Narrowing your Focus: Prioritizing your Passions

I'm sure having a diverse selection of creative interests/passions is fairly common among the Steemit community. Learning to produce products instead of merely consuming them is a trait associated with freedom-minded individuals. When I realized how helpless I had spent much of my early years, I was determined to make a change and actively participate in the world around me, by finding ways to create and shape the things I enjoy.

Self-sufficiency is addicting. Growing up, I assumed myself to be a terrible cook. But once I actually gave cooking a real attempt in college, I realized it wasn't that difficult to do, at least on a basic level.

Over the next few years, I would apply this mindset to many other areas of interest. I figured if I could learn how to cook my own food, I may as well learn how to grow it, and took up a serious interest in gardening.

Dealing with social anxiety for a great deal of my life, I decided to challenge myself by performing standup comedy, eventually hosting a local open mic night for a year in college.

As someone who appreciates a good beer, I decided to learn the process of home brewing through a friend. I have spent several afternoons concocting new alcoholic beverages, while concocting musical jam sessions with friends in between the mash and boil.

Clearly, I have a diverse selection of interests. I believe my issue has always been in narrowing that focus and really honing my craft in one particular area.

While I'm a pretty good cook, I'm not a master chef. I can grow a decent amount of vegetables, but I wouldn't call myself at an expert at farming. A lot of my beer tastes pretty decent, but I wouldn't think of putting it up against any of the truly great beers available on the market today.

I've placed a high priority on skills that encourage self-sufficiency in a survival sense, which is why I've gardened a lot more than I've performed stand up in the last few years. Perhaps I'm taking a page out of Maslow's hierarchy in learning my basic needs before moving up the pyramid. Clearly, the higher levels are incredibly important, but learning a song on piano won't feed me in a time of crisis.

What I decide to spend my time on is a constantly evolving process, one that I am still in the process of efficiently managing.

What are some things that help you prioritize your passions?