I am all sorts of weirdly butt-hurt right now. I just did two things in a row that have left me with the feeling that I'm not super good at anything; just marginally good at most things.You'll have to exclude the fact that my kid thinks that I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread when it comes to this post, simply because she doesn't know any better. She's not quite old enough where she can compare me to all the other dads in the world, and even if she could, she has to think I'm awesome because I'm the only dad she'll ever get.
So what's wrong with being marginally good at most things?
I guess nothing, but I don't have a specialty. I can sorta run long distances without dying, I can sorta do my job, I can sorta play piano, I can sorta cook, I'm sorta an artist, I can even sorta beat some people at StarCraft II... hell, I can even "sorta" blog. But I don't think there is a single thing in my life where you could look at me and say, "wow... ShankRabbit is so amazing at [insert here]".
So which one do you think is better? To be an expert at one thing, or to be mediocre at most things?
I know exactly where my problems is.
I don't practice. Ever. It's not my style. I just pick up random things, give them a try for a few times in a row and say "I can do it.". But I rarely ever focus on it again and again and again. I've never lived or breathed anything. All those sports commercials that you see where people are beating the living hell out of themselves just so they can master their sport? Yeah... that's not me.
But I frustrate the hell out of myself because I want to be that good at something... so how do I motivate myself to focus on one thing and spend lots of time on it without getting bored with it?
My attention span is like that of lar... uh... huh?
I get bored easily with repetition, which is pretty much exactly what practice is. Repeating something over and over again until it becomes second nature. Usually if I find myself "practicing" you'll see me hating it in a few months.
Maybe I'm just not cut out to be an expert.
Should I be ok with the mediocracy in many things? Is that something I should be proud of? Or do you think I should hunker down and actually start on the path of being an expert at something?
What are you an expert of?
3 comments:
You have described me. The attention span thing? Yes, that's me. I am not an expert in anything. I have accepted who I am, mostly. If I didn't, I'd go crazy. I think that's the key, self-acceptance. I wish my daughters were younger so they still thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. Now at 20 and 17, they see me as their mom who loves them more than anything and a flawed human being. Oh well, I was perfect for awhile. :)
I'm an expert at knowing a little about a lot. Yes, that means I don't do any one thing in am amazing, let's have a parade about it, fashion but I'm ok with that. I'll never be truly bored because I can just pick up something new to know a little about.
It's all in how you look at it.
It's adult attention deficit, dude.
I know exactly what you mean.
This is, we've adapted to it over the years, but if you don't know you
're in it, you can't maximize it.
It's a feature, not a bug.
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