Jack of all trades master of none

[Loshvi]

Hi many of you might heard the above comment once in your life . So how do you take it. Is it something for you to be proud or to worry about. Knowing lots of random things but not good at any particular field.. some tells me that im crazy and some tells me I'm smarter and lazy.some tells me it's dangerous.some tells it won't make any sense . Some times I felt like I'm an encyclopedia and some times I felt myself like trash . How to get rid of this state..?

[BlessedLady]

If you think about it. there are one or two things you are better at. Have you further your education? If not, you need to.

My husband had ADHD. He could fix anything. He was also a great cook and housekeeper. He even sewed. He was trained in fixing air-conditioning and heating units and did that for a while. He also worked in construction and drove a truck.

Do not allow other people to make you feel bad about yourself. Chances are they are jealous.

[STEM_Dad]

I've come to accept it. In fact, it's how I describe my job to people.

I spent a lot of years fretting over not finding one thing to focus on in my education and career. My interests are all over the place.

It wasn't until my mid-30s that I started in my current career, after running out of financial aid and still not having a degree. (I had changed majors and schools 5 times.)

My early career included jobs in retail, office work, education (tutoring), corrections (definitely not for me), and tech support. My interests are in art & design, science (general science and physics in particular), engineering (various), computer science & information systems, psychology (various sub-genres), and writing (originally sci-fi, but now both various fiction and nonfiction genres).

I'm also like a walking encyclopedia, because I'm an "information junkie". My favorite past-time is learning about new things, or learning new things about the things I've already learned.

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It's taken me a while to realize that while I'm good at Information Technology in general, I don't want to specialize in networks or servers or software development. I like user support, because I get to help people (my motivation), work on interesting problems (there's never a boring day), and I get to work with all kinds of tech: software, hardware, servers, network, cloud platforms.

My modus operandi is "making technology work better for people".

If I'd specialized, I think I'd be missing out on the enjoyment that I get in doing user support. I also get to apply the customer service skills that I learned in retail, the organization skills I developed in office work (though I'm still bad at being organized), the troubleshooting skills I developed in tutoring and tech support, and the empathy that has served me well in all those positions.

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I'm like a human Swiss Army knife. I get to do a little of almost everything that I know how to do, so I don't feel like I wasted much of the time I spent working before I got into my current role.

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If you want to specialize, that's great! But don't forget the multifaceted, multilayered person that you are.

It's okay to be a Jack of All Trades. It's not for everyone, but some of us figure out that it's what we do best.

There are some very famous people who have done all kinds of things, like American founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, serial entrepreneur Richard Branson (who has ADHD), and others.

[Loutysonsmith in reply to STEM_Dad]

What a fabulous description of being a human Swiss Army knife 😃

All of this resonated with me very deeply.

Thank you

[STEM_Dad in reply to Loutysonsmith]

My skill set has grown, so sometimes I now think of myself as a human multi tool...but it just doesn't have the same sound to it as "human Swiss Army knife" does. 😉

We may often compare ourselves with other people, and wish we had deep specialization like they do.

I've learned not to do that (but it took years, and consistent effort). I've changed my way of thinking: I have genuine appreciation for others and their specialized skill sets, and I have appreciation of my own diverse interests and diverse skill sets*. It has made me a lot happier with myself.

* Just yesterday, I was helping a colleague figure out an issue with her email. She and I had an interesting conversation while I worked on the issue, and she commented on my "encyclopedic" knowledge. (She has her own set of diverse interests and knowledge, so it made for a fun conversation... plus, I learned that she and her kids also have ADHD.)

[Loutysonsmith in reply to STEM_Dad]

Brilliant.

I think I struggle now - aged 55 - to encapsulate what it is that I'm good at even though I know that I'm good at many things.

My current challenge (after losing my job several months ago through depression, ADHD issues) is deciding what work I want to do in the future that is actually going to be good for me....

[STEM_Dad in reply to Loutysonsmith]

Here are some other clarifying questions that might help you:

* What do you enjoy doing?

* What do you find rewarding (fulfilling, satisfying, etc)?

* What have you been wanting to do?

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I used to work for an employer that I was very dedicated to. I enjoyed my work for the first several years, even though my pay rate wasn't the best that I could be making. I had a great manager, did fulfilling work, and felt like I was well appreciated (in many other ways that made it a great work experience, besides the financial shortcoming).

But then, things changed, and work became a slog. I wasn't doing work that I enjoyed anymore, didn't have a good working relationship with my new manager, and the skills that I had spent years building weren't being utilized.

I finally got into a better role for my last year there, but was undertrained for the work (the training didn't become available until they decided not to renew my contract). While I had a better manager again, he was unavailable most of the time that year due to a critically important project that he was responsible for.

...So, when I got the news that I w as being let go, I returned to the work I loved, but had to leave the university that had seemed like home to me for 14 years (4 years as a student + 10 years as an employee)...at that point, almost 1/3 of my life!

* I wasn't disappointed with the change. Sure, I was in fast paced, challenging work...but my skills grew, and it was great to feel appreciated again.

I had to move on again, way too soon, for the sake of my kids.

(My wife had divorced me and moved, and I moved to follow, to have weekly custody exchange with the kids, instead of every few months.)

* I now have the best position so far in my IT career. (Not the most enjoyable, but it's mostly balanced between enjoyable and challenging, both financially and personally rewarding. I've got a lot of autonomy, am trusted with responsibility, and have even learned a few new things about my trade.) It's not a perfect fit for me, but definitely a move in the right direction. I couldn't say what would make this better, just yet. I've been here 6 months, and only felt like I really belonged the last two months. (The work environment and culture are very different from what I was used to, so it's taken a while to acclimate.)

[BurntoutMedc_Student]

Honestly, I try to be proud of it as much as possible. But, sometimes the insecurities kick in, especially if I am working with someone who is an expert on something I only know the basics of, because ik the basics of nearly anything. The self conscious then kicks me hard, why can’t I master it too? I wish I hadn’t jumped to another hobby. The comments that I can’t finish anything, that I leave stuff when it gets tough really hurt. Ik myself and I know I don’t leave when it’s tough, I leave when what I am doing losses it’s appeal, or when outside stress really makes me forget the existence of that hobby. But I’ve learned not to be tough on myself, I’ve learned that not many can even have the capacity to acquire so much knowledge and experience. I’ve also learned that that quirk makes me so much more interesting, and helps me link with others, because no matter what they are doing, I probably did it once. Embrace yourself and give yourself a pat on the back, it doesn’t have to be the world and YOU against yourself, take it easy on yourself.

I just remembered the continued version ( A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one) remind yourself of that!

[TipTopADHD]

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

You will realize that it's the greatest gift in the world.

At 47 I have a list of things I've done, things I learned and disappointment of things I didn't finished.

[SilverbackG]

Ahh, how we view ourselves is the key here. Have you heard the term "Polymath" and if you have, find a few examples of people in history. Most will come up with Ben Franklin, and even earlier, Leonardo Da Vinci.

For women, it will look different. You can read about women in history who were clearly Polymaths despite society's constraints.

Here's a link (cut and paste it) to an article from "ADDitude" additudemag.com/famous-wome...

If you can begin to see yourself in a different light, having ADHD can also be empowering. I find that if I lean into my curiosity, I can learn anything and accomplish tasks that seemed to big to finish. I am far from always successful at this, but I can rekindle a passion for something I may have let slide earlier in life. Now that I am older (57 years) I find that I can decrease the amount of pressure I put on myself (perfectionism gets in my way constantly) and enjoy deep dives to learn, often to mastery.

Find others that are Neurodivergent and read about them. It helps m reframe my view of myself and that leads to a more gentle approach as I learn to see my unique brain as precious not broken.

[STEM_Dad]

I've got a different question for you... Do you have a particular interest that you want to specialize in? For instance, when you were a kid, what did you "want to be when you grow up"? Did you answers to that question change from time to time, or was there something that kept coming up.

* For me, my answers kept changing, but there were two consistent trends: science-related occupations, and helper occupations. (Now, I'm an IT Service Desk Technician. I help people all day, and I work with technology.)

Of course, you don't have to only focus on your childhood interests.

Over time, what interests do you keep coming back to? Is there a common theme to many of them?

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Naturally, you don't have to specialize. I don't specialize with my IT work, and I'm happy with that now. (But I have identified areas I want to focus on developing my talents...but this is to add more breadth to my skills and knowledge, and maybe some depth in those areas.)

[STEM_Dad in reply to STEM_Dad]

Besides interests, we each have our own unique set of:* Natural traits and talents

* Skills we've acquired

* Knowledge & wisdom we've gained

* Experiences that we've had

Many people with ADHD are innovative, even entrepreneurial. When we aren't stifled by masking, many of us are very high in the personality traits of empathy and "openness to experience".

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Another, opposite, consideration is the state of the world and job market that exists now. There are many jobs now that didn't exist even a decade ago. There's a need for people with diverse interests and broad skill sets, to be able to switch to fill newly created roles and opportunities.

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Stay curious!

[Wasted71years]

ADHD causes me to be attracted to something new, thus I have learned very many skills and sets of knowledge that the term jack of all trades does resonate. You can however circle around a broad area, being a jack in many slices which amasses to being a master in the broad area - it just takes time to find those gravitational points that keep drawing you to them as you seek out novelty.

[StoneJeweler]

Aloha, It sounds like you need to stop listening to those people. How do you feel about it? Knowing a little about a lot of things gives you a spring board to going more into depth about those things that interest you instead of fumbling along trying to look for something new. As you get older you will grow in knowledge. Follow your interests and expand on them if you choose.