One standard piece of advice I’ve heard from many is to work on things that we are good at and would excite us. The rationale behind this advice is to double down on things we have expertise in and experience a sense of satisfaction while working on familiar tasks. This is good advice, but I could hardly relate.
Why?
I agree that familiarity gives us confidence, which can make work joyful. But beyond a point, it could get mundane, especially when work gets repetitive and doesn’t help expand our learning horizon.
Personally, I experience a sense of accomplishment and joy when I step into the unknown and learn my way through it. The downside is that it’s guaranteed to feel miserable most days because we will encounter people who know the job better than us. But there will also be days when we’d be contributing meaningfully, and those days make work more rewarding.
As much as we spend our lives putting our hearts and soul into things we’re proficient with, it makes sense to pick challenging tasks we want to improve.
The journey into the unknown is not straightforward but worthwhile to pursue.
Akkshaya Varkhedi 