedback loops — where do people say, “You’re scary good at this”?
Notice what feels like play to you but looks like work to others
Double down — once you find the thing, drop ego and focus. Get world-class
Being a 3 is Still Strategic
Being a 10 doesn’t mean ignoring everything else. You still need to be functional in other areas. Being a 3 means you can participate — not dominate. You can understand conversations, collaborate, or make decisions — but you don't lead with those skills.
You might be a killer brand builder (10) who’s decent at spreadsheets (3) and okay at writing tweets (5)
Or a phenomenal backend engineer (10) who’s a basic communicator (3) but can explain things clearly when needed (5)
The key is knowing where you shine — and owning it unapologetically.
Go All In
Once you’ve found the thing — the skill, the lane, the superpower — bet on it. Pour time, energy, and reps into sharpening that edge. Make it so good that people have no choice but to notice. Let it reward you.
The world doesn’t need more people who are average at everything.
It needs more people who are exceptional at something — and willing to bet on themselves.
Cheers,
Jay