Starring Sarcasm & Productive Procrastination
A week ago, I successfully reached the center of an elaborate labyrinth of my own making. I’ve since been having a wonderfully tumultuous time trying to get out of it.
It’s dark and foggy in here with rare moments of fleeting clarity which only seem to exponentially raise the confusion factor the moment they disappear.
This morning, my laptop dashboard presented me with a quote: “Be so good they can’t ignore you,” by one Steve Martin.
Ironic, given my current predicament*.
It got me to ponder (and simultaneously engage in so-called “productive procrastination” — i.e. distract myself from the problem at hand by writing this piece instead, convincing myself all the while that this is important and, as it were, productive).
“Be so good they can’t ignore you…”
What does ‘so’ good mean, really? How does one choose one thing to be exceptionally good at? Where does that leave the jacks/jills of all trades of the world who are “oftentimes better than a master of one” — if we are to trust the adage?
But as fate would have it, productive procrastination may have paid out: as I dug through the trusty world-wide-web to support my argument, I stumbled upon yet another clever quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Be a jack of all trades and a master of one” (source/Shaun Nestor).
For the better part of my twenties, I made career decisions that have led me to become a jill of all trades. When I was given the choice between the specialized roles of Account Manager vs. Social Manager, I chose Client Strategy Manager — which allowed me to work across both teams. When I took on the position of Associate Social Media Director, I still was able to maintain a cross-functional role in the agency.
I’m constantly torn between taking the rational path, the proverbial beaten path, or pursuing the road less traveled but perhaps the solution to getting out of my maze is to now take a leap of faith and choose to specialize.
The remaining conundrum is which specialty to choose. I’m no longer at an age when I can indulge in blissful insouciance; my decision can no longer center on doing what I love, it needs to take into consideration financial stability and overall wellbeing.
This, I still need to figure out. Until then, I’ll take solace in the fact that I’m a step closer to the exit.
