more obsessions-> less successful?

Page 1 of 1 [ 5 posts ] 

infilove
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jul 2012
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 649
Location: North Charleston SC

23 Jun 2014, 5:00 pm

Do you feel like having more then one obsessions/interests have actually made you less successful now then if you had just one obsession? I always hear great stories about people who have had one life long interests and now living happy successful lives because they focused their energy on finding a career that fulfills their life interest. I.E. One guy I know has always been interested in being a firefighter and now finally has become a firefighter. Another person I know always wanted to be a teacher and is now a teacher. They all seem to have a single major interests where they have been able to focus on and it has brought them to their dream goal. It seems like with me, having more then one obsession has actually been counterproductive. I'm very good at graphic design and been drawing on the computer since 12. I am also interesting in electricity and could wire electrical circuits since I was 8. I always thought I was blessed to have two interests because I thought that would double my chances of being successful. However, now that I'm 30, I have found jumping back in forth between both interests have actually hindered my ability to be successful. It's like both interests countered each other -like running back in forth, instead of running straight to one destination. I finally have a degree in Graphic Design. I'm happy about having the degree but finding a job in the field is almost impossible because I'm being competed by tons of other candidates who are more skilled in graphic design then me because they spent more time practicing in this field while I was in school trying to get an electrical engineering degree until finally dropping out. I feel like I would have been better off just being interested in graphic design because I would have been able to focus all my energy and time into that making me more successful. Has this been the case for you too?


_________________
James Hackett

aspie quiz results; http://www.rdos.net/eng/poly12c.php?p1= ... =80&p12=28


mitch413
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 26 Dec 2011
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 75
Location: Western Massachusetts

23 Jun 2014, 7:01 pm

I too have more than one interest or obsession. My primary one is meteorology, but I have others in geography, geology, chess, and plants/trees. I went to college and grad school to study meteorology, but I was unable to find employment in that field due to the scarcity of jobs and fierce competition. It's not unusual to have several hundred applicants for one position. I am also bad at networking and forming relationships with people, so I was left behind.

I later went back to community college for a year and half to study computer programming. Although not an obsession, I still liked it and did well with it. I was even able to get a job as a software engineer, but I quit after 2 months because I simply couldn't handle being around people all day everyday or the noisy open office work environment. In addition, being a software engineer involves a lot more than programming, including being able to work on a team, which I'm not good at as I am always the odd man out.

I currently spend my days searching the Internet reading up on things related to my interests.



muslimmetalhead
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,420

23 Jun 2014, 8:40 pm

grr...time/resource management.

I hope to get a job sooner or later and I have a vague idea of a schedule/priority list...before college starts.

40% work
20%studying...philosophy, science, the classics
15%weights
15%video games..cultural education lol
10% make-up work for school


when college starts(if I can get FAFSA going)...God please save me.
Well, I'll at least have money for...a tiny-@ss house with one bedroom, a kitchen, and bathroom....Hell, I'll cook in my room and save money with latrines...


_________________
"I watched a change in you, It's like you never had wings, now you feel so alive"


infilove
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jul 2012
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 649
Location: North Charleston SC

24 Jun 2014, 4:40 pm

mitch413 wrote:
I was unable to find employment in that field due to the scarcity of jobs and fierce competition. It's not unusual to have several hundred applicants for one position. I am also bad at networking and forming relationships with people, so I was left behind.


That also sounds like another issue that I relate to as well. The field I'm trying to get into is competitive too. Competition is frustrating. You could be very good at something but it almost messes the advantage up when you have a bunch of other people that are good too. Furthermore, I can also relate to the issue of networking and forming relationships. That is frustrating too, kind of like being short changed. It's sucks when your really good at something but still can't get a job in it because it happens to be a field that requires good social skills too. Sometimes it makes me wish I could go back in time and "change" my obsession but none of the less, I'm better honoring what I'm good at.


_________________
James Hackett

aspie quiz results; http://www.rdos.net/eng/poly12c.php?p1= ... =80&p12=28


infilove
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jul 2012
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 649
Location: North Charleston SC

24 Jun 2014, 4:44 pm

muslimmetalhead wrote:
grr...time/resource management.

I hope to get a job sooner or later and I have a vague idea of a schedule/priority list...before college starts.

40% work
20%studying...philosophy, science, the classics
15%weights
15%video games..cultural education lol
10% make-up work for school


when college starts(if I can get FAFSA going)...God please save me.
Well, I'll at least have money for...a tiny-@ss house with one bedroom, a kitchen, and bathroom....Hell, I'll cook in my room and save money with latrines...


I used to be bad at time management too but TRUST ME you'll improve on it and it's actually not as hard as it may seem at first. Your lucky your still young and starting college because you still have a chance to really think about what you want to do before investing the time into it. My best advice is to make sure your 100% sure what your majoring is something you want to do as a career. In fact, I would recomment questioning it severial times before going forward so your 100% sure this is what you want to do. Good luck!


_________________
James Hackett

aspie quiz results; http://www.rdos.net/eng/poly12c.php?p1= ... =80&p12=28