At least I am preparing for an Apocalypse!

People often say that you gotta be a hellish perfect guy in the field of your work (or study, or play. It is all the same) if you want to be someone. Someone here indicates one who has earned respect, wealth and in some cases fame. A well worn cliché dialogue succeeds, or precedes, this kind of a conversation and which goes like(surprise surprise), 
"Jack of all trades, master of nun none"

Well, good for you, sensible serious people. Not for me but, no thanks. You see, I've been always reminded by a lot many people with not much lesser of a zeal than of those credit card sales people about how sticking to just one speciality and focusing on that full time without indulging in other distraction would be the way to go career wise. And how if I travelled on two boats alongside, I am going to have a torn set of pants and a sore crotch. To this I ask, rather want to ask, what if I want to travel in three boats simultaneously? What if I want to be a book critic, a house painter and a dancer at the same time? Can't I do that? Between, if you are thinking, I can do none of these, but suppose if I did, then?

Anyway, not getting sidetracked, I have been subjected to such earnest suggestions and queries much often in the past. And sure enough, I did try to focus on being a master of one, a lot many times. The only problem always was, there wasn't a 'one' which I could choose to be the master of. A master, with that enslaved subject under my command. A one which I would summon the services of at the snap of my fingers. I am not joking really, I did believe in this theory for some time, I would ponder over the seriousness of something as seriously serious as career and something which was a necessity in this new world of specialities and masters and specifics. I've had my mind in splits as a result of this almost blasphemous act of having not decided/narrowed down a specific defined goal from early on.

I've had sleepless nights balancing pros and cons of one thing or the other that I could do. Doing difficult calculations, as they were to me, taking in parameters like 'field of study', 'interests', 'dreams', 'pay-scale', 'competition' and most noticeably something which has always made me laugh out, 'market', apart from a dozen or so other things which included personal life considerations. Doing that exercise was exhausting and results of which of course, were hazy. I know how it can be as easy a thing for many people to choose a career path and then have their focus devoted to just that as maybe choosing a suit/dress to wear to a party. That once you decide on it, you've made your decision and all the rest of the suits/dresses and accessories to go with those, take a back seat. But it wasn't the case with me bro, never happened with me. But what did/do I do then for the remedy of it. The solution. 

The solution was/is pretty simple actually, it was there all along in front of me. It was the realisation and then acceptance of who I am. If I find too many things interesting and worth pursuing, career wise or otherwise, then it simply is there. It can't be changed. Changing something which is inherently a part of you is anyway not the best of ideas. Nobody, absolutely nobody is an exception to the fact that one needs time and personal effort in order to be able to do something even acceptably good. Mastering something needs, of course tremendously more time and effort. And yes, one benefits from it. But. Should everyone try and be a master of one particular thing and forget the rest? And should those who aren't being or trying to be, keep feeling apologetic and bad?

Exactly!!

Well, no. I for one know now that it is actually better to be a jack of all trades than be the master of just one. Why? Because first of all, there is no such thing as jack of all trades and master of none. Most of the time, it is jack of all trades and master of at least one, or, if not that, then jack of all trades and good at some. Which is a perfectly cool position to have. Cooler than of those who don't know a thing apart from that one mastery they are known for. And by all trades, I don't mean the basic knowledge about daily life. I don't mean a little plumbing, handling small electrical jobs, gardening, repairing your kids' toys etc. I mean things which require a little study and effort/energy/time to be able to do them. Like making/building your own bed/chair, fixing your motorbike, composing a song, preparing a four course meal, managing a summer camp, coding your own website etc. Basically anything at a level good enough that it could with some effort someday replace your current work if you wanted it to. Okay maybe not that level in each case, but you get the point. And the benefits of being a jack of all trades over someone who is not, are many. Lemme just point out some of them.

- You know about many things other than your core trade and which is very exciting and satisfying(in the knowledge sense). 
- You get a wider perspective on how the world works and how your work is related to other different stuff. You see things differently and more acceptingly.
- It makes you confident and a whole lot happier still when people acknowledge your talents in other fields.
- Knowledge is infectious and addictive. You want to explore more things and inspire, in turn, other people as well to explore the unknown lands.
- Being jack of all trades makes it more plausible for you to have that core trade from the things you actually like.
- People generally, are more receptive of those who are jack of all trades than those who are opposite, which indicates that it affects your personality too(for good I guess)
- Surprisingly for some people, jack of all trades are better problem solvers and planners and managers than those otherwise(not trying to boast). A skill well needed today in any sort of work.  
- Being jack of all trades, one can adapt easily. Which means more opportunities(in more than one meaning of the word)
- If ever there is an apocalypse, I bet the jack of all trades will have a better chance at surviving the aftermath than the others.

These are just some of the pros of being a jack of all trades and I am not going to point out the cons because you have had enough of the cons being pointed out already so let's give them a break.

All this comes from my realisation and acceptance that I am actually a jack of some trades (all is too misleading) and I am proud of being one. I am surviving in this world of mastery and it is not like how people say it is. Many people still won't agree with what I said above and would refute all those points. But even if nothing else, let's say for the sake of saying, the last point holds true. By being a jack of all some trades, at least I am preparing for an apocalypse!

Note: Picture from Google.

Comments

  1. Heylo! SO glad to have a post from you after forever (your readers do like what you write. Be a bit more regular? It's delightful reading your posts! ^_^)

    I'll tell you how I reacted while reading this:

    *OMG a new post!! Open, open, load, load!*

    *What does the title mean? How are people able to come up with cool titles?*
    Starts reading. *Oh oh. I'm becoming one of those people he's talking about :/ Shouting out "focus on career" all the time :/ *

    *Well, maybe not. Because I do support ECAs and as many other, mostly little though, things someone can do. And don't I believe that people who're able to do more than one thing are more interesting and cool and somewhat more dependable? Yay!*

    *Uh, uh... this seems like me too. But no, the following sentence resonates with me. It's cool beans.*

    *Hmm...* Thinks about you, as much as I know you. *He does actually know quite a bit. Plus, the French bit is so cool, I've always thought so. Makes me feel inspired to continue Spanish. And he's good at fixing stuff too. Hmm... cool realization man!*

    Reads the advantages. *Seriously! That's so true! Cool beans! Ohgosh. I never thought like that. Yeah, yeah. Right. That's so right. Ohman. The apocalypse point is so cool! I love the way it makes the title and serves as the ending. :') Oh man.*

    *Why doesn't he post more often!? I wish he does write more on such stuff. I hate the sheep-herd mentality too, but I never thought like this. Lovely!*

    :D

    I suppose this thought process made it clear as to how cool this post is. I know, some people might refute. This is the world of specialization... you have to be awesome. But we don't realize that everyone cannot be awesome, or rather, they can, but they might not be happy being that kind of awesome. What's the point when you can't really fix your crying kid's toy? When you have to keep helpers for every damn thing in the house, making the helper count more than the people in the family? What happened to simple living, high thinking? This is probably more than what you intended to convey, but you've made your point clear. I happen to agree. And it was also sort of like a wake-up-artemissy call for me, for I haven't really indulged in any craft material for some time, because of "focusing" on making myself awesome at work. Thanks for writing this dudo! It was a pleasure reading (and now re-reading) it. :')

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    Replies
    1. :O SORRY! I did not intend for the comment to be SO long :O
      OHGOD. I should seriously be awarded for typing capacity :O

      Delete
    2. I will reply to this unbelievably amazing comment soon. You rock, do you know that? You rock!!

      Delete
  2. Thanks Payoffers, but I am not here to make record-breaking profits. Just sharing my experiences and stories.

    ReplyDelete

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