Jack of all trades and Master of None?

Lately, I find that I want to do everything. By this I find myself asking, “am I becoming a jack of all trades and master of none? It’s easy for me to want to do everything especially as I find that I am good at a lot of things (I think this is what they call a humble brag). If I am not good at it but have an interest, then I’ll learn, YouTube is free for the most part. There will be someone on there who will teach me how to do this and being a good student, I will pick up the skill eventually. For example, wigs, I learned how to make wigs watching YouTube videos and now not only make it for myself but others too. I enjoy learning things about hair, doing others hair, whether natural or otherwise. Therefore, it was natural for me to want to learn and do more with regards to hair. But in that same ways I have a lot of interest and pursue them accordingly which leads on to my current debacle, do I have to do everything? 

No is the answer or so it would seem

The answer at first is simple. As simple as day and night. No! I do not have to do everything. But don’t I? I have all the resources and mindset. I can achieve it if I want it. Why should I have to choose when I have the means and support to do it all.  But in doing so I find myself here, jack of all trades, master of none. So then the question becomes which one should I take up and master and which one should I drop? 

1001 Things

In a world where everyone is doing 1001 things and doing them well, it’s easy to find yourself wanting to do multiple things. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Especially for women whose role has been defined for us for so long, it exhilarating to find you have ample of choices and support. And that is great. Not only do we have ample of choices, but we can if we want to, do all of them. We are after all multifaceted. And when we want to create multiple streams of income its easy to want everything you are good at making to bring in an income. It is also an easy way to burn out, very easy and very fast. 

So what I’m I saying? 

I am beginning to filter things I want to do into the following questions and if it doesn’t fit it gots to go. I am one person and I want a life. 

What? What are you doing?

Honestly, this sounds super simple, it almost as if I’m teaching you to suck eggs but bear with me. Let us say you want to create a YouTube channel, what is the YouTube channel for? Are you teaching people about makeup? Fashion? Skincare? Haircare? If I was to put you into a search engine what would I type? Jane natural hair care? Jane how to make meat pie?

Do you get the drift, what are you providing? It may seem as though I am asking you to only do one thing but that is not the case. Take your favourite YouTuber, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of them? You have the answer… that is the ‘what’ they do. Of course, they branch out to other avenues but at first, they established the what. 

Why? Why are you providing the what?

This reason is always subjective to the individual. Using my recent business venture as an example, I knew what I was creating, a natural moisturising hair and skin shea butter. The aim of the product is to help those with hair like mine to maintain moisture in their hair to aid their healthy hair growth.  While that is the basis, my why stems deeper than that. I want to create a chain line from production to customer. The women who make shea butter that I purchase are to be paid well, but it also important to me that customer is aware of the process and how they are not only helping themselves regarding their hair and skin but also contributing towards the financial growth of another. Far too long companies under the pretence of NGO’s have not been giving these women the credit they deserve for their hard work. Fourth & Raw works to eliminate that. Recognition is important. See how my what and why interlinks? 

How am I going to achieve this? 

How do I intend to do this? What forms will I use? Where do I get investment, who do I speak to and how do I get others on board? This is where the work really is for me. However, it is not so much hard work because I know my what and why.

What is the Vision here?

This is the most important question for me. You might wonder why I didn’t put it first. This is because the vision is the umbrella for which the first three questions come under. Knowing what the vision is and making sure that it aligns with my purpose is key. As a Christian, I always have to make sure that I filter my vision in communication (by prayer) with God. By doing so it allows me to know the purpose of anything I do transcends me and will serve the need of others. Other questions that fit into the vision part is, how does this integrate in the next five years? does it help into my overall goal?

Questions Answered

With my questions answered, I can begin to give things the right priority. In terms of the why, it can be as simple as is this just a hoppy or something I want to develop into something bigger in the near future. This also helps me to say no or yes to myself. I would say that I have come to the conclusion that no I don’t have to do everything. In the same way, I don’t have to do just one. If I can answer well to this question then I pursue the “interest” but priorities will shift and change with time and that is okay. Also the terms Jack of all trades and master of none is not as negative as I once viewed it. because there is a second part that is usually left out……It’s all about perspective

“Jack of all trades, master of none..oftentimes better than master of one..”