If you can’t find a game where the odds are stacked in your favor,

create one. Scott Adams, the cartoonist behind Dilbert, says,

“Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top

25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people,

but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average

standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most

people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s

the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when

you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few

cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.”

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 (or for years of practice) 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.

In college, I designed my own major, biomechanics, which was a

combination of physics, chemistry, biology, and anatomy. I wasn’t

smart enough to stand out among the top physics or biology majors, so

I created my own game. And because it suited me—I was only taking

the courses I was interested in—studying felt like less of a chore. It was

also easier to avoid the trap of comparing myself to everyone else. After

all, nobody else was taking the same combination of classes, so who

could say if they were better or worse?

Specialization is a powerful way to overcome the “accident” of bad

genetics. The more you master a specific skill, the harder it becomes

for others to compete with you. Many bodybuilders are stronger than

the average arm wrestler, but even a massive bodybuilder may lose at

arm wrestling because the arm wrestling champ has very specific

strength. Even if you’re not the most naturally gifted, you can often win

by being the best in a very narrow category.