How to Become Scary Good

The vampire at my doctor’s office loves Halloween. She has a full-length bloody Halloween poster on her door.

She’s scary good at her job. She finds a vein, sucks my blood, and I don’t feel a thing.

Halloween is more than a holiday for her. It’s a family reunion.

Become Scary Good

Competence is compelling. Her expertise energizes me. I almost look forward to having blood drawn.

Don’t wait for a glamorous job to pursue mastery. Care about doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

#1. Master the basics.

Experts make difficult work look easy because they’ve done simple things thousands of times.

Repetition leads to mastery. But don’t simply do the same thing over and over. Learn. Adapt. Try new strategies.

The danger of blind repetition is stagnation.

#2. Notice your impact.

My phlebotomist draws blood dozens of times a day. For her, it’s routine. For the person in the chair, it might be stressful.

Routine work matters when it matters to someone else.

#3. Take pride in invisible excellence.

There are no awards for a painless needle prick.

Forget about being noticed. Just become scary good at what you do.

Become the person people hope shows up. And if you happen to draw blood for a living, try not to look too excited about Halloween.

What ordinary part of your work could you become scary good at?

Make Invisible Impact Obvious – Leadership Freak

Read: Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.