The other day my mother taught me a Chinese proverb that when translated into English means don’t put your feet in two boats .
The reason you don’t want to put your feet in two boats is that if one sinks, you sink. You are twice as likely to sink because you have to ensure that both boats stay afloat, whereas if you have your feet in only one boat, you have a better chance because you can concentrate your efforts on one. This advice has been extremely relevant to me right now in life because I am now ready to put my feet into one boat, but have been facing the challenge of ignoring the other boats that continue to float my way.
It’s challenging enough to find something that you are really passionate about in life, and most people never do. But even if you do, there is still the challenge of being successful in your chosen line of work. To be successful in any endeavor requires focus.
Putting your feet into two boats is the opposite of focusing. It’s the strategy of diversification. All things being equal, the more time you spend on something, the better you get at it. This is especially true for your true strengths. If you’re interested in learning more about identifying your true strengths I would recommend reading my series, How to Identify Your Personal Strengths.
Diversifying in life is generally not a good strategy if you have a specific goals that you want to achieve.
I’ve said that I wanted to be a film maker for the longest time and yet I’ve spent more time working at jobs having nothing to do with film making than at ones that do. The other day I went to an interview for a job at a major firm doing marketing; although I wasn’t really that interested in the position I still considered it because it offered the prospect of a secure paycheck.
Saying I want to do film and taking a career track job, for me at least, is the same as putting my feet in two boats. Fortunately for me, the job prospect fell through and now I am left with my film making boat. I can either put everything I have into rowing this boat or I can let it sink. The choice is mine.
Generally I don’t believe in having detailed backup plans. Proponents of backup plans are usually people who want to mitigate risk; the problem with lowering risk by having multiple backup plans is that you end up putting less effort into your plan A.
Instead of focusing all your energy and efforts into plan A, you distribute it over plan B and C as well. Since we all have a limited amount of time and energy, splitting your energy into three areas is less effective than putting it into one.
If your goal in life is to really achieve something remarkable, then you’re going to have to keep both your feet in the same boat and ride that boat through whatever comes your way. Otherwise, those dangerous rapids around the corner will eat you up.
Putting your feet in two boats can limit your development and growth. Think carefully about what your goals are and decide whether or not it makes more sense to focus your energies or diversify. Neither one is inherently better than the other, it’s just a question of what you want out of life.
Related Articles
If you liked this post, make sure to subscribe to my feed via RSS , or via e-mail.
If you found this post helpful, please consider leaving a donation to support this site!
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.