The urge to be good at everything I do

Wanting to be good at everything sounds cool, but it’s the way to being average at most things.

One evening, I was working on a side project, a fact-checking system. Then I suddenly thought, “I need to do work on another project as well.” It was a university semester project. I shifted to the next project. I kept switching between them, thinking that I was making progress. At the end of the day, the result was not what I wanted. I hadn’t completed any project. I put in hours of work, but I had very little to show for it.

There is a saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” And I strongly believe in this proverb. But at the same time, I want to be everything. Not just everything, but hell good at everything I do.

I want to consume the world in its details, understand it, and try to make sense of it patiently. But I realized that wanting and doing are different things. I can want to be everything, but I don’t have enough knowledge and experience in any one thing specifically.

I call myself an average person. Average at study. Average at speaking. Average at being confident. Average at work. Average at writing. And the list goes on and on. I feel it the most when I look back at the things I have started and realize how much more I could have learned if I had given my full attention to one thing at a time.

I try doing many things. I worked in media without having any background. I worked in sales without knowing anything about sales. On my very first day of working in media (it was RUJU FactCheck), I didn’t know what to do, how things work, and so on. I stepped in without knowing anything. But I learned by my own. I tried everything, so I’m average at everything. Just average.

The reason why I try many things is the fear of missing out. When I don’t put in my best effort, I am not getting what I want. And I don’t want this to happen. We often hear that we should not compare ourselves with others. But to be more honest, there is a sense of wanting to prove my worth to people. If you are not good, they will ignore you. When I say people ignore you, I mean they might not take your ideas seriously, trust your abilities, or consider you for opportunities. I want to be someone whose work speaks for itself.

Trying many things gave me exposure, various perspectives, and self-confidence. It taught me to learn outside my comfort zone. But it also made me realize that exploring everything is not the same as mastering something. And it requires discipline, patience, and hard work at the highest level.

Every new skill feels great at the beginning. I was learning fast, everything was new, and I was excited. But as I went deeper, it felt boring and exhausting, and I couldn’t process it. With many skills to work on, I shifted to the next one and never developed enough skill in any of them.

I know, but I don’t know enough. I dig, but not enough to bring gold.

I found myself distracted by too many things: doing projects, learning new skills, working without a break. I felt busy without output, and I often didn’t see any results.

But the way to become exceptionally good is to do it consistently. To make good art, one should make more art. To be good at reading, one should spend more time reading and processing it. But I wasn’t putting in enough hours on any of it.

As I look back at what I have done and the direction I wanted in my career, I felt something missing. I thought, “If I keep starting something new every time, when will I become good at anything?” I realized that being good at everything takes a lot of time, energy, and consistent, intentional effort.

Something deserves my best effort, and most things don’t. Cooking, speaking, reading, and writing: these are the things that people should be good at. It is a plus. But for work, one should pick a specific field and gain enough expertise. The problem occurs when we try apply the same standard to everything.

I want to develop depth in one field instead of constantly jumping between different intersest. I am still learning to make this change. What could pull me away again is my curiosity and the fear that I’m missing out on something better. Every new opportunity still feels exciting, and I know I will have to learn to say no.

Maybe being average at most things is the price of wanting everything. I am still paying it, but at least now I know what I am paying for.

Thank you.