Is man supposed to be focused on only one task in his lifetime? Can’t he become an artist & a poet? Can’t he be a writer/blogger and a photographer? Can’t he be a salesman and an accountant? Why have we compartmentalized different skill-set and expertise to such an extent that mastering one is enough. Why have we restricted ourselves to only one domain in our entire lifetime? Cant an economist take up, lets say, brand marketing as his next switch?
Our society has been structured in such a way that pursuit of money or materialistic possessions has become the numero-uno goal in everyone’s life. Success is being measured in monetary terms. So there is a mind-block somewhere that once you spent years in a sales domain selling things, you can’t switch to a research role. Ok, one can, but then he has to take a cut in his current earnings. Majority of us are in our comfort zones and are scared to take that leap of faith or in other terms risk. There are the adventurous few who do that and even if they struggle a bit initially, they are happy they improved and learned new skills. But may be the pull of family responsibilities or just the scare of moving out of comfort zones pulls one down in exploring other things in life.
There is another angle to this line of thought that has been developing in my mind. A person can be multi-talented and just because world acknowledges one of the talents doesn’t mean you should stop exploring others. After all, developing skills in different domains is for pursuit of satisfaction and happiness. No doubt that if one of them is appreciated, we tend to focus on them more. But neglecting others is like giving the power of control to the world. World suddenly is deciding what you should do. Leonardo Da Vinci was a master artist. But he was also a futuristic dreamer and a scientist. He is more renowned for his paintings than his scientific advances (oh I may be wrong though). Anyways, my point is Success is when one is happy doing what he wants. If world also acknowledges your talent in that domain, fine, if not, you are still happy. Don’t make the world choose your profession for you.
Whatever be it, its your choice. Play by the rules for a stable life or play the rules for an adventurous life. Both can be utterly satisfying in their own way. So make your choice and sit tight for the ride…
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