Focus Your
Expertise
By: Skye Thomas
Yes,
you are amazing and brilliant and capable of multi-tasking to a fine art. You
can do anything you set you mind to and you know that already. You’ve become a
master of juggling multiple responsibilities and you seem to be fairly
successful at just about everything you do. So why aren’t you making the big
bucks? Where is all that abundance and prosperity that being so multi-talented
should be getting you? You are going to hate my answer, but sit with it and you’ll
see that it makes sense.
Here’s a little secret to becoming wildly successful that most people don’t
know and don’t want to believe. Most people are not capable of doing more than
two things, sometimes three, really well. Before you start screaming at me,
think about this… how many self-made millionaires are also workaholics? How
many of them lose their marriages and/or their children, because their loved
ones think that they love the company more then them? How often do you see
someone in the building stages of their fortune, doing a really great job of
anything else? Not very often. There is a reason that the old saying, “Behind
every great man is an even greater woman” was so popular a few generations ago.
In order for the man to be able to focus all of his expertise and energies into
creating such a noteworthy career, he had to have a wife back home who took
care of everything else for him. Teamwork is a powerful thing, and we can
definitely get into debates over gender roles and such another time. For now
let’s stay focused on being focused.
Look at the woman who is an amazing wife and mother and keeps an immaculately
clean house while doing so. If she’s truly an expert doing an outrageously good
job at raising her kids and having a well run home and family, she probably is
not working on a career outside of the home. Look at the opposite. How many
super successful career women feel deep down that they are really doing their
best for their family? If they are, then chances are they’ve sacrificed by not
demanding that they keep a picture perfect clean house. They may focus just on
family and work and let the chores slide. Many single parents who are really
working hard to earn an income to support their families are also working
equally hard to make sure that their children are mentally and emotionally well
off after the divorce. They put most of their focus and energy into those two
areas and subsequently many of those people really don’t have time to date and
to give a new relationship the kind of serious attention it deserves? We have
all seen the newly divorced parents who are so focused on their own needs to
find a new partner and to let loose and play for awhile, that they blow off
their kids and their careers. We cannot judge any of these people for the
choices that they make. No one is right or wrong. It’s simply a matter of time
and energy, you can’t do all things well and you can’t be all things to all
people.
Does this mean that in order to become fabulously rich that we have to travel
through life without family and friends? Without a social
life or a hobby? Yes and no. What it means is that you have to take the
time to set your priorities and be honest with yourself. How important is that
money? How important are your children? Your marriage?
How important is it to you to be elected into public office or to be a
self-made tycoon? You have to really sit down with those answers and pick a
couple of things to do extremely well. Then forgive yourself for letting the
other things fall by the wayside. Remember that you don’t have to choose to put
making money above the other delights of life. Perhaps you’ll decide that your
personal idea of prosperity is getting to dabble in many things. You can choose
to do many things fairly well and be an expert in none. Your income will show
that choice in that you will do fairly well, but you won’t have the great
abundance and wealth that you might have been dreaming of before.
If you do have a family that will be deeply affected by your decision, then you
should probably include them in the discussion. Don’t decide by yourself that
you’re going to put your marriage on autopilot for a couple of years while you
run off to make a ton of money assuming that they’ll wait around forever. If
together you agree this is a sacrifice you are both willing to make for
long-term wealth, then so be it. Teenagers will understand these sorts of
decisions a lot better then toddlers will. If you have small children, I don’t
recommend putting your relationship with them on the back burner while you earn
money. They will likely end up with some psychological issues around whether
you loved them or money… and it will mess with their self-worth. If you’re
single and you have no kids, then you can simply pick a couple of things to
seriously focus on and become so expert that you make some serious money for
yourself.
It simply comes down to this -- experts earn experts’ wages. A
jack-of-all-trades smorgasbord lifestyle means you get a little of this and a
little of that. You get to meet a lot of different people and you get to play a
lot. That can be a very rewarding and satisfying life. But there’s rarely any
money in it! If money is your goal, pick a couple of things that you love and
do them really well, become the best of the best. Stay focused. Don’t allow
anything beyond your tight little priority list to distract you. Make peace
with whatever you decide and have fun.
Copyright
2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow’s Edge
About
The Author
Skye
Thomas is the CEO of Tomorrow's Edge, an Internet leader in inspiring leaps of
faith. She became a writer in 1999 after twenty years of studying spirituality,
metaphysics, astrology, personal growth, motivation, soulmates,
and parenting. Her books, articles, and astrological forecasts have inspired
people of all ages and faiths to recommit themselves to the pursuit of
happiness. To read more of her articles and to sign up to receive her free
weekly newsletter, go to
www.TomorrowsEdge.net. To
download free previews of her books, go to
www.SkyeThomas.com.
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