That was a funny and interesting one,
helga 
I will read one book at a time for now, though the board seemed to give me a good preview.
silicon_toad2000, very encouraging words... yet I wouldn't like to confine myself to a sole role or "title". Obviously, "business" is a very general word. I did B2B in networking travel agencies with other key people, airlines, ticketers, etc.
I'm also in the process of creating a small firm that specializes in providing music soundtracks for films or videogames that are set in Fantasy environments.
The beauty of all this is that I'm involved in completely different areas... yet, there's a lot of risk. My subconscious
fear is that I might focus my effort on too many different things at the same time and thereby loose competitive edge in everything.
But do you think that this is only a self-organization problem that can be easily overcome by adopting more time-management strategies?
When is it going to be "too much"?
Moin
Brutha,
Thank you for the interesting link on the Dilbert blog.
I acknowledge that once you're specialized in a field, you can have great
influence over other fields, over other minds and even inspire others to make great things.
But until you've reached that level of specialization... you're an apprentice in that one field, or (what I wouldn't like to become) a dabbler in many fields.
I'm trying to overcome that latter hurdle.
What I do for the world is important. I'm trying to say that with the extra
accreditation I'm even more "in the field" in the other areas, as well.
i.e. I want to really switch between the different careers. Even if they have no
immediate connection with my intention to help the world, I think that the diverse experience will help me find the central inspiration in the
long run.
To give you an example:
I did so much acting, singing and dancing at musicals and theater in my teens because I had an
intrinsic interest in acting and dancing. I didn't act and dance
for the sake of "becoming a good comedian, public speaker and night pub entertainer", although I noticed that such traits - which I start noticing and appreciating as I get older - have been greatly influenced by my performances as a teenager.
Similarly, I think that there are so many other fields that will show their "secondary utility" only once you're very good at them. But I don't like to pursue something just for the sake of achieving the secondary utility.
Which is why I want to be directly involved in the field I have a spontaneous interest for.
And what I was trying to say before is that in order to be directly involved - nowadays - often requires some form of accreditation, beyond mere word of mouth and connections.
One of the worst things I have seen are all those kids who want to become Investment Bankers, who start engaging in
voluntary and charity work in their university years. Although I think that some of them do so out of spontaneous interest, I doubt that most of them aren't conscious of thereby embellishing their CVs...
I've noticed in myself, too, that when I try to "align my goals" purposely, as Jeff Hawkins suggests, there is a stronger pressure and a lack of spontaneity - especially if I'm still a dabbler.
I must first become acquainted with the fields, after which the alignment comes almost spontaneously.
I think this spontaneous kind of alignment already occured to me to some extent, although I was still a secondary school student and couldn't be called an "expert" in the different fields I drew inspiration from:
My decision for Economics/Management had an incubation period of at least 3 years. My main long run purpose stemmed from the alignment of several of interests I was deeply involved with at that time, the most important of which was biology (Well, it's complicated to explain each trail of my thoughts on a forum, since I would have to introduce many other topics.)
To sum up what I just said:
I do have a purpose in the long run, but I want to allow my spontaneity to be in free flow in the short run, exploring each other aspect of the world without always putting it in the context of reaching my final goals.
I can
expect that doing regular sports will reduce my risk of getting heart-related problems when I'm older, but I want to choose a sport I'm naturally inclined towards - and not just
for the sake of preventing heart disease. I want to enjoy the sport, too! That's probably more important when you start.
Bis dann