A question, posed to me in today’s inspirational reading: “What can you do that no one else can do better?”
More and more, I’m interested in finding my own Great Work. Part of doing that, I think, involves learning to know the difference between what I can do … and what I love to do. But, as Kevin Kelly points out:
“It takes some experience to realize that a lot of work is better left undone … Work that is smartest means doing that work that no one else can do … This is scary, because you are giving up things you do well, and you might think that after you surrender all the good stuff, there won’t be anything excellent left for you. Trust me: there is more to you than that.”
And so, today, I’m asking myself: What is it that I can do that no one else can do better?” and I’m asking that question of several different areas of my life.
As a life partner, what can I do that no one else can do better? This turns out to be a sobering question for me, because I tend to see myself as a pretty average life partner. What skills and gifts do I bring to my relationship with Clyde that no one else could supply? I need to have a better answer for this beyond, “Being me.”
At the Company: what can I do that no one else can do better? It’s true that I have a knack for taking complex “corporate-speak” and making it easier to understand. Do I do that better than anyone else there? Maybe. Increasingly, I’m asked to contribute to making all kinds of documents clearer and easier to read, and, when I do this, people seem genuinely grateful for the work I’ve done.
In general: what can I do that no one else can do better? Three things come to mind.
1) Talk in tones people like. All my life, people have commented on my voice. “Why aren’t you in radio?” they ask. “Why aren’t you doing more commercials, narration, and audio books?” I still do some of this kind of work — more and more, even The Company asks me to narrate videos and voice podcasts. But, as I look for what I do best, I think I should be doing more to develop this gift … and doing more with it, in general.
2) Lead classes. Whether teaching Sunday schools or university classes, leading workshops on Tarot or creative writing, or making presentations to corporate audiences, I get a huge kick (a high, really) out of presenting a well-conceived, well-developed, well-structured program to large audiences. This takes a lot of work — but it’s work I love, and work I’m happy to do. Again, The Company has begun to offer me more opportunities to pursue this, and I’m grateful for that … but I also wonder why I’ve not made this more a part of what I do for a living.
3) Blog. I’ve been posting things here to MadeByMark.com for almost 12 years. Many readers are friends and family, but many, many more are happy strangers who are drawn here looking for answers, ideas, and insights. In the time I’ve been posting here, I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, “Wow! I’m going to start a blog and start posting things, too!” But very few of these folks actually get around to doing so … and of those who do, very few actually keep up the practice for more than a post or two.
So: I do a lot of blogging, and I’ve done it a long time. But do I do what I do here better than anyone else could? That’s a good question.
If nothing else, I hope today’s post has you thinking about the question, “What can you do that no one else can do better?” If Mr. Kelly’s right, the answer to that question should point the way to your personal Great Work.
Add comment