Exploring and Exploiting: The Two Strategies for Career Breakthroughs

The most effective single strategic thing you can do to make breakthroughs in your career is to balance two opposing strategies: exploration and exploitation. When you are in a period of exploration, you should say yes to all the opportunities that come your way, try different things, and be open to various experiences. This mindset allows you to discover unexpected opportunities that can potentially change your life. However, you cannot explore forever. At some point, you need to transition to the mindset of exploitation. During this phase, you need to become single-mindedly focused on the thing that you believe will bring you the most benefit. You should say no to everything else and devote yourself wholeheartedly to that one thing.