It's been proven long time ago that generally the approach of generalist-specialist is probably the best one universally, looking like an upside-down "T". You a

It's been proven long time ago that generally the approach of generalist-specialist is probably the best one universally, looking like an upside-down "T". You are a generalist, but in one specific category you're also an expert. The above is of course purely theoretical and all depends on how you're going to compose your "T" in both: the generalist part and your specialization. For instance and contrary to a popular believe, a model in which the base of your "T", the generalist part, is narrower but you know a little bit more about every topic than just scratching its surface like in the above paragraph, is not an optimal one. It might be even a waste of precious time. Consider risk management of both strategies and their statistical implications. The first one is much better suited for dealing with unpredictable, real (volatile) world than the second one, although it's not intuitive at the firs glance. But it's very important to understand that risk mitigation and hunting for chances in life has exactly the same profile (they are mirrored to each other). It's called a proper (beneficial) convexity [take a look on Nassim Taleb and his works - highly recommended] when you're set up in a way that enables you catching good winds and ride a wave of opportunities (and in case of Taleb's antifragility models - even disasters). There is no balance! There are only trade-offs between risk and chances of success. Positioning oneself in a good direction is the key, and in the world where "I have no idea what I'm doing" MUST BE a norm, being a generalist-specialist is a very, very good starting point. With time passing by one can easily fulfill spots that should be strengthened. It's much easier to do than pivoting from a bad place we've found ourselves in due to inappropriate, past decisions. Again, read Nassim Taleb. At least The Black Swan and Antifragile. You're going to thank yourself later.