Jack of All Trades, Master of None

So here’s my problem. I go full throttle at everything I do in life, from sprinting when I run, to become chairperson two minutes after joining a board. I can’t pace myself, it’s all or nothing. This would be okay if I specialized in one or two things. The problem is, I am the person that jumps anytime someone says they need help. While this has made me a rather well rounded person, it can sometimes run me into the ground.

For instance, currently, I am a full time student (14 credits), I have a part time job, I’m chairman of a local school council, my husband works out of state every week, and I have three children at home. Did I mention that I recently also volunteered to coach basketball for 4 hours every Saturday, and my children aren’t even on the team. While the service is great, and I love all that I do, I’m afraid it keeps me from truly mastering one area. If I spread myself too thin at some point I will be of no value to anyone around me, let alone myself.

Maybe I have just become the master of multitasking/over scheduling myself. (I find that if I don’t I don’t get anything done.)

Tying into all of this the habit of “putting first things first”. Yes, I am busy, maybe too busy, but I always try and make sure that my priorities are in check and that I remember why I am really doing all of this.

It Doesn't Take a Genius

It doesn’t take a genius.

There is comfort in that statement. I think business is about 30% hard work, 30% knowledge, and 40% luck. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how hard you work if you’re not at the right place at the right time to jump on the opportunity. Sure, knowledge is essential for knowing what to do with that chance, but it’s hard to exercise it if you haven’t found your way to the starting line already.

My husband once got a fortune cookie that read “Genius does only what it must.” It has been on the wall in his office in large letters ever since. Geniuses, especially in the business world, aren’t people that just do it all themselves. They are geniuses because they have learned how to put together an amazing team that together get all of the work done. They know how to be successful with doing as little work as possible. I know it kind of contradicts some of what we have heard from church leaders about not doing the bare minimum just to get by, but at the same time why not do just enough to get the success you desire? Success is success, not matter how hard you have to work for it. If I can get an A by studying 3 hours, why spend 10, when I can get the same reward for 30% of the effort? That’s not lazy, I think that’s brilliant.  

Priorities

This week the thing that has stood out to me the most is the idea of priorities. Who are we doing it all for? Who are we giving up for it? Could I be doing better another way?

When I decided to stop working almost 13 years ago before the birth of our first child it seemed like an easy decision. Why work 40 hours a week and have all that stress just for my paycheck to go to someone while they raised my child for me.  It wasn’t going to happen. I would give my all to my kids.

Fast forward to present day and I feel like I have almost lost myself because I did give it all up for them. However, now I am going back to school, and it’s not just for me, but for all of us. I get to show them how important it is to get your education, but at the same time I also know that I am securing a future for us in case the unforeseen happens and I have to go back to work to support us.

My priorities have always been my family first. Now I have finally found a way to keep them as my priority, but I get to do something for myself at the same time. Who knows, maybe we’ll all open a catering business together in the future.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give"

This week we read a lot about service and giving back. This is a topic very near and dear to me. Growing up my family receive a lot of help from people around us. It was something my mom was very grateful for, but also something she worked very hard not to have to take. Even when we had very little my mom was always helping others, we barely had a roof over our own heads and sometimes no food for our mouths, and yet often she would always let people come stay with us because she said we had more than they did.

Growing up this way has left me with my own version of “white guilt.” I say my own version because I don’t believe it is typical, in that I do it because I truly feel that “because I have been given much, I too must give.” My husband often comments on how I inherited my mother’s bad habit of helping someone so much that it turns into my own detriment. I can’t help it, I want to cry every time I see someone in need and I can’t help. I am thankful for this part of my personality. I feel the closest to my Father in Heaven when I am helping and serving his children. I hope that no matter where my life takes me, I will never lose this part of me.

Integrity.

“Integrity means always being honest, making sure you tell the truth, so people can depend on whatever you say.” That song lyric has stuck with me since I was a little kids. I have no clue what the cassette was from, but it has always been in the back of my mind. Integrity is one of the few things that must be held on to dearly in all aspects of our life. I think integrity is directly tied to always being who you truly are, and not veering away from that for any reason, and if we do that we will be rewarded.

As chairman of a Local School Council I am up for re-election every two years. This means campaigning, speeches and generally trying to prove to everyone that you can be trusted to best represent them. The first time I was up for re-election (I had joined the council mid-term) I listened to others and tried running on a “slate” against another group of parents. I was lumped in with people that differed from me in ways I didn’t like, but it is what I had been told would work. It didn’t I came in 7^th, one place off the board. I again was added mid-term, but when election season came up I was going to do things my way this time, and stay true to who I was. Instead of running on a slate I actually helped every single candidate to have the same amount of exposure, I even made us all candidate pins and a large banner with everyone’s photo and statement on it. It worked. Not only was I re-elected, 90% of the voters voted for me. This has happened multiple times now, I am currently serving my 4^th term, and I feel that it all happened because I showed my true colors and earned the respect of the parents and even my fellow candidates.

I can’t say this will happen all the time. People have the right to make their own decisions. But, I do know that when I did it my way the second time around, I felt better about myself, and would have even if I had lost.