Building Your Talent Stack // How To Rollerblade
I grew up on a cul-de-sac, so I spent a good amount of time playing in the vacant road. Sometimes we played games with the neighbors or rode our bikes around in circles.
One day, some friends and I dug out an old pair of rollerblades and tied a rope to the end of a bike. While using the bike to pull the rollerblader, we quickly discovered you could reach rapid acceleration with the help of centripetal force (spinning in a circle and letting go).
It was a fun game, but after a couple of goes, I hung up the skates and forgot about them for a few years.
Rollerblades reentered my life in high school. Some friends and I informally created the "roller gang." Basically, we sometimes rollerbladed around together. And in true rebellious teenage fashion, I wore my rollerblades places I shouldn't have, like my senior pictures and the local ice cream shop.
Although I often put rollerblades on my feet and went across flat surfaces, my rollerblading skill level remained more of a party trick than a valuable skill. That changed one glorious evening on the hills of San Fransisco.
If you have been to SF before, you know that the hills are so big, it sometimes feels like you are on a mountain. That was no problem for my friend Rory who could easily control his speed but totally beyond my capability at the time. Luckily, one of our friends, Febo, was on a bike, so we developed a system where I would latch onto his back at downhills. By the end of the day, I was confident to go down small hills on my own.
Since then, I have spent hundreds of hours rollerblading, and it is one of the most fun parts of my life. Now, I do not fear rollerblading, even in dense urban areas.
Here are some great things that have happened to me from rollerblading:
Made friends
I estimate I met half of my college friends directly because of the attention rollerblading demands.
Every weekend people of both sexes would approach me at parties and say, "You're the guy who rollerblades, right? I've always wanted to learn."
Also, my friend and I used to rollerblade directly into people's dorms and houses and introduce ourselves. We were almost always warmly received.
Saved money on public transportation from airports
Blading on the Autobahn is quite the thrill.
Had a healthy hobby and a way to connect with friends in HS and college
Made 100 dollars when a kid bet I wouldn't rollerblade off the dock into the harbor
Gained confidence that I can master other domains
Why have I spent so much time explaining my experience with rollerblades? Because I want to describe something much bigger, the "Talent Stack." And of course, Rollerblading is a part of my personal "Talent Stack."
So what is a Talent Stack?
A Talent Stack is an idea from cartoonist and author Scott Adams, which revolutionized how I acquire new skills and, more generally, spend my precious time. Essentially, we all have our own unique talent stacks, making us a more or less valuable employee, family member, or partner. The key to a high-value talent stack is it combines ordinary skills for extraordinary results.
For example, Scott Adams is a fine artist but far from the best. Secondly, he reportedly never took a college writing class but can write decently. Lastly, Scott has an MBA and business experience, but plenty of people have more business knowledge than him. But when he combined these ordinary talents to create Dilbert, the nationally syndicated comic strip, he became extraordinary.
Potential Talents
If you are looking to expand your talent stack, here are some non-extensive potential talent stack additions
Meditation
Foreign language
Computer Programming
Public Speaking
Mental Math
Excellent Communication
Writing, speaking, listening.
Self Transportation
bike, car, rollerblades, skateboard, etc.
Sport you enjoy
Golf, surfing, tennis, ping pong, etc.
Cooking
Sales
Persuasion
Fluency in Body Language
How to cold read a stranger's Big Five personality traits.
Awareness of common cognitive biases
Self Discipline
Ability to reconstruct habits
Ability to not feel embarrassed
Waking up Early
Develop a love for reading
Singing
Dancing
Musical Instrument
Risk Taking
Juggling
Rubix cube
Chess
Especially for young people, it is crucial to continually be expanding our talent stacks and choose talents based on our long-term priorities. Lately, I have been focused on foreign language, fluency in body language, and excellent communication(writing). I'm not exactly sure how I will leverage these talents, but I anticipate applicability from all three. In any case, it is better than Netflix or video games.
How to Rollerblade
I will end this post with a rollerblading tutorial so you can add rollerblading to your talent stack. Firstly, because it is fun and secondly, because last week, I taught my little cousin Keely, who went down sizable hills within one day. That was the inspiration for this post.
There are three things you need to know to be able to rollerblade.
1. The biggest obstacle is fear
You must learn to trust yourself and your ability to remain in control, despite acceleration.
The same holds for learning skiing.
2. How to control your speed
The best way to slow down is to turn in an "S" shape.
Again, same as skiing
To slow down quickly, you can brake by dragging your "soccer ball kicking" foot at a roughly 45-degree angle
When you do this, nearly all of your weight should remain on your upright leg.
3. How to Handle bumpy surfaces
Straddle your legs with your "soccer ball kicking" foot out in front.
This distributes the shock of a bump across two moments/points rather than one.
If both of your feet were to be impacted by a bump simultaneously, the shock would be significant.
Now you are ready to rollerblade. Seriously. Some other things may be helpful, such as how to hop, bail onto a grassy area while remaining standing, and go up and downstairs, but the first three instructions will suffice for 90 percent of situations.
Happy Blading.
Book Recommendation:
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams