Like many kids, I always considered Christmas the best time of the year. And also like many kids, I always wanted to meet Santa Claus.

Not the Santa you see at the mall. I mean the real Santa. Kris Kringle, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, whatever you call him – but the real guy, not one of his helpers.

I knew exactly where and when he was coming (down the chimney on Christmas), so it should have been easy to meet him. But there was a problem. Santa won’t come unless you’re asleep. So if I stayed up to see him, he wouldn’t come (apparently, this derives from the Heisenberg uncertainty principle).

Fortunately, I had a solution. One year, in addition to the usual milk and cookies, I left out a Polaroid camera, with a note instructing Santa to take a picture of himself. It wouldn’t be quite the same as meeting him in person, but an authentic picture was certainly nothing to sneeze at. Best of all, it circumvented the “Santa won’t come unless you’re asleep” rule.

Christmas morning, I came running down to see my picture of the real Santa. Only there wasn’t one. Santa had neglected to do it. As I stood there wondering why he hadn’t grasped the concept, I could only think that I must not have been clear enough with my wording. Maybe his native language was Dutch or Polish or something.

So the next year, I left out the camera along with a foolproof, airtight note that left absolutely no possibility for ambiguity. I had him now! But the next day, there was no picture to be found. I couldn’t understand why that idiot Santa had difficulty following such simple instructions.

But time went on and I became a little wiser. Eventually I realized that we can only understand people when we put ourselves in their shoes, and a simple change in perspective sometimes makes all the difference.

Photo by kevindooley

When I was at Virginia Tech, their football team’s defense was a sight to behold, particularly their special teams. They blocked more kicks than anyone else in the country, enough that we were almost surprised when the other team managed to get a kick off. Very often, blocked kicks became immediate scoring opportunities. I even saw them intercept a two-point conversion attempt and run it back for a safety.

And on one particular day, the defense and special teams were in full force, working the magic we had come to expect of them. Except there was one problem: the offense didn’t show up.

Despite the sacks and despite the blocked kicks, they weren’t putting points on the board because they couldn’t do anything on offense. As one announcer said, “Special teams will only get you so far.” And Virginia Tech lost that game.

In personal finance, people who only play defense can expect to meet a similar fate. Steve at Brip Blap has often written about the importance of expanding your means, and I agree with him.

Most people focus purely on reducing spending. That’s financial defense. It’s critically important (and most people are losing that game), but it’s not the only game. There’s also the often ignored game of financial offense, or earning more than you spend, rather than spending less than you earn.

One of the most popular bits of financial wisdom is to keep your eye on the Latte Factor, which is the tendency for small purchases to add up unnoticed over time. And it’s good advice. By controlling your small expenses and investing the money you save, you can end up with lots more money than you would otherwise, perhaps a difference of millions of dollars over a period of decades.

I’m not knocking this at all. I think frugality is the most important key to financial independence. In Where Have All The Dollars Gone?, I talked about the method I used to plug my financial leaks early on, basically just keeping extremely close tabs on the Latte Factor. But there are some problems with only playing financial defense.

In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss says:

“This book is not about saving and will not recommend you abandon your daily glass of red wine for a million dollars 50 years from now. I’d rather have the wine. I won’t ask you to choose between enjoyment today or money later. I believe you can have both now. The goal is fun and profit.”

When you save money today in hopes of spending it later, you’re deferring a lot of your enjoyment to a future date that may never arrive. You might not live that long. Or the economy might collapse (I don’t mean a stock market correction, but something like the dollar no longer being accepted as currency). It doesn’t make sense to put all your chips on something that may or may not ever happen.

Another thing is that you quickly run into diminishing returns. The more you save, the harder it becomes to save more. You can cut out the frivolous expenses pretty easily. Then you can use some self-discipline to live below your means. But when you’re spending several hours a day looking for coupons, you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it.

Another thing is that by trying so hard to reduce your expenses to zero, you’re cutting yourself off from life. If your goal is to sit perfectly still to minimize the energy you use, oxygen you breathe, heat you generate, etc., then what good are you? Why invest so much effort into being a bump on a log?

To be fair, increasing your income is easier said than done, and I’m not going to propose how to do it in this post. I’m just suggesting that you develop both your financial offense and defense. Control your expenses, yes, but instead of trying to be totally passive to minimize your consumption, work on maximizing your output. Create value, make money, boost enjoyment, engage in life.

Photo by Stacey Lynn Photography

Akemi Gaines has released a free ebook, her Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment. No email required, just click and read.

A lot of you know Akemi as an Akashic record reader. And my first interview with her (previous link) was one of my most popular posts ever, so apparently a lot of you find her business interesting. Of course, she didn’t just fall into that gig. She had to make the leap from corporate employee to small business owner, a leap she made quite well.

Her ebook covers topics such as myths and reality, paycheck mentality vs. risk management, marketing, business names, fear of success, etc. But what makes it unique is that it’s written for lightworkers, or people who want to make the world a better place instead of just making money at any cost.

Are lightworkers at a disadvantage in the world of business? You might be surprised. Instead of trying to become an aggressive predatory type because you think that’s what you have to do, check out the Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment and see how your good side can be a great asset for you in business.

Leonardo da Vinci: scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. Polymath is almost an understatement.

“Polymath” comes from the Greek word polymathēs, meaning “having learned much,” and usually refers to having significant knowledge or expertise in a variety of fields. I’m going to broaden the term and say it also refers to having diverse interests and hobbies. It’s the opposite of a monomath, someone who specializes in one field and has a more focused range of interests.

The word “polymath” is less common than the term “Renaissance man,” but (1) being politically correct by writing Renaissance (wo)man every time would be awfully cumbersome, and (2) the world has changed a lot over the last 400 years, and the Renaissance ideal no longer applies in the age of the iPhone.

Polymaths and monomaths are at opposite ends of a long and nebulous spectrum. An extreme example of a monomath would be someone who completely isolates themselves from society to devote their entire life to becoming the ultimate chess player, to the detriment of everything else. An extreme example of a polymath would be a pure generalist, someone who chases everything under the sun, seeking high achievement in every field of study, every language, every musical instrument, every sport, etc.

But neither of these extremes actually exists. Everyone is somewhere in between. Most people are clustered near the middle, some are more on the monomath side, and others are more on the polymath side. It’s a really vague scale, so don’t worry about pinpointing your location on it. You might have a sense of where you are, and if not, that means you’re in the middle, in the range we call “normal,” with a typical balance of breadth and depth.

As you can see, my blog’s tagline is now “Personal Development for Polymaths.” Nothing is really going to change, except that I now have a context for everything. The purpose of my blog is to seek an answer to the question: How does a polymath make the most of their life?

I haven’t thought the whole polymath thing through all the way, but here are some thoughts for now. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

1. Let’s ditch da Vinci as an example of a typical polymath.

Yes, that’s his self-portrait above (copyright expired), but he’s an extreme example, not a representative one. Leonardo was an outlier among outliers, the archetype of the Renaissance man at the height of the Renaissance. He made Michelangelo look like a two-bit hack who just got lucky with a chisel. He bears little resemblance to the modern day polymath next door.

2. You are a polymath if you think you are.

If Leonardo-like stature is not required for admission into the ranks of polymaths, what is? It’s hard to propose a clear definition, because polymaths are all so different. Tanned muscle-bound aikido-master genius stud philosophers would probably qualify, but what about real estate agent psychologist figure skater weapons expert hamster breeders?

Anyway, do you have intense interest or significant proficiency in areas that are usually considered unrelated? Do you struggle with finding something to focus on, because you think you’re supposed to? Would you find life to be empty if you could only pursue one thing? Do you think specialization is for insects? If so, you might be a polymath.

It’s hard to judge other people because we don’t necessarily see all sides of them, and it’s probably pointless to come up with a test that tells you where you fall on the spectrum. So you’re the best judge of yourself.

3. Polymathy is neither good nor bad, it just is.

Albert Einstein focused on theoretical physics. Isaac Newton took a much broader approach, making important contributions to many different branches of science. He also invented calculus, and though he’s not known for it, most of his work was actually in the field of Bible interpretation.

In the end, they achieved very similar levels of success, recognition, and impact. They both did what they wanted, and they both came out on top.

4. The world needs specialists, but you don’t have to be one of them.

We need specialists to do things like find a cure for cancer and research alternative fuels. But that doesn’t mean it has to be you. Don’t worry about what you should or should not be. Just go with what you are.

(However, this is not to say that a polymath should eschew all aspects of specialization, as it still has a place in their bag of tricks.)

5. Somewhat paradoxically, being a polymath has nothing to do with being well-rounded.

Polymaths are often condescendingly called “jack of all trades, master of none.” This is flawed right off the bat because no one is a jack of all trades. Everyone has major holes. Trying to be well-rounded means ignoring your strengths and passions to work on things you hate and suck at. How can that possibly be a good thing?

Being a polymath means pursuing a wide variety of trades, but certainly not all of them. If you don’t want to play the piano, don’t play the piano.

6. Mastery is overrated.

A follow-up to the “master of none” bit. First, specialization does not guarantee mastery. There have been many people who gave their lives to theoretical physics, who did not come close to Einstein’s level. That doesn’t mean their lives were a waste, of course. But if you have many interests, you shouldn’t ignore all but one with the expectation that greatness will surely follow.

Also, maybe mastery at that level isn’t that important. Reaching the 95th percentile is far easier than reaching the 99.99th percentile. Some people will prefer moderate mastery of many things over supreme mastery of one thing. Besides, being the best in an objective sense doesn’t guarantee that others will subjectively agree, because value is in the eye of the beholder.

7. Polymaths may have certain traits in common.

As different as one polymath is from the next, I’m sure they tend to have certain things in common. For now though, I don’t know what they might be.

Any list of recognized polymaths you dig up will look like a list of universal geniuses. But I actually think polymathy has little to no correlation with intelligence (witness Einstein the monomath). I was thinking that polymathy is highly correlated with curiosity, but again, Einstein is an obvious counter example. Thoughts?

8. Polymaths face different challenges from monomaths.

Monomaths face challenges such as burnout from lack of variety, working ever harder for continuously diminishing returns, and facing stiff competition from people who do the exact same thing, only better.

The main challenge polymaths face is that their fanatical thirst for variety may deprive them of the focus and follow-through needed to have a significant impact in any one area. Leonardo himself warned about this, saying “Like a kingdom divided, which rushes to its doom, the mind that engages in subjects of too great variety becomes confused and weakened.”

Polymaths may also have trouble finding appropriate outlets for their talent in a world that increasingly demands specialists.

Overall, I think the monomaths have it easier, because the world is friendlier to them, they know exactly what they want, and they’re likely to have a clear road map to follow. Hence, there is a need for more polymath support.

Please share your thoughts. What makes someone a polymath? What do they have in common? Do they have a harder time in life? Would they be better off pursuing all their interests, or focusing on a smaller number of them?

More than two years ago, I told Randy Pausch that I was starting a blog with the tagline “Stop Sucking and Live a Life of Abundance.” He then wrote about it in his book The Last Lecture, and my tagline became the number one keyword people used to find my blog.

While it’s no longer my number one keyword, I still receive hundreds of visitors a month who are searching for “Stop Sucking and Live a Life of Abundance.” So if you’re one of them, I just want to say that yes, you’ve come to the right place. It just has a different name now.

My original tagline was an idea that came to me before I had any idea what I was going to write about. And it worked well for more than two years, but now it’s time for a change.

My new tagline is “Personal Development for Polymaths.” It just hit me one day, and I instantly knew it was right. Finally, I can concisely say exactly who my blog is for and what it’s about. It also has some nice alliteration, it’s much better for SEO, it’s simpler, more memorable, and it sounds like an actual name for a blog (something that’s helpful when your domain name doesn’t say what it’s about).

Not much will change, because I was already writing about a broad range of personal development topics. Now I just have an umbrella to put them under.

Fortunately, I didn’t lock myself in with a domain name like stopsucking.com (which for some reason is the site of Trilogy Networks), a deliberate move since I wasn’t ready to commit to any particular niche. So all it took was a lightning fast banner update by Men With Pens, and I was ready to go (though I still have to redo the home page).

Now, what exactly do I mean by polymath? Stay tuned for the next post…

65 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into what would become the town of Mesothelioma Lawyers, New York. It left a thick layer of atmospheric dust that would shroud the world in darkness for 1,000 years. But it also left something else…

Now, in the final countdown to the Mayan-prophesied doomsday of 2012, a series of mysterious occurrences signals that the end is near. In a frantic race against the clock, mesothelioma lawyer Jack Crowley will risk everything to find the truth, knowing he is the last hope of saving the world from unspeakable evil.

My first novel is now available to be read online, for free. As you can see, it’s a 2012 doomsday novel revolving around a lawyer in an unknown town in New York. Before we go any further,

1. I’m aware that the asteroid really landed in Mexico, not New York. This is explained in the book.

2. I’m aware that the Mayans didn’t really predict the end of the world in 2012. This is explained too.

I’m not sure what genre this is, but it’s something like an apocalyptic thriller parody. Here are some selected characters:

Jack Crowley: A successful New York mesothelioma attorney at the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. He’s sick of all the 2012 hype, and he thought today would be just like any other. He was wrong.

Milli Vanilli Chilli Willi: A prominent mesothelioma physician who seems capable of anything. But can she cure the mother of all cancers?

Frank Breadstick: A bright-eyed paralegal whose good intentions are often compromised by his poor judgment. Will he be more of an asset than a liability?

Count Voldemort Sidious Hitler the Terrible (Morty): Senior partner at Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. Mesothelioma law is his life. Does he know more than he’s letting on?

Kentucky Jones (Tuck): Part archaeologist, part New Age thinker, part cowboy. Can he decrypt the important clues left by past civilizations?

Ivana Suyurass: A fierce lawyer with a fiery temper, she usually gets what she wants. Why is she showing a sudden interest in certain people?

Plenty O’Lawsuits: A young lawyer new to the firm. Will she find mesothelioma law to be the calling she hopes it is?

Teflon Tyrone: He doesn’t talk much, but you wouldn’t want to run into him in a dark alley. So what happens when someone makes that mistake?

Feel free to leave comments noting any typos, inconsistencies, plot holes, etc. that you find. All suggestions will be considered for inclusion in future revisions. (I’m aware that some of the links point to blank pages, and I’ll be working on this soon.) Other than that, just sit back and see what happens on this eventful December 20, 2012.

Right now, an evil cancer is threatening to end the world.
The only ones who can stop it are mysteriously disappearing.
And people I work with may be involved in both.

I’m mesothelioma lawyer Jack Crowley,
and today is the longest day of my life.

Read Mesothelioma Lawyers, New York, before it’s too late!