I’m less and less bothered by the idea of not necessarily “owning” a niche the same way I used to be. I used to be so hung up on the idea of having a brand and still am, but I’m finding more solace in seeking meaningful experiences/building projects that add value to my life and interests without seeing them as obstacles that are hindering growth. before this year, or even this summer, I would have seen some of my current interests—including exploring filmmaking or doing research on South Asian languages—as meaningful, but at the cost of something else that allows me to build expertise and build technical discipline.
I’m thinking back to a podcast I listened to a few years ago on how it’s really hard to be an expert/own a niche that’s much more populated. For ex. if I wanted to be the best/most knowledgeable about generative AI, the bar for me to do so is much higher. But if I want to be the best at/most knowledgeable about like generative AI as a way to reinvent fashion or in the context of some other specific use case, there’s a larger probability I make a substantive impact in that space.
I thought about this a lot when trying to “define” my niche over the past few years—like what is it specifically in the space of reproductive health and repro engineering that I care so deeply about and want to dedicate myself to? But I don’t think i’ll ever be the person that revolutionizes the space of reproductive engineering through the actual engineering or technical tinkering alone. I’ll be the person that revolutionizes the space of reproductive engineering because of the cumulative knowledge, experiences, and perspectives that I have that reach far beyond how much I know about the mechanics of tissue engineering. This doesn’t mean I don’t value gaining technical depth at the same degree, but rather, do not want to optimize for rote memorization over gaining technical and non-technical intuition across a breadth of fields (although I’m still trying to figure out what my evaluation function for this is). Rather than overthrowing my current goals, I’ve instead opted for systems that allow me the freedom of exploration as a means to better understand the systems, ideas, and problems that I’m obsessed with.
I don’t think I have to choose between being an expert and being a generalist in order to revolutionize a space. I think it’s the fact that I am a generalist that will allow me to revolutionize a space.
A quote from Shoe Dog that I read recently and resonated with:
Let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”
I resonated so deeply with this because it feels as though the bar of uncertainty in my life right is so high. But I don’t want to let that feeling drive stagnation or fear, which is what i’ve been feeling the past few months. I resonate most with the end of the quote: “don’t give much thought to where ‘there’ is.” It’s **so difficult to internalize, but I think the people who live the most free lives are the ones who don’t overanalyze the “there.”