I am currently writing for my own personal blog and I was wondering ; Is being the best at a specific task (let's be broad here, not necessarily at sweeping the floors) can make you rich?

You probably heard of many people being incredibly good at something (investing,selling, etc...) or on a specific subject (like derivative or a special sickness) ; Does that increases the chance (and the time that it takes) to be rich?

It takes more than being the best. The thing you are best at needs to be useful and you must still work hard.

I am a recognized authority in a very specific area that is useful to a small group of people in the world. I get contacted on at least a monthly basis. But I have not gotten rich from this. Indeed I have made very little money from being an expert in this area.

I have a friend who is an engineer but is also the recognized authority on a specific area of art history. He has written several books and has held professorships in the area. He has also appeared in numerous documentaries on the topic which was popular a few years ago. He makes almost nothing from it.

Getting rich requires learning as much as you can, thinking for yourself, and working hard. It also requires understanding risk and taking a little bit of calculated risk now an then.

bear in mind that being the best was never good enough to be rich, you need to work hard in order for you to achieve your goals.

I think it depends on what you're good at.

I'm going to toot my own horn a bit here. I'm the best translator I know (Spanish - English), probably one of the best in my city.

I make 2 - 3 times as much money as most of the people I graduated from college with, and a bit more than most of my translator coworkers at my company. I am among the best at my job, and I do well...

The problem is this: translators always have an easy time finding a job, but you can only go so high. From the position I have now, I have almost no hope of a promotion because I'm a great translator, not a great manager or supervisor. I'm so good at my current job as a translator that the company would be reluctant to promote me to another job.

So yes, I do better than most people my age, but I would have to get into another line of work to move forward from here. If I stay where I am, I will eventually fall behind.

The best thing I can do at the moment is to take advantage of my current good salary to save, save, save... then begin investing to have another income. Maybe I'll make myself rich that way

From personal experience, I would say yes, but you'd have to define rich? We are recognized experts in a piece of software that is used by a small number of companies. We have written books and so on. At 50ish, our net worth is over a million and we have a nice standard of living. We feel lucky to have stumbled upon this software when it was just released, and grateful to live life on our terms. But luck is where opportunity meets hard work! And we have worked hard, many times 7 days a week for months on end to meet book deadlines etc.

If you do become an expert is something, get published and get the best advance you can get. You may not get rich from a book, but you get recognition and respect from clients.

Remember that there is always room for three books in any subject: the first, the best, and the cheapest. Try to be 2 of those 3.

Hi,
I am actually debating this question myself…. Should I be the best employee for my organization, get better paycheck and be the perfect corporate person (I am a product manager in a tech firm), or should I invest my skills in other domains which might turn up to be a fulfilling and profitable one day …. I want to note that in my industry, 40-45 years is considered as old (!) and this is one of the reasons I am constantly thinking about it ….
What do you think?

As an amateur investor who relies on investment success for part of my income, I would say that the best investors are experienced in getting rich. I look to Warren Buffett. and George Soros for examples.

Each successful investor has talent that is best in class. I rely on my experience as an entrepreneur to discern those Companies and especially those Managements that have above-average business ability. They demonstrate diligence, see and seize opportunities, show discernment, buy frugally, market wisely, wow their customers, treat employees as they wish to be treated.

Had I not possessed sympathy with these attributes myself, I would not be able to discern them in others quite so well.

RICKLEE

you dont have to be good at something to get rich you have to be passionate about what you do. Find something that will interest you and keep you hungry. Dont be afraid to explore new things.