Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Spreading yourself too thin or maximizing your potential

As I look at my "to do" list and realize there isn't a hope that I will get everything done, I begin to wonder if I am spreading myself too thin.  I currently have 5 life projects on the go, outside of the general eat, sleep, stay fit, etc.  I have my full time job, helping a company access very lucrative government grants, building a nursery/preparing the house for our new arrival, building the new kitchen/bathroom in one of the rental houses, and working with a great new group of people developing new mobile applications for enterprise level releases.  All of it is very exciting.  All of it taps into a different skill set that I have and would like to build. 

Malcolm Gladwell says it takes approximately 10,000 hours of focus to become an expert in an area.  I have decided that I don't want to be an expert in one area.  A well rounded individual who is good at a number of things, great at nothing, is who I am destined to become.  I may stumble upon one area in my life that I really want to focus on and try to become an "expert" in, but that chance is slim.  This is evident by the number of sports equipment I have at my house.  Of course I have the usual running shoes, swimming goggles, and bikes, but there are squash racquets, tennis racquets, badminton racquet, a baseball glove, volleyballs, basketballs and shoes, curling brooms, skis (x-country and downhill), no snowboard yet but one day soon, and probably a few other items that I have lost over the years.  Focus is not my forte. 

I want to finish this thought right now.  I am saying that there is a lot of value in understanding your own personality and embracing your natural tendancies.  For me, a variety of experiences drives me to be creative and increase my breadth of knowledge.  I have embraced it.  For those that are driven by deeply understanding a smaller number of topics, I shall lean on you when I have questions that my shallow depth of knowledge can't answer.  Thank you for being you.  For me, I am maximizing my potential as an entrepreneur, athlete, spouse, and soon to be father.  Now saying that...

A baby might change my perspective very quickly.  Thoughts?

Thanks for reading.

Craig

2 comments:

  1. I'm the same way. Try everything and find out what clicks and what doesn't. But you, you're a busy man.
    Looking forward to connecting with you through the blog neighbour.
    Karen

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  2. Having a baby will ensure that you maintain focus in one area of your life, and that's fatherhood. So before you know it, focus WILL be your forte ;)

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