Calligraphy, Salads, and a Call of Duty
Steve Jobs was interested in calligraphy.
Alexander Graham Bell in speech pathology.
Arnold Schwarzeneggar in bodybuilding.
Each of these interests alone seem trivial, but would massively impact the course of their lives.
The curse of living in the present is that your learnings aren’t obvious until time has passed.
When I worked for a deli, I trained the revolving door of new employees to make sandwiches, salads, pasta, and—most importantly—potatoes.
The most I thought I was getting from this was some good laughs, unexpected experiences—like the girl who intentionally put alfredo sauce on a caesar salad for a customer, and some cheap (allegedly, free) food.
Now I can see what I actually gained there.
I learned that I have no desire to operate in a high-turnover industry. The fight to find people with a solid work ethic is incredible and you are doomed to operate a business with a revolving door of people coming and going.
I learned how to train people and that training manuals don’t always teach the job as it could or should be done. They don’t teach the most effective manner that a lazy high schooler motivated to go hang out with his friends could uncover.
I learned to take pride in my work. To be reliable.
I learned how much I don’t want to hate my job.
If you would have asked me what I was learning back then, I would have said how to make sandwiches, potatoes, and pasta.
But with hindsight on my side, I can see how that job influences my work today.
Daily, I find myself pulling knowledge from various domains of interest in peculiar ways and applying them to my life. From caring for plants or my interest in learning languages to my love for video games and interests in learning from the lives of successful people that have come before me.
There is always something to be gained. You just have to put yourself in positions to apply that knowledge.
It is far worse to not gain exposure to new skills, new ways of thinking, than to become distracted by your interests.
