JACK OF ALL TRADE, MASTER OF NONE

We had a function to attend, it was almost time, but our ride was taking forever to arrive. In order to salvage the situation being the leader, I got talking with the newbie in the group in a bid to calm her nerves, as she was growing impatient seeing the car was yet to arrive. The idea was to buy more time for our late driver with a short conversation... But alas! What I thought would be a simple and short conversation ended up a long discussion which has birthed and provided the inspiration for this article. A discussion I'd love you to pick a lesson or two from.

Below is an excerpt from our discussion.

Me: "Hello, how you doing?"

Her reply: "I'm good sir, only worried about the car."

Me: "I know how you feel dear. I just spoke to the driver. He said he's close. The delay is due to a flat tyre. I'm sorry."

Her reply: "It's alright."

Me: "How about we catch up with a few conversations?" What do you think?

Her reply: "I would love that."

Me: "Cool... So tell me, where does your passion lie? I mean, what's that one thing you could do seamlessly without pay?"

Her reply: "Mmm, that should be modeling. I want to be a beauty queen. But I'm also interested in Fashion Designing and Music. I'm currently working on my second track. I've registered for a beauty pageant contest coming up before December, and I'm currently working on my clothing line".

Me: "Wow! You are one hell of a gifted one"

(She smiles)

Me: "But ain't you gonna wear yourself out with so many of these activities? What exactly is your primary passion?"

Her reply: "I think I love them all. They all feel primary to me."

The rest is history.

It is true that we all have the capabilities to succeed in more than one area of our life; a good number of us possess multiple intelligences and multi-giftedness. But as true as this may be, it's also important we learn THE ART OF FOCUS AND SPECIALIZATION.

I understand that we live in an age of information overload, where an average person in search of meaning in life is constantly and aggressively being bombarded with information that is capable of causing an emotional and nervous breakdown. Even though information is crucial and highly needed in this day and age, the importance of adequate, relevant information relative to one's main goal in life should be the bedrock of any search, otherwise information overload could be capable of impairing one's productivity.

Remember the old saying: "Jack of all trade, master of none?"... I know you do... No matter how much of a cliche it may sound, it's nonetheless true. Jack of all trade, master of none will make you dabble into many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on one.

A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. What a paradox!

My goal for writing this article is simple and it cannot be overemphasized: FOCUS AND GATHER ENOUGH INFORMATION RELEVANT TO YOUR PRIMARY PASSION OR CORE GIFT, DEVELOP THEM AND SYSTEMATICALLY DEPLOY THEM AS YOU PURSUE YOUR GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE. You can never know or do everything, so ignore irrelevant information and activities.

Maybe you have been distracted or you are being tempted to be distracted, I feel you. Because of God's multiple abilities on my life, I have done many things successfully, but not necessarily effectively.... From Football to emceeing, to handling the instrument in church, to teaching the Sunday Bible class, to studying Mechanical Engineering, to public speaking... The thing is, I know what it means for a man to spread himself too thin when he has too many things on his plate.

The challenge is that, such a man may be successful but may not be able to consolidate his success because he will be overwhelmed, come under pressure, and everything may fall apart if he does not address what is most important to him. This is my honest story in a nutshell which I do not regret because I have since realized that my pain could be somebody else's gain. My story of frustration and struggle is somebody's else's navigation out of confusion, which is one of the main reasons for this post.

God did not make a mistake by endowing you with several talents and gifts at the same time. In fact, studies show that an average person has more than one core gift. Some even have multiple core gifts. That in itself is not a minus but a plus, provided the individual learns how to transition effectively----- something I did not know back then because I had not been taught or maybe there were no authors writing along these areas, especially Christian authors who are usually most Christians' favorites. So I took it as a challenge to  start a movement in this area.

Stop trying to solve every problem for everybody, that’s like trying to be everything to everybody. That's also like trying to be everything at the same time... And the problem with this is when people come to you, they are not sure what you are about, they can’t figure if you are the solution to their problem.

You need to understand that in the marketplace, people are not looking for a generalist anymore; they are looking for a specialist – someone who can fix their problems.

Here’s an analogy to drive the point home...
If you were looking to fix your car for instance, let’s say your car is a Ford, then you come across a company that says ‘‘we fix anything, we fix cars, we fix washing machines, and we fix lawn mowers, fridges or anything you want to get fixed – we fix everything” Just maybe this company has developed the skill and the ability to fix the things.
But then you come across another company that says “We fix cars, any kind of cars you have, we can fix, whether it’s a Toyota, BMW, Honda or a Bentley – whatever kind of car you have, we can fix it”
And the third company says “We fix Fords – If you need to fix a Ford, bring it over and we will fix it for you”.

My question for you is this, of all these 3 businesses or companies, which would you take your car to?
The reality is each of these people probably could fix your car, but when you see these messages, one fixes everything, one fixes any kind of car or one who fixes Ford. Who are you likely to go to? Not only would most people be willing to go with that third one, they will be willing to spend more money with him. And even if the others are cheaper, we are more likely to trust the third business more.

Many people find it hard to specialise for fear of missing out on being able to help lots of people, but in reality, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. The buyer doesn’t want to make a mistake so they want to make sure that they engage someone who can help them – a specialist... Rather than just positioning yourself as a coach of things which you may be able to do, my advice for you is to define who is it you’re helping, what is it you’re helping them achieve and how you’re going to help them.

Be very specific!

Specificity means you cut out most people but it also means you’re more likely to attract the right kind of people.
Do not let fear of missing out hold you back from specialising. It is the first reason most people don’t make money and become master in their craft.

You can't be effective being a Ronaldo, a Mark Zuckerberg, a Tommy Hilfigher, a Travis Greene, and a Usain Bolt at the same time.

Today, make the decision to focus on the main thing, thus making the main thing the main thing!


P.S: Don't assume I am saying you shouldn't set up businesses and/or streams of income. That's far from it. But don't spend all your time on that business. Set it up and put someone who is effective to manage it. Your job basically will now be monitoring and evaluating the operations of the business system. By so doing, you have enough time to focus on your core-passion. Don't try to be two or more things at the same time. You won't be effective doing any of them. Remember, Jack of all trade, master of none.