Last week I mentioned a simple question from David Senra that asked “what are you good at that other people find difficult?“. He had another thought in that same show that I thought was even more interesting, where he said:
“One sign that you’re suited for some kind of work is when you like even the parts that other people find tedious.”
To most of us, his work indeed feels tedious. He reads more than pretty much anyone else around, and he does it day after day after day, and then records and edits very long shows. He’s done this week after week after week for years. To him, though, it’s not tedious at all because he enjoys it so much.
During that part of the episode he also asked the question “how many books do you think people read?”, and the answer is likely much lower than you think. It’s hard to find consistent data on it, but this survey from Gallup a few years ago shows the slowly declining trend. With all of the other entertainment options that we have, reading is sliding down the list. Despite that, David reads an incredible amount, to the point that most people would consider it tedious.
What do you like to do that others find tedious? Some may enjoy reading legal briefs to try to find the tiny piece that turns the case, or others may enjoy spending all day splicing together video clips to make magic on the screen. There are many roles that involve doing the same type of work over and over, and if you can find the one that doesn’t feel tedious to you it’s a fantastic place to be.
