I am talentless. It's true.  I have no natural talents.  I have interests though. Lots of them. And that's part of my problem.  My obsessive compulsive nature tends to allow me to focus on becoming decent at a lot of things but never attain any masterhood.  Not that I could anyway because -- like I said -- I have no natural talents and to become a master at anything, you really need to have a talent in that area.

Just looking around where I work I see it all the time.  I can do graphics design for instance.  I've been using Corel Draw, Photoshop, Photo Paint, and countless other graphic tools since the early 90s.  But I'm a padawan compared to Mormegil who sits only a few feet from me.  He started using Corel Draw at about the same time as I do, but he's actually got talent and has focused on getting better and better.  So even though I know how to do some of this stuff, my output is so much poorer in quality that my skill  may not as well exist.

I also know how to write. I type 120 words per minute roughly. And so I can crank stuff out.  I actually enjoy writing.  But I don't write anywhere near as well as Cordellia whose office is a stone's throw away from where I sit.  In fact, she tops me in a number of areas.  I considered myself a pretty decent video and sound editor too but again, my skills are eclipsed by hers.

I can also do web design. I webmaster Stardock.com and have since the beginning.  I know HTML reasonable well. But I can't hold a candle to Darkstar who sits not that far away from me.  He's much better and besides, if he's busy, there's MikeB who can crank it out better anyway.

Then there's software development.  I know C, C++, C#, some VB, but beyond computer AI and some algorithm design, that's better off being done by other people.   10 years ago, I did all the art, programming, documentation, and more for our software (or at least most of our products).  Now I'm relegated to computer AI and game play coding because -- wait for it -- there's others that are so much better at it that my skills might as well not exist.

My job also involves a great deal of financial analysis, budgeting, etc.  But I'm no accountant.  And I'm not sure I'd want to be one.  So while I may have some natural talent at financial modeling and projections, it's not an area I really want to explore.

This scattershot nature shows up here on JoeUser too.  I want to be a "big time" blogger. Yet I can't quite dedicate the time and energy to do what it takes to do that.  And besides that, there's writers who are so much better.  Guys like Steven Den Beste have more blogging talent in their finger than I do all over and he's given it up. 

Anyway, it's not a pity party I'm throwing here but rather a warning to others.  I happen to be very fortunate that I can get away with being semi-skilled in a whole lot of areas but talented in none because I'm surrounded by supremely talented people who make up for my myriad of short-comings.  Perhaps it's time to outsource myself.

It is important to focus on what you enjoy and are good at. Stick to something if you can to develop your skills.  Otherwise, one day you'll wake up and realize that your varied interests have made you "jack of all trades but a master of none".