TwoCents | Jack Of All Trades and Master Of Some

We’ve all heard the English idiom “Jack of All Trades and Master of None” derogatorily used to imply a person has a plethora of interests, but are yet to achieve a high level of expertise or success in one area.It’s a way of saying stay in one place and focus on one skill, rather than expending effort trying to perfect many skills, that will supposedly leave you no time to master any one specific skill in the end.  I call BS.And considering the phrase is attributed to one bad bele 16th century English writer who was beefing Shakespeare…chuckle… I’m not surprised it came from a hater.  From what I garnered online, the writer whose name was Robert Greene, may not have been the first person to coin the phrase which evolved over time, but history credits him for it as it was mentioned in his 1592 booklet titled “Greenes Groats-Worth Of Wit” where he described Shakespeare as an “uptight crow” and drum roll please…. “A Jack of All Trades.”Baba was just jealous of Shakespeare, I mean it’s clear as day. And that is exactly how you people who love to use that term sound like, if you ask me. Because what is it to anyone, the number of interests you have? Is it their interest?As somebody who has indulged in several occupations myself, and attempted to learn a bunch of things, and failed woefully at almost all, admittedly, i believe life is too short to limit yourself to just one path, particularly when you’re just starting out in life. I think that contrary to popular belief, you can be a Jack of all trades and still master the ones you love. And like in my case, even if you don’t master any, it doesn’t affect the cost of fuel in any of our Nigerian filling stations. Society often pushes the narrative that specialization is the only path to success, but this overlooks the joy and fulfillment that come from pursuing multiple passions.And as I’ve come to find out, not everybody knows from their mother’s womb, lawyering is their calling, or singing and dancing are what they are destined for. Some people first have to try their hands at a couple of things to discover their true passion. So, ignore the naysayers like the writer who was clearly throwing shade at the great William Shakespeare, and explore as many fields as you like. Be diverse, be adventurous, be curious. And even if you never master one trade in its entirety, at-least you can do bits of different things here and there, unlike folks who can only do one. And that is just the coolest thing, no?

More insights from Belinda Chiazor