Getting it right enough.

I recently started using an RSS feed reader, and my reader of choice was Google Reader. Why? Because it was just another link from my Google Mail inbox, and it seemed easy. And so then once I started using Google Reader I needed to find some blogs to track. I heard about Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist from Cavity-Packed, subscribed to the RSS, and here I am, a full-fledged fan. And her post from today confirms my fandom.

While I do believe that in order to be really great at something you have to have some kind of innate ability, some kind of natural talent, I, too, also believe that you can be great at something by just working really hard at it. Most people want to be really great at something, and so most people do, and should, work hard at what they want to be great at. What I am finding, the older I get, is that a lot of people who cross my path tend to work really hard at work. They want to be really great at their job and their career. And I applaud that, especially if they know that their current job, the one that they're working so hard at, is the one that they really want to be doing - or at least will lead them to the one that they really want to be doing once they're great at their current job.

What I would really like to know is when one knows that one is working too hard at something. When does one know that one's all, one's whole being, all of one's energy and positivity, is spent on that one thing that one wants to be great at, and when does one decide to either a) give in and stop trying to be great, or b) refocus some energies? I feel like I am trying to be good at my career (despite the fact that I'm certain that my current job isn't the one I want to be in long term (or even short term, but that's not something I choose to get into here)), and I also feel like I want to be great at all of my outside interests, but I don't feel that there's enough of me to go around. There's not enough of me and my time to focus on all of these things, to practice at them, to give them enough attention to be great. Or to be what I consider great. You know, it's that whole work-life balance thing, except that in this case it's just a life balance, I guess, because when you boil it all down it all is work, really.

This must be why people try to turn their "outside interests" into their career. How else can you do it all and do it well? Actually, I'm more convinced every single day that there is no way that any one person can do it all well. And by "it" I mean great career, great primary relationship, great high-level secondary relationships, great hobbies, great volunteering, great parenting, great communicator, great health, great passions, great... yes, great everything. There's just so way. So what do you let be good, or good enough, or even not so good, and what do you choose to make great? For me, I think that I would like my primary relationship to be great, also my career (which I'd like to be dealing with one of my outside interests in one way or another, just so I don't have to feel like there's such a disconnect between me and my work), but also my high-level secondary relationships. And my hobbies. I could live with just those four. But four? That may be too much.

This may be the age-old question of learning to know when to say when. And that takes practice. Which means tweaks and modifications have to be made along the way. I just feel like there's not enough time for all the tweaks and modifications necessary to get it right. Which is why I can't strive for perfection, because I don't think I'll ever really get it right. Just right enough. So please bear with me while I'm learning to get it all right enough.