top of page
Search

The Generalist Versus The Expert

  • Writer: Ian Catterall
    Ian Catterall
  • May 12
  • 2 min read

We live in a world where its possible to try and do almost anything...travel is cheap - you can go anywhere in the world you like, want to learn a new language - there's an app, books are cheap or even free online if you want to read the complete works of Dickens. You want to go the gym or run a marathon? Well the gym is just a mile away and relatively affordable. Oh and all the movies and all the TV series and all the munros to climb and musical instruments to play...the options open to us are endless and all available...


Unfortunately this can lead to a feeling we have a duty to make the most of every minute that we must be productive, always growing and learning and moving forward in our lives. Life is a constant exercise in striving forward at each opportunity.


But we can't constantly be racing toward our next big goal. Trying to do so is exhausting and leads to feelings of guilt or failure when we just can't keep up. We live in an increasingly pressured society where even our leisure time can feel like work with tasks to be ticked off a list.


I think we can instead of this compulsion to do everything consider two options and perhaps choose between them: the first option is to be an expert at something and sacrifice all or most other things - give all your attention to just one or two things. That could be a truly rewarding life. However, in doing so you have to accept you will never be great at Spanish or learn guitar.


The alternative is to be a generalist - to treat life like a taster menu rather than believing you can eat everything the chef can cook. This can also be a really rewarding way to live, accepting we will try but be largely mediocre at lots of things. Sometimes we will try things and be truly dreadful at them but the fun in this way of living is in the experience. We can perhaps relax into the experience of just enjoying experimenting with things, not getting too caught up in developing an expertise.


This generalist approach to life seems more joyful to me. It allows you the freedom not to finish a book if you don't like it or to take up a hobby and only pursue it until you either tire of it or something more interesting comes along. It allows you to treat your life as an experiment rather than a fixed rigid game with too many rules.


But don't let me choose which one is right for you - just perhaps try not to do both.

 
 
 

Comentarios


bottom of page