Jack of all trades

I recently came across this phrase. It's been quite a while since I read it, but the phrase resonates with me: Jack of all trades, master of none. The phrase is attributed to Aristotle and he is widely quoted as saying "The perfect master of any craft is accomplished through long apprenticeship and persistent study. Before that, he is a troublesome beginner."

To be a jack of all trades and master of none is like attempting to cover all positions on a football team when we are short on players. Therefore, we have to decide which area we are most comfortable in, and ensure we are perfected in that particular role.

Although it is a laudable dream to try and cover all positions, it is not practical. In the same way, trying to be all things to all people is no way to accomplish anything. If there is a saying that is synonymous with people who attempt to be all things to all people it could be "Jack of all trades, master of none".

Such people will always have one foot planted in one camp and the other foot in another camp, and are never fully committed to anything. This is why people who are always for everybody are never for anybody.

Humans can be very indecisive. Every time a new opportunity came, we would start something new instead of focusing on the existing things. As a result, none of us have been able to become an expert at anything.

We can do a lot of things, but we're not really great at anything. We're great at dividing our time among so many things that we end up not really being great at anything. We're so good at juggling priorities that we sacrifice the quality.

When I was young, I wanted to be a doctor, an astronaut, a firefighter. When I got older, I wanted to be a programmer, a photographer, an artist. And then later I wanted to be a designer, A coder, A writer and so on. Used to have hundreds of ideas for businesses each day. Weighed them against each other, finding the one that was best at whatever it was.

And then I found myself in the real world.The world where you have to make decisions. Not based on what is best, But based on what you can actually do .

And so I found myself with just one vision that I could execute. The vision of being decisive. This is me being decisive by saying no to everything else.

I still have many ideas, but now rather than trying them all out, I'll be spending my time and resources on making this one idea great. After all, it's better to be a Jack of all trades and master of one than a master of none.

Closing thought:

We are not required to wear multiple hats in the modern world. If a hat fits you well, stick to it, don't go in search for another hat. By going into different things, we'll find ourselves stuck covering too many positions and therefore being a master of none.

Thanks for reading ❤️❤️