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Always do what you love
August 23, 2017
When it comes to hobbies and/or careers, what areas are you really good in? And what do you truly love? Even more important, are you actually any good at the things you love? And how can you strategise to explore the possibility of making a living from your natural areas of strength?
Those are some of the questions I tend to pose when I talk with young people who are trying to discover the world of work, and even older folks who are looking at ways of fully capitalising on their interests and abilities. You see, some people have a hard time balancing their interests with their abilities, and they often end up frustrating themselves and others because they fail to recognise that just because you love something that doesn't automatically make you good at it.
STAY IN THE AUDIENCE
Plenty people in the entertainment field, especially, struggle with that problem, and it is very annoying. Mi nah lie! If you love di ting but nuh have any real talent, unuh must give di stage a break, man. Just siddung inna di audience and applaud.
Look here nuh, I really, really love singing. And I can actually hold a note with some effort. But I don't fool myself with the notion that because I love singing I am therefore qualified to start a singing career. No, I admit the fact that I'm not a great singer.
Yes, peeps. I know my strengths and weaknesses. So having discovered that I'm good at making people laugh, and having learnt that one can actually earn from this endeavour, I have exploited that natural ability as a meaningful way to earn a living.
I have to confess, however, that I'm not all that fond of comedy. Serious thing! I don't really, really love it! I do it because I'm good at it and it pays. Yeah, comedy has been good to me. In terms of work, though, I prefer teaching. I get genuine fulfilment and pleasure from the process of teaching and watching people learn and grow. I definitely don't derive anything near that level of satisfaction from doing comedy shows. And based on exam results, assessment of supervisors and the feedback from my students, I'm a darn good teacher. Sadly, teaching has not paid me as well as the performing arts have.
So for a long time, I've put a hold on what I truly love and focused on the area that pays more. I'm switching it around again though. Yes, I'm getting back into the classroom next month. After all, money isn't everything.
