We all have our own crossroads. This is one way to decide which path to take.
Written 26 February 2015 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Last night I had the chance to meet up with someone who is talented, smart and to me, an explorer at heart.
She reminded me of what I read once. Of crossroads.
Between doing what is expected and recommended with a clear end-goal of money and stability, which we hope and expect will be the same as happiness when we get there one day, and doing what our hearts tell us, which does not give us as clear a path to money and stability, but where moments of excitement, joy & discovery would be our regular companions.
It goes something like this -
If we do what we love, we will get better at what we do, and one day we will really good at what we do. And when we are really good at what we do, others will pay us to do what we do. So don’t worry about the money. Do what you love, be good at it and keep your mind open to possibilities.
It could be photography, videography, grooming animals, writing, travelling, reviewing gadgets, unboxing toys, playing music, playing computer games, running, coding, yoga etc. (All these examples are real ones I have personally come across)
It has made me ask myself many times - what is it that I’m really good at? I love doing so many different things, that I can’t possibly be very good at all of them. I’m no expert in any one of them, I am a master of none. Ideation, Strategies & Execution sound as fluffy to me as to the next person, but in a nutshell, it seems to be what I do.
Maybe what I’m good at is not one thing per se, an expert in one area, but in putting all the different pieces together to make a whole, working with people who are experts, who are individually much smarter, better and more talented than me in what they do, to make things happen, together. In creating something new. In making ideas real.
Maybe understanding and experiencing different things has allowed me to empathize slightly more, to see things slightly better from multiple angles and not just one, and to see how different angles can come together to point at the same end-objective. To know that it’s not about insisting we build one superhighway to the destination and insisting that everyone must be on it, but seeing that different roads taken can branch and all lead to the same destination.
Or maybe I’m just full of myself and I’m just hot air. But it has so far allowed me to meet some really good people who have blown me away with their talent, knowledge and expertise, and from each of them, I learned something new.
I’m still learning, and learning makes me happy. Yeah, that’s a pretty good thing. :)
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