Yes, that’s a fact of life. Unless you were born into money, I suppose…

I consider myself a “Jill of all trades”. I like to self teach, and have also enjoyed the book learning I have received along the way.

You are right, when it comes down to a career, do you have to pick a favorite, and hopefully you can choose one that makes a decent wage.

@Harry: I have a friend who’s like you: martial arts instructor, illustrator, caterer, swing dance instructor. He’s definitely well-rounded, and easy-going probably because of his vast experiences.

I also agree about relating to people. I should use that to my advantage in pushing our services when we meet with potential clients.

And thanks for the “tweet” — is that the proper use of the word?

@Tei: Thanks so much for dropping by. I was into Do-It-Yourself projects as well when I was much younger — meaning, had the time — always watched Hometime and New Yankee Workshop.

But now I try to focus on all the multidisciplinary work related to my work, and leave the oil changes to my (honest) mechanic.

That said, I would also say that part of the reason I always did things myself was I found it hard to “let go”, to find someone I trusted to delegate work to (or to whom to pay).

I LOVE being able to do tons of stuff. I had a friend who used to argue that if your labor was worth more than the guy you would pay to do a task, then you should outsource. But he’s an economist, and we don’t listen to them.

Just this last weekend, I tore up my carpeting, sanded my woodwork, fixed my roof, wrote a bunch of copy for three businesses that have nothing to do with each other, project managed, changed the oil in my car, gave business advice, did my accounting, and cooked a damn fine bowl of pasta with cream sauce and peas and proscuitto.

Take THAT, economics! No proscuitto for YOU!

Fantastic post. It makes me all squidgy.

Tei – Rogue Ink’s last blog post..Out of Context: The Hat

Why did I do all this? I get bored easily. That, and I vowed to myself at a very young age never to have a boring job.

I think being a versitilist makes for a well rounded person, if you do it right and don’t just do it out of laziness or being scared of what you could be doing.

This has also served me well, especially during the 80s when layoffs happened nearly every day. I always had something to fall back on. Not only that, but now I find my vast background of experiences helps me relate to many different types of people on many different levels.

I’ve often been told by clients that I’ve read their mind when it comes to making their visions come to life. There’s no trick to it. It all stems from the wealth of observations I’ve collected over the years.

Excellent post.

Harrison McLeod’s last blog post..Fiction Writing: Overactive Imagination

Well you know what Nez
Kudos to you man. Kudos to you

JEMi @ InMyHeels’s last blog post..What Keeps YOU Young?: An InMyHeels/Lipton FUJI Crosstown Bike Giveaway!!!