Have you ever felt lousy about yourself because there’s someone better than you—at everything? I’m not just talking about the whole world because, of course, that’s true. But even among your friend group or community, you may come to the realization that you’re comparatively average at most things. We all know this kind of pride comes before a fall.
My fall was the harsh reality of the real world and the understanding that success comes down to many more factors than mere book smarts. It turns out, in the vast majority of comparable categories, I’m just an ordinary guy. Of course, being ordinary isn’t so bad.
By definition, most of us are, and success is hardly the most important way to measure a life. But what if you’re the kind of person who wants to make the biggest positive impact you can? Is there hope for ordinary people to make a difference? Another fictional person, Last Place Larry, is the worst at everything. He can do things—he just happens to be a lot slower and less skilled.
Larry also has 24 hours to every day. Now, intuitively, you might think that in the most efficient world, Frank would do everything, and Larry would stay out of his way. However, in his seminal book, “The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation,” published in 1817, economist David Ricardo first laid out the idea of comparative advantage.
In simple terms, he argues that even if one person (or group) is worse at everything, we would all be better off if we focused on .
