Print This
Email This
I’ve been cursed my whole life with being both right- and left-brained. Not a lot of people can go from designing a new website to working with raw demographic data tables for an unrelated project. I loved logic and trig while being a total art kid in high school. In college, I double-majored in philosophy and art, though I have to admit I could see no use for aesthetic theory – I couldn’t handle philosophy of art.
Thus far, it’s been really useful in my career. When I worked at a non-profit start-up straight out of college, I needed to wear a lot of hats. I recruited, I mentored, I edited news articles, I did research, I designed web pages, I coded, and I took bids on jobs. I had to be able to turn my attention from page design one moment to researching interviewees the next. As a marketing research analyst in a small department, part of the job description was that the candidate should be able to turn on a dime, and I do, from logo design to demographics mapping.
However, I’ve recently realized that my wonderful little gift is also my curse. There are a lot of things I’m good at. I’m not being an egoist; I’m really pretty good at all sorts of stuff. I like trying new things, and enthusiasm will take you far. I’ve been a DJ at a radio station and a nightclub, artist, barista, magazine editor, proofreader, new media director, special events coordinator, bartender, research analyst, blogger, IT consultant. At some point, I was even a pre-med major. I’ve rock-climbed, knitted, done ethnic cooking, trained for marathons, played softball, volleyball and soccer, been a vegetarian, and done some motivational speaking.
The problem? I’m all over the place.
When recently thinking about my career, I realized that I had no specialty. I’ve always had to twist my résumé credentials to fit the requirements (philosophy degree = critical thinking skills + analytical skills + thesis research = market researcher!). Don’t get me a wrong – I’m a great hire. However, I’d really like to be great at something.
I’d like to be great at something.
Not just good. Not okay. Not just ‘oh, yeah, I did that, too.’
I look at the people I admire, and they are either the giants of their fields or they’ve got a particular niche cornered. I’d like to really have my head wrapped around something, not just have a surface understanding or street knowledge about it. I’m tired of being OK at a lot of things.
I’m ready to be great at something. And not just to be Great, but to put the work into it to really understand it, to be an authority on it. When I was a philosophy major, I dreamed of being the Heidegger scholar studied enough to get a glimpse of his unpublished, untranslated papers tucked away in a small German library. As a new media director, I dreamed of taking our little start-up site nationwide, even global.
Now, I dream other dreams... dreams of a research analyst (believe it or not), dreams of a blogger, dreams of an entrepreneur. There are so many things I could do though; how do I choose? How do you know which one you have the potential to be great at?
For more timely, relevant, and engaging articles, subscribe to Brazen Careerist.
Recent Comments
Popular Posts
19 RESPONSES TO "WHAT I REALLY WANT IS TO BE GREAT AT JUST ONE THING"
Many years ago I attended a two day time management course. I was already pretty disciplined but this taught me a fantastic system for getting things done and taking on more and still have balance in my life. I started teaching what I had learned and started reading everyday about management and leadership. I have taught the course to over 75,000 people. Find something that you are good at and then work on becoming an expert at it. If you focus on something day after day, one day, people will say you are an expert. Today I am considered an expert in leadership and managment and make a great living at it.....Good luck...Lee
I admit there are some people that are so outstanding in a given area that where they are ‘meant’ to be great is obvious. For the rest of us, I think we get to be great at doing something by sticking with it.
But I think you are agonizing over how to choose that something. You sound a lot like me, capable of both artistic and logical thinking. I was very happy my first two years of college as a liberal arts major; I loved getting a taste of everything the college/world had to offer. But then came the time to choose a ‘real’ major, which in my family meant ‘something with which one can earn a decent living’, and the aptitude tests which showed, lo and behold, that I could be good at…almost anything! So helpful! I had no idea what to choose; I loved everything. Then the man who would end up being my husband said he thought I would be really good as a computer programmer. I said okay, I’ll do that. I took the degree and excelled it in as I had in everything else, got my first job in the field, and did great. I am great at what I do and I really enjoy it, and I earn, not just a ‘decent’ living but an excellent one.
But as I got older I realized that, even though I was great at my job, there were other things that I could do, that indeed, I was already doing. One of my passions is interior redesign, and I practice that as my avocation, and I’m really good at that too. But does that mean these are the only two fields in which I would have had the opportunity to be great? Of course not! I have had many interests that I have pursued over the years. It is the time I have devoted, or not devoted, to each that has determined whether I would be great at it. As I heard it stated once, you don’t become a great potter with 50 hours work in clay.
My daughter is Gen X but some things never change. She isn’t a genius with one particular talent; she has to choose from a multitude of possibilities. So I give you the same advice I gave her: There is no right or wrong here. Pick something you love to do. If you want to be great at it, stick with it. She hasn’t done that yet, but there is still time - for her, and for you too.
Yes. I wonder if this is a Gen Y problem. I'm great at a lot, but I get bored SO easily.
Well, in my own experience, being 'great' at something has it's own perils. For one, I have become the de-facto tech support for my entire family and many of my friends. I get random calls having to diagnose issues that I can't even see. Not fun. But I'm better than most that I know. I'm even working towards a blended business / IT degree that will match my skill sets together.
Given that I work in investment finance, my job doesn't necessarily call for tech skills of my nature. However, I've found that they come into play at key times, esp. in respects to troubleshooting problems.
Long story short? Find a skill that you're good at and is marketable, and keep the rest in your 'tool box' to wow people when they need it most.
I'm right there with ya. Like Rebecca, I get bored quickly and like things very fast paced.
I agree that having a real specialty is something that can be great for your career. I also think being able to adapt is something that will help myself enjoy life more. Being a leader is something I aspire to, yet I do not think I need to be a niche expert to be a leader.
I think I am contradicting myself in this comment (and in life) but isn't that what learning is all about anyway?
Damn Holly, I think you're a little younger than me and you're all over the place! But then again, your 20's is for testing out all the vehicles. It sounds like you're coming to some conclusions about what fields you've enjoyed most and which ones you'll get the most out of in your life.
I'm sure there are many if not most people use both sides of their brain but once we've defined things, it sorta sets in that it is who we are. I'm an art director and yet in grad school, I loved loved loved research, analysis and statistics. I've never personally thought about which side of the brain I work on - its all one big conglomeration. It takes being very logical to actually get a magazine on press and printed on a deadline.
Now, as far as having one thing you're great at, like Norcross said, its a bit of a blessing and a curse. I'm good at what I do, but the question is being raised more and more how much longer magazines will be around? So then what do I do? The trick is being great in the theoretical and not the tool. Get stuck with a tool and you'll fall when your tool becomes extinct. How many designers parted ways when the computer came to be and they wanted to keep pasting? But if you're a good artist, you can adapt to the tools.
Lastly, when you do have multiple talents, it does lend itself to entrepreneurship - although, if you get into the habit of thinking you can do everything, you'll have a harder time building a business.
Holly - this post really hit home for me. I've always joked that I'm pretty good at a lot of things, but not great at anything.
Unlike some of the comments above me, though, I never jumped from one thing to the next because I was bored... I did it because I was interested and wanted to learn more about different fields. I don't want to get settled into one set career path or hobby too young, and why should I (or anyone else?). Just as Smith+Fritzy said, if you become too specialized, what happens when that career is no longer as in demand as it once was?
There's a lot to experience and as long as you can tie your past experiences into a story that shows potential employers your value, I think it's better to have more hats than less. You'll be more flexible and easier to mold into a variety of positions.
I'm hoping that my myriad interests will point me in a direction, or maybe a supervisor will help determine which is my strongest asset. I don't know if you feel this way, but my mentality is that I don't need to be an expert just yet...
This post speaks to me so much. I feel like I have intellectual ADD sometimes because there are a lot of things that I come across that interest me. Part of the reason I like working in public health is that it intersects several disciplines, giving me an excuse to get off the beaten path occasionally.
@Regina: Thanks for the insight. I've always said that sometimes it's just good to hear that people have been there before me and survived, even if they don't have any concrete answers. What I get from your comment is that there is no concrete answer, no right or wrong. It's comforting, and at the same time you wish there was so at least you'd get some direction. ;)
@Rebecca & @Greg Rollett: Yes, part of it is boredom for me. I tend to get the hang of something and look around and go, Now What? Having been in my current position for a year without many other hats to wear, I've had to dig vertical rather than horizontal to learn more. It has helped me develop a greater understanding of the position, plus it's made me realize that surface understanding is just that - grazing the surface. Getting vertical and digging deeper to keep yourself interested is a whole new ballgame.
Great post Holly, it's so true for many of us. While I can't speak for other Generations, I think in some cases it's not that we're hugely different, but that we may have been exposed to more given the communications climate we grew up in.
I find that for me, it's an interesting challenge, but frustrating at the same time. I'm happy that in my current job I get to do a little bit of everything, but rather than sating my desires, it just fuels the fire!
One day I'll be teaching myself a programming language to write a small app to streamline something, the next I'm working on presentations to our board of directors, others I'm negotiating partnerships, and others I'm writing marketing copy.
And when you add in blogging and the myriad tasks associated with running a self-hosted one person blog (writer, editor, webmaster, designer, developer, marketer, etc.), it just expands even further.
It's been a great way to try a lot of things, but I feel that same frustration, thinking that I could enjoy most of these avenues, but not fully committing to any specific one of them.
I know that for me, in part, some of it is fear related. Making a significant commitment to one of these vocations would mean that it was more of an all or nothing approach. While I might succeed at becoming great, I might also fail, and that means a loss of the other things I enjoy (or so the fear tells me).
I think that's the true challenge, overcoming the fear, and then we can become great.
@Norcross & @Smith+Fritzy: That is excellent advice! I agree that it is helpful to have these great things that you can also do, besides your primary vocation. It's just that the "hobby" always seems to become marketable and overtake the primary! I am beginning to think entrepreneurship is the best solution for me. When it comes down to it, what I really love is business, and why not go to work on my own?
@Meg Roberts: I totally agree! I just love, love, love learning new things. I often refer to myself as a neophyte - a lover of new. I begin to wonder how long I get to put off specialization though. I'm 26... how much longer can I put off the big decisions? Right now, it sounds like this may not be a decision I have to make. At all. Which would be great.
@Vanessa: Like you, thus far I have been blessed to have positions at companies that have allowed me to blend and utilize the majority of my interests and talents. That's awesome. Sometimes I'm afraid of going to work anywhere else for fear they won't see the value of my voracious information appetite, won't utilize my creative side at all, or won't indulge my technical side.
@Adam: We could be career twins. It's not enough for me to be this way during work hours. No, after work I'm blogging, running a company, contracting work out, and trying to have my first adult relationship. I'm reading 'Marley and Me' and I feel like that oafish lab puppy running around with all the joyous glee of new experiences, knocking everything around me down in the process. I love it and hate it at the same time.
Because at the end of the day, we get tired. We only have so much time to indulge our skills, hobbies, whatever before we're just absolutely drained. I guess I know that something's gotta give soon, and what passion will have to go?
@Holly
That's the second time this week that 'Marley and Me' has been mentioned, and I've got a copy of it at home (my fiancee read it a few years ago), might be time to pick it up . . .
I feel the same way. I'm pretty good at a lot of things but I would really like to have one thing that I'm awesome at. I'm a computer programmer and there are just too many different languages, or tools to master. I'm currently reading about 5 different books. There's just not enough time in a day to do everything you want to do.
@Mike: I can see your dilemma. Having been around a lot of programmers, it seems to me that you sort of pick one as your specialty and have a working knowledge of the rest. You have to stay diverse in that field though. Languages are always changing, there are new ones or others are becoming more popular as others fade. You sort of have to stay on top of them all, don't you?
@Adam: I picked up the audio version at the library and have been LOVING my commutes since I started it. I literally can't wait to get back into the car to hear more! It speaks more to relationships I think than dogs (I'm a cat person, myself).
Holly, you are good at one thing: you are one of those people who has a great handle on the world at large. I'm one too (philosophy and dance double major, worked in nonprofits, performance, PR, sales, restaurants, websites, now at a startup... and I sing, play piano, and used to be in a jazz band). Try as I did to be good at one thing - dance- it just wasn't enough. There are certainly jobs out there for someone who is constantly engrossed in multiple channels.
The few people I know who do one thing really well wish they were more well-rounded and wish they had interests outside of that job or art. While it's certainly hard for us multi-disciplinary people to keep tabs on our job(s), blogs, and activities, it keeps our lives fresh, current, adaptable, and interesting for ourselves and others.
Holly, you said to Meg: "Right now, it sounds like this may not be a decision I have to make." Bingo. Sometimes we don't have to even make decisions for our lives to twist and turn into new directions. Stay true to yourself, keep trying new things, and you're going to succeed. I think most people here who read your posts know that.
Also, I often come up with ideas of things that I would love to do... like Japanese woodworking and interlocking but this is one of those things that takes practice and time. It's a commitment to want to do something like this. But is it that we switch because we're afraid of being committed to an occupation or trade?
Here's the problem with being great at one thing. You'll get abused, disrespected and generally riduculed by those who don't really understand what you're doing, who don't like that you're good at what you're doing, and who are much better at a whole multiplicity of other things.
Check out http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/08/10/in-the-working-world-connected...
Holly,
You and I are comrades. I too have many interested (music, marketing, social causes, buddhism). After years, they seem to be culminating in my latest venture (adventure), CorporateDollar.Org where I do creative marketing for small non-profits.
John
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?