Anthony Corletti
Published on

Finding your Hedgehog

Authors

I recently listened to Tim Ferriss's podcast with Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, and during the show, Jim mentioned the Hedgehog concept, which I've become slightly obsessed with.

Your Hedgehog is the intersection of three things:

  1. Something you are deeply passionate about
  2. Something that you can be the best in the world at
  3. Something that has an economic engine

The first point is obvious. If you're going to do something that you love to do for the rest of your life, you have to be passionate about it and you must resonate deeply with it. Otherwise, you're not going to last long.

Secondly, you have to realisticly be the best in the world at it, or have the potential to be the best. There are things you can be passionate about but not encoded for, which is why you have to be realistic about it.

For example, I might love hockey and be passionate about following my favourite team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I can barely ice skate. While I'm passionate for hockey, I'm not encoded for playing hockey, but I am encoded for other things, like writing software, growing startups, and discovering hidden gems on Soundcloud.

Finally, your hedgehog has a clear economic engine. This is the most important part. Without this, your hedgehog is not a hedgehog. It's a hobby.

If you're not consistently making money while doing what you love, you're not going to continue doing it for others who appreciate the value you create from being the best in the world at what you're passionate about.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast, especially if you haven't found your hedgehog yet. 🦔

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