Zig Ziglar says that you should strive to be a “meaningful specific” and not a “wandering generality.” There’s a danger in trying to be all things to all people as well as trying to dabble in a whole slew of things as opposed to zeroing in on particular niches or a general direction, based on your gifts, talents, and passions.

That said, if you’ve seen my name around the Internet, you might be thinking: “You’re one to talk!” And you may have a point. After all, I’m a pastor, former high school teacher, former association management professional, etc. I’ve had experience in several lines of work. If you Google my name, you’ll find that I’ve written on Christian living, theology, American history, making money, stress, personal development, public speaking, and much more. You’ll also see that I have a pastoral blog and an American Revolution blog in addition to this one.  Oh, and I have a blog and newsletter on marriage.

While there are people out there much smarter than me in these things, I don’t think it’s wrong to spread yourself out a bit. You only have one life and it’s too short to pigeonhole yourself into simply one or two things. I enjoy history immensely, for example. And while I don’t have a PhD in the subject and I don’t (at present anyway) work full-time in it, I’m still passionate enough about it, that I’m not going to let my life go by, without writing on the subject.

All that having been said, I do think it’s important to pick one or two professional lanes to MASTER, even if you dabble in others. For me, my primary calling is that I’m a pastor.  I therefore devote most of time and energy in that direction, which includes extensive study of the Bible, preaching and teaching, counseling, leadership of a local church, etc. Secondarily, I’m a writer (and occasional speaker) on the topics of personal development, communication skills, handling stress, and overcoming adversity. The latter is the focus of THIS blog.

What are your lanes? What are your specialties? What are your areas of expertise?

Again, life is too short to limit yourself exclusively to one or two things, but it’s also too short not to let yourself go as far as you can in what you’re best at!  Don’t let life go by without discovering your gifts, talents, and passions. They will give you a clue as to what direction you should head.