Kenneth Williams was a British actor famous for his roles in the Carry On series of films in the 60s and 70s. He always played a similar role with a nasal voice, strong on innuendo. Though dated now, at the time he was much-loved for these and other comic roles and had a successful comedy acting career.
When he died, his journals painted a different story. All he wanted was to be a serious actor with serious acting roles. His life was blighted by periods of depression.
I could never imagine Kenneth Williams in a serious role: his face and voice were just too funny. By not wanting what he was good at, he felt frustrated in his life and depressed. This started to trouble me. The gap between what you are good at and what you want to be good at can be large and a source of unhappiness.
Do you know what you are good at? Is it what you want to be good at?
Let's look at this two questions separately. Knowing what you are good at can be very hard to see from your own point of view. If you had to sell yourself at slave auction but had only one sentence to pitch yourself to the slave owners. What would you say? What problem do you fix? No management jargon allowed. Only words a 12 year old would understand. While you may be good at lots of things, what is the thing that will get you bought? Do you like the thing you are good at?
Now take a look at what you want to be good at. Imagine listening to others at the slave auction. What kind of things are they saying? Which ones are you interested in? Brainstorm 12 different one liners that the slaves could say. Any from that list appeal to you more than your own?
I am sure people would be happier if they accepted more what they are good at and thought less about what they could be good at. I realise the hype is often that we should pursue our dreams. But accepting what you are good at and focussing on becoming excellent at that is the route to a happier life.
Your small improvement for today is to write down in one sentence what you are good at as if you were at a slave auction.
