For the longest time I've wondered which I prefer to do: dive really deep into a subject or activity or get more of a variety. Do I want to be the Jack of all trades or the Ace of one or two?
I see and have read of pitfalls of both. Are you going to fix the side panel on your Accord at Ben's Books, Barbies and Auto-Body Shop? Or at Japanese Auto Body? Maybe there's someone who just happened to need a particular mix though. What if a guy addicted to the Twilight series needs the newest book and a gift for his daughter who loves barbies? He would love BBBAB!
This is where breadth fits in. With the right mix of skills and strengths comes optimization--optimization of of fun, of performance, of design, of creativity, of relationships, of everything. I love when my skills or background fits perfectly in a situation for optimal experience. One example of this was while riding a gondola in Spain. I enjoy meeting new people and conversing with them, I speak Korean and some Mandarin and had just visited Holland. All these came into play when crammed in a small place with a group of Koreans, Chinese speaking woman and a family from Amsterdam. I am not an expert in any of this, but I didn't need to be. Here is where breadth was my ally.
I'm torn though. I love new experiences, but I am also reading a book called "Strengths Based Leadership". The premise of this book is that you get more mileage if you build on Strengths than you would by spending the same effort on weaknesses.
I will have to go into this later...about to lose power on my laptop.
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I think you should focus on breadth. Not like I have even ever heard of that word before... I know, I am married to an English major... anyway, from my experience, I have found that the moments I enjoy most in life are when I am engaged in an activity that involves other people. I feel like I learn so much during those moments when you can relate to someone and get to know someone. Like your story about the gandala, that wouldn't have been such a memorable moment had you not been so well versed in different cultures. I mean who wants to be the best at only one or two things? Leave that to Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps.
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