Honest Assessment and Analysis

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert on anything. I consider myself more of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of guy. That's just the unfortunate circumstance in which I live.

That being said, there's a LOT of things that I have above-average (above-average meaning a higher level than an average person) skill in. Computers, auto repair, writing, carpentry, acting, whatever. If I had more time on my hands, I'd probably attempt to refine these skills into something more...usable, but the daily grind of life tends to prevent such efforts.

Case in point, I downloaded Rosetta Stone and several languages several months ago (prior to beginning my current job) and I was able to learn a few basic Tagalog phrases before being forced to shelve the lessons due to lack of time (and energy, because I'm lazy).

That's one of my more prevalent flaws: I have the desire to improve myself but I lack the discipline to follow-through.

In my personal library, I have, off the top of my head, four maybe five "Dummies" books. One is to learn the guitar, two more are to learn French and Arabic (now rendered useless due to Rosetta Stone), another is for cooking, and I can't recall what the last one covered. However, the point is clear that I have a strong STRONG desire to learn new things and improve myself. Oftentimes, however, I'm held back by my ownlaziness, manifested in the form of excuses as to why I can't continue my lessons.

Why am I writing this deep and telling article? Well, I believe it's good exercise for the psyche to lay out your falws, admit them, tell others. I believe doing so may be the first step toward correcting and improving upon them. I hope within a few weeks time, with the forthcoming change in residence, that my outlook and attitude will be emboldened and I'll put more of an effort in.

Now, in my defense, part of the problem is a lack of...supplies necessary to do a lot of these things.
For example, the cooking book keeps mentioning various pots, pans, ingredients, etc. that I would need to progress through the lessons. However, I possess none of the ones listed. Now, I'm certain a skilled chef could look at the required equipment and say "Hey, we could substitute (this) for (this) and it would work just fine." But I'm not a skilled chef. Thus, the "Dummies" book.

But, I digress.

That reasoning doesn't extend to a good portion of the other teaching methods I own, so I can't use that as an excuse (as previously stated before, that I use to wheedle out of work).

Is it human nature (or American nature, actually) to find the path of least resistance and take it every time? To cut corners? To short-change one's self out of self-improvement because we're "tired"?

Possibly.

It has been shown numerous times that America is one of, if not the most, obese nations in the world. This takes me back to my earlier discussion on our ever-increasing digital existence. Americans, on average, have fairl accomodating existences. Has such convenience made us sedentary to the point that we refuse to improve ourselves beyond the point of necessity?

Example: a car mechanic may initially put in the effort to learn how to work on the basic car design. All cars, fundamentally, work the same. However, if he starts working at a garage and that garage were to suddenly start specializing in, say, Toyotas, the mechanic would put in the minimal effort to learn enough about Toyotas to keep his job.

This is, of course, barring the automobile enthusiasts that read about cars in their spare time, but every discussion like this has countless variables.

So, I suppose I'll end this article with a resolution. With the coming change in residence, and thus a big change in my life, I'm resolved to put in a legitimate effort to learn. Learn what? Something practical. And, hopefully, if I get myself into a disciplined routine, I'll learn something else after that. And something else after that.

And so on.