Individuals, companies, and even industries get obsolete and wither away like clockwork. And it’s almost always by not adapting to new technology. If you want to future-proof your passion, you need to not get left in the tech dust.
Using the latest tech to stay profitable with your passion – forehead-smacking obviousness, right? Of course you need to stay relevant and even be ahead of the curve if you want to keep making money with your work you’re passionate about. But some people do indeed get caught up in how they do their work, rather than just doing their work – all the while thinking they’re “ahead of the curve” when in actuality they’re simply investing time in getting good in a technique that’ll become outdated.
They focus on getting good at some technique or mastering a platform (ex. “Twitter ninjas”), when they should be simply getting better at what they do, being curious as to what’s next out there, and then using that to further expand their reach (ex. people who do amazing work and use the latest tech to get it out there in ways that are cheap and convenient to folks).
When that technique and platform becomes obsolete (ex. MySpace), all they have to show for it is mastery of something that’s outdated. In other words, nothing useful. But you know what never gets outdated? Truly great work.
So you don’t want to become reliant on just technology or platform, or get good at using just a single specific one. You want to be amazing at what you do, be passionate (again, no surprises here), and then use tech to stay independent and relevant. And especially using the new tech that’s on the edges – the stuff that seems almost impossible now but will be commonplace in the near future.
Every new generation is defined by what seemed impossible in the previous generation. What seemed impossible before self-published media platforms such as Woork Up, bands recording and selling by themselves, one-person developer and filmmaker outfits is now commonplace. And the individuals that were there years before others are some of the most independent and profitable in their field now. The popular blogs that started early are a huge example of this.
Writer/speaker Merlin Mann stresses the importance of being curious, soaking in the weird tech stuff that’s currently at the edges, and focusing on your talent, not your modus operandi. He says: “What‚ out there right now that‚ about to stop being impossible? Where will it happen? Who will (most loudly and erroneously) declare it‚ total bullshit? Who will mostly get it right‚ possibly too early? Who will out what it means to our grandkids? Who will out how to put it in everyone‚ front pocket for a quarter?”
Okay, so what am I trying to say with all of this? Focus on your great work, be curious about what’s going on at the edges of tech, and use that to stay profitable with your passion.
Try to learn from others’ mistakes rather than your own – look at all the individuals, businesses, and even industries that withered by the wayside because they got good at one tech, platform, or model, stuck with it and refused to explore, and eventually become obsolete and lose money.
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