最近ずっと考えていることが2つあります
1.「バランスの取れた人間」とは何か
2. それを土台にして、「人生哲学」として何を大切にすべきか
最近、自分がどんな人を尊敬するのかについて考えていました。これは面接やエッセイなどでもよく聞かれる質問ですが、非常に有意義な問いだと思います。というのも、これはスティーブン・コヴィーの言う「終わりを思い描くことから始める」考え方に通じるからです。自分が尊敬する人を思い浮かべていくと、ある種の共通点やテーマが見えてきます。それは、あなた自身の価値観を映し出す鏡になります。自分が何を大切に思っているのかを意識的に言語化できれば、それが目指すべき明確な指針となり、理想の自分に近づくための行動の土台になります。だって、自分がどんな“偉大さ”を目指すのかが分からないままでは、そこにたどり着けるはずがありませんよね。
そして最近の体験や熟考を経て気づいたことは、自分が尊敬する人に共通しているのは、「バランスの取れた人物であること」だということです。ただし、この「バランスが取れている」という言葉を、私は一般的な意味とは違う新しい定義で捉えるようになりました。
「バランスの取れた人間」とは？
世間で「バランスの取れた人になろう」と言われたとき、多くの人はそれを誤解して受け取ってしまっているように思います。たとえば、新しいプロジェクトを始めようとか、新しい本を読もうとか、昔から興味のあった趣味に挑戦してみようとか――そんな風に、**“いろいろなことができる人”＝“バランスが取れている”**と考えがちです。
でも、いわゆる“器用貧乏”になってしまっては、尊敬される人物にはなれないし、どの分野でも突き抜けた結果は得られません。結局、どれも中途半端に終わってしまうからです。
だから私は、「バランスの取れた人」の最適な定義はこうだと考えます：
「相反する2つの分野で秀でていること」。
私の学校では、卒業式で全員で合唱するのが伝統で、最近は毎日その練習をしています。私のすぐ後ろにいる男子生徒のことを、私はとても尊敬しています。彼は全国規模のハッカソンで入賞したり、学業でも常に表彰されていたり、インターンもいくつか経験していて、エンジニアとしての才能が抜群です。今年の秋からMITに進学することも決まっています。
ただ、正直に言えば、それだけでは私にとっては「すごい」とは思いません。だって、そういう人って「オタクっぽい・太ってる・社交性がない」確率が高いでしょう？
でも彼は違う。筋トレで鍛え抜かれた体格を持ち、複数の武道も習得している。だから私は彼を尊敬するんです。この“二面性”こそが、彼の魅力であり、理想像です。
もちろん、「2つ」が絶対の数というわけではありません。3つの分野で秀でている人もいます。でも4つ以上は非現実的です。2つであれば、しっかり集中できるし、それぞれにギャップがあれば十分にコントラストが生まれて「面白い人間」になれます。いわば“80対20の法則”の応用ですね。
生き方の哲学として
ここで少し視点を引いて、もっと大きな話をしましょう。
このメッセージの本質は、**「集中すること」**です。大きなエネルギーを注ぎ込む「主軸の2〜3つの分野」を見つけ、それに全力投球する。その他の趣味――料理やチェスや散歩など――はあくまで気晴らしとして、ゆるく楽しめばいい。
私が見てきた限り、「主軸の分野」は大きく3つに分けられます。
職業的・創造的・身体的の3カテゴリー。
このうちの2つで高いレベルに達している人は、それだけで私の中で“尊敬リスト”入りです。
たとえば、先ほどの彼は「職業的（エンジニア）」と「身体的（武道）」で秀でています。
ある理学療法士の方は、プロ級のピアノ演奏者です（職業的×創造的）。
私の父は外科医でありながら、身体も非常に鍛えられています（職業的×身体的）。
しかも、ある分野で突出すると、自然と他の分野にも良い影響が出てくる。
父は、外科医としての知性と探究心のおかげで、チェスにも強く、投資家としても非常に優れていますし、読書家でもあり、会話もとても面白い。筋トレへの情熱が、食生活を改善し、頭のキレを保ち、外見的な威厳も与えているのです。
「キラキラ病（shiny object syndrome）」への処方箋
ここで、「で、君自身はどうなの？」と思うかもしれません。
実は私はこれまで、かなり“何でも屋”として生きてきました。そしてそのスタイルの限界も体感しています。
ここまでの4年間、高校では「難しい授業で良い成績を取る」という明確な目標があり、それは達成できました。これは間違いなく「職業的な努力」の成果です。
ただ、それ以外の時間は、音楽（バイオリン）とスポーツに分散してしまいました。バイオリンは幼い頃から続けていてある程度弾けますが、音大志望のようなレベルではありません。スポーツも好きで、最終的にはアウトリガーカヌーに集中しましたが、陸上競技やレスリングにも興味がありました（レスリングはカヌーと時期がかぶって断念）。ピアノも少しかじり、サーフィンでプロを目指したこともあります。デイトレーダーになろうとした時期も。
――そして、実はこのSubstack（ブログ）も、どちらかと言えばキラキラ病の産物かもしれません（笑）。
でも、この経験が悪かったとは思っていません。私は今、人生で最高に恵まれた状況にあります。いろんなことに挑戦したおかげで、自分の適性が見え、志望校にも合格できました。若いうちはいろんなことを試してみるべきなのかもしれません。
とはいえ、本当に成功し、面白く、尊敬される人になるために必要なのは、たった2つの分野での卓越だけ。
だからこそ、これは「キラキラ病」への処方箋なのです。2つに絞って集中すれば、それで十分。
最後に
もちろん、すべての人がこの「二軸型の成功」を目指すべきとは限りません。それぞれ違った道があるでしょう。ただ、私が人生で出会ってきた中で最も尊敬している人たちの多くが、相反する2つの分野で傑出しているというのは、間違いありません。
あなたは、自分らしさや尊敬される人間像を、どのように築いていきたいですか？
【原文】
Two things that have been on my mind lately:
1 What it means to be a “well-rounded” person
2 Building upon that: a good philosophy for life, maybe
I’ve recently been thinking about who it is I admire. It’s a question often brought up in interviews and applications of all sorts, and I think it’s a worthwhile topic to ponder. It helps you “begin with the end in mind,” as Stephen Covey might put it. Looking at all the people you admire, themes will begin to reveal themselves; you’ll indirectly discover what your true values are. You will be able to consciously identify these values, making them a clear aim. You’ll develop a framework that will help you act in accordance with your ideal self. I mean, how can you become great if you don’t know what great looks like?
As a result of some dedicated thinking and recent experiences, I’ve concluded that the main thing the people I admire have in common is well-roundedness. But, as I thought more about what makes these people “well-rounded”, I devised a new framework for the word contrary to the one commonly used for everyday language.
What does it mean to be well-rounded?
I think that most people take the advice, “You should try to be well-rounded,” wrong. As soon as we hear that, we think of the new passion projects we’d like to start, the new books we’ll read, the new hobby we’ve always planned to take up. We associate being well-rounded as being a jack of all trades. However, being a jack of all trades will not be any more respectable than what I am about to share, and it will not lead to outsized returns on any endeavor. You’ll be stuck in the lower echelons of whatever you pursue because you will never put significant focus into one thing. Thus, I believe that the optimal definition of being well-rounded is to excel in two contrasting endeavors.
I believe that the optimal definition of being well-rounded is to excel in two contrasting endeavors.
My school has a tradition of having the graduating class sing various songs during commencement, so we’ve recently been having daily rehearsals. The man behind me happens to be one I respect deeply, both from the things I have heard of him and the few conversations we’ve had during rehearsal. He places well in national hackathons (or something like that), he regularly receives academic awards, and he has a couple of internships under his belt. In short, he’s an engineering whiz. This Fall, he’ll be attending MIT, every aspiring engineer’s dream.
But that in and of itself is nothing to me. From what I’ve described so far, the probability of him being stinky, fat, and socially incompetent are not far from 99%. What really makes me respect him is that he’s also built an impressive physique and practices several martial arts. The duality is what makes him interesting. This is what I think people should strive for.
And look, two is not a magic number or anything. Someone might be interesting because they excel at three things. Great. But four is definitely pushing the bounds, and here’s why: it’s just not realistic to truly excel in more than three things. Two is great because it really allows you to devote significant focus to your primary pursuits, increasing the probability of success, and to create a contrast, you only need two different things. The number two is kind of an 80/20 rule application.
An important detail, however, is that I said “primary pursuits”. Yes, I believe that one way to be an interesting, respectable person is by excelling at two contrasting endeavors. But realistically, no one has the mental capacity to maintain focus on only two things their entire life. A human needs to experience the world. We need to have small hobbies that we aren’t the best at but just enjoy. We need to have different things to talk about. That being said, let me zoom out a little…
A potential guiding philosophy for life
The big picture idea of this message is to focus. Put significant energy and work into those two or three contrasting things that you love and that yield outsized returns. Then, on the side, you can occasionally enjoy baking, playing chess, or whatever it is you’re interested in.
I’ve found that these primary endeavors come in just a few categories: occupational, creative, and physical. Honestly, a person who excels in any two of these will usually be automatically put on my respected list, for whatever that’s worth. The guy behind me in Senior Sing excels in occupational and physical endeavors, engineering and martial arts. I know a physical therapist who is an incredible pianist. My father is a surgeon and is incredibly fit.
Additionally, excellence in two contrasting things will naturally develop other areas of life. My father is not merely a good surgeon who is into lifting; his intellect and curiosity naturally makes him a decent chess player, an incredible investor, and an avid reader, also making him a great conversationalist. His love for lifting not only keeps him in shape, but it encourages him to keep a clean diet, it keeps his mind sharp, and the physique gives him instant credibility and respect.
I think a lot of people overwork themselves ineffectively, spreading their focus towards five different endeavors, trying to be more well-rounded, or on the other hand, are paralyzed by the daunting task of excelling at five different things. Try and think of the people in your life you believe are well rounded, and perhaps you’ll find the same thing: all you need to do is excel in two contrasting things. That’s it. It’s not easy by any means, but it’s simple. So take this article as permission to be bad at most things—because most people are. Just pick two pursuits in two of the different categories I mentioned above, and you’ll be off to an incredible start.
A cure for shiny object syndrome
You might be wondering where I stand. Why should I be able to give you this advice?
Well, it’s because I’ve been somewhat a jack of all trades in my life so far, and I have personally seen where that guiding philosophy has its drawbacks. Without a doubt, my primary endeavor has been occupational. I’m about to graduate high school, so I’ve had a pretty clear ideal for the past four years: get good grades in the hardest classes possible. I’ve certainly met that goal. However, reflecting back on my four years, I’ve split my remaining focus between creative and physical endeavors. I’ve been playing the violin all my life, so I lean heavily towards the musical end, but I never invested as much time in it as my most successful peers have. Instead, I put a significant chunk of that time into sports for all four years. Now, I am in good shape and I can play some pretty advanced music, but I am by no means a musical nor an athletic star.
A strong reason for this spread out focus is that I have something of a shiny object syndrome. Splitting my focus between violin and sports is nowhere near the full story. In the end, I focused on outrigger canoe paddling, but I’ve ran track as well, and I really wanted to do wrestling but it was the same season as paddling. I’ve tried playing the piano. I’ve aspired to become a professional surfer. I’ve tried to become a day-trader. Even this Substack is sort of a shiny object syndrome symptom, but it’s low commitment and I have decent reasons for starting it.
And look, maybe my experience has been perfectly fine. I’m in an incredibly good position in my life right now. Being a jack of all trades has done wonders for my occupational life, getting me into an elite college. I have an incredible variety of experiences at my ripe age, and I’ve enjoyed all of them. Perhaps young people have to try everything before they can stick to a couple of things.
But it’s undeniable that being excellent at two contrasting primary endeavors is more than enough to live an extremely successful and interesting life. All it takes is two! It’s a good reminder for those with shiny object syndrome. Just focus on those two pursuits, and you’ll be golden.
Maybe different people lend themselves towards different paths to individuality and respect. Anyway, duality of excellent endeavors—what I’ve outlined in this article—is one of those paths I’ve frequently noticed in my life.
Tell me, how do you want to achieve your individuality?