“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”-Albert Einstein
Stupid is how we feel anytime we're forced into a job that lies outside our strengths. The excuse of "it's my first day/week/month" expires before you realize that you're really not cut out for that line of work. I think many of us just starting out in the post-college, "you must find your dream job ASAP" world are feeling this especially. But what if what Einstein says is true, and we're all just fish trying to climb trees? What would that look like?
Emmitt Smith was a terrible television analyst. Think of watching an inexperienced anchor on a small market, low budget evening news broadcast, then imagine them reading off a teleprompter that was covered in grease. That's how uncomfortable Smith looked as he desperately tried to recap a game we'd all just watched. However, outside of his brief stint in TV, his overall body of work:
- Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010
- The NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards
- Three time Super Bowl champion
Those are just the highlights. That is, the three big accomplishments he'd mention in the "summary" section near the top. He could fill out the rest with:
- MVP of Super Bowl XXVIII
- Eight Pro Bowl selections
- Four time All-Pro
So if Smith could do perform so well in one profession and so poorly in another, it's reasonable to assume that we're wired similarly. If you're a bad cashier, that doesn't mean you wouldn't make an excellent dance instructor. If your job in the corporate world isn't going well, maybe you'd make a great youth pastor. That terrible waiter at your favorite restaurant could find great success as a graphic designer. One person's nightmare is another's dream job.
If you're performing somewhere between average and awful at your day job, it doesn't preclude you from greatness in another area. The daily struggle of just trying to make it through another day can make us oblivious to that fact. By all means, do your best at wherever you've been placed at the moment. But if your best in that area doesn't quite measure up to greatness, remember this: the most decorated running back in NFL history was an awful TV analyst. You're not alone. Find what you're good at and chase your dreams.
