Throughout life, society is constantly urging young people to be well-rounded. You have to be academically strong, athletic, artistic or musical, and highly sociable. However, when you look at the people who are truly great—the thought leaders, social change agents, and legacy-creating celebrities among us—they are not well-rounded people. They found something they were passionate about, shared that gift with the world, and became increasingly talented and influential through the sharing of that gift.
Truly great people have a laser-like focus on what they really love, and share their gifts with the world no matter how small the audience. They don’t seek to be well rounded. They seek to be outstanding at what they do. They offset this relentless drive to share their ever-unfolding gifts with a sense of balance in their lives.
Balance is different than well-roundedness. Balance means that all your time, energy, and money is not going into one place. In addition to being a great musician, you spend time with your family and friends, working out, and just being still. You are likely not great at the other things in your life. Your kids know you love them, but they wish you were around more. You could be in better shape. However, you take time away from that special gift to do other things you truly enjoy doing. A balanced life gives you somewhere to go not to escape the challenges and rewards brought on by being great but to replenish your mind, body, and spirit so you can continue to be great.
Being well-rounded is pursuing things out of a sense of obligation or a sense that one cannot be successful without knowing something. It’s the gifted painter who takes an Economics class not because he is curious about the area, but because he feels like she’s “supposed to”. Diversity in one’s interests and passions can be helpful in bringing new perspectives and approaches to a situation. However, these diverse interests and passions should organically emerge as a result of having done what you really want to do.
Pursuing well-roundedness for the sake of being a well-rounded person is a waste of your precious time and energy on this Earth. Being self-reflective is important to evolving as a person, but don’t put too much focus on improving your weaknesses. Find the opportunities where you shine, and figure out how you can build upon those gifts.
Consider Michael Jackson. From the age of 8 years old or so, his talent for entertaining through song and dance was impossible to ignore. His impact on his audiences and on the global music industry only grew the more he focused on his gifts. I believe that all people have a gift that, if nurtured, would blossom tremendously and change lives.
Discovering that talent may emerge out of exploring a variety of different interests. Perhaps well-roundedness in the earliest parts of our life is helpful in making us aware of the many ways to use our brains and bodies. However, once you discover your gift, abandon well-roundedness for the pursuit of sharing that gift. Truly great lives are built on passion and sustained through balance.
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While I appreciated the main idea of the post, it is somewhat laughable to discuss Michael Jackson and a balanced life in the same context. His life outside of performing was so crazy, toxic, or non-existent that is could hardly be called balanced. However, I agree with you that being “well-rounded” does not allow people to develop themselves in organic ways.