“I’m keeping my options open.” – Everyone

We like to think that learning a wide-ranging set of skills will set us free. With enough skills and enough broad experience, our career options will be wide open.

Unfortunately, picking up new skills and broadening our experience for the fun of it simply means we’re refusing to choose our own path forward.

The choice itself is the hard part, not the skill-building.

Being the best in the world at creating efficient solar panels might not make for the most interesting dinner conversation with generalists. But it might be the very best way to make your work matter.

Career diversification and just-in-case learning are false promises. The best in the world – the people who create positive change – decide what they will accomplish and then work to build the skills, knowledge, and relationships necessary to make it happen.

No one is going to make the choice for you.