Welcome the era of "professionalism": take stock of your interests and majors, and polish your personal brand

[](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCFAkoovc6_1mI6ARc6Ych-sZftQSjER4EQ kdmy6JImUBPGx4WbsiHHSGPsuT7gKEB5R7wCNOm-_kIxf8_xbQReqgmkXfyZ1KULGbrFx8nj4ZYrO7suxp_ylmcSlPvrpV_wlRy 76v6ocn/s1600/%25E8%25BF%258E%25E6%258E%25A5%25E3%2580%258C%25E5%25B0%2588%25E6%25A5%25AD%25E9%25A4 %2598%25E3%2580%258D%25E6%2599%2582%25E4%25BB%25A3%25E7%259A%2584%25E4%25BE%2586%25E8%2587%25A8.jpg)

★ Want to build your personal brand? Come and sign up for the “Personal Brand Management Practice” online course.

This article was originally published in “Ku Qing Ku Ye @ Cheers”

Summer is coming, and another group of college graduates will leave campus and prepare to enter the workplace to accept trials. Blessings to the newcomers in society, I hope everyone can find their ideal job and write a new chapter.

Recently, several readers of “Kuqingkuye” sent me messages on Facebook, asking me questions about my interests and majors. I think this is also the part that many young friends will be confused about, so let’s talk about this issue today!

Interest or major, which one should you choose? I would say, of course both are important. Imagine that in this long life, apart from working and making money, if there are no one or two interests to support it, wouldn’t it be too boring? Of course, cultivating interests often requires a lot of time, effort, and even money. There are many friends around me who have been deliberately trained by their parents to learn piano, violin and other musical instruments since they were young. Although they may not be able to become performers when they grow up, they can at least entertain themselves and others, and they can also cultivate their temperament. It is indeed a great hobby.

As for expertise, it goes without saying. If you want to stand out in a highly competitive workplace, or even stand out, you often need one or two specialties that you can excel in - you may need to be good at writing copywriting, planning books, or planning and organizing events, or you may be good at dancing and speaking, and can turn black into white and successfully negotiate a case.

All interests and expertise require effort to cultivate. For young friends who have just entered the workplace, it is of course the best to be able to take care of both; but if time and resources are limited, I would like to suggest you:

• Take some time to take stock of your own resources, strengths and weaknesses.
• If you think about it again, do you want to continue cultivating your interests or spend more time training your expertise?

Recently, a classmate S who is studying at National Taiwan University wrote to me. He said that the major he is currently studying is considered very popular, and many relatives and friends around him are envious of him for being able to squeeze into the narrow gate of a first-class university. But after entering university, I suddenly discovered that my interests were actually in design and art, rather than the science and engineering fields I was currently exposed to. So, if you have been struggling recently, should you retake the exam?

Later, I saw my column on “Kuqingkuye”, so I wanted to hear if I can provide some suggestions?

Taking S’s example as an example, because he is already a senior classmate, I feel that unless he is determined to “burn the boat” and retake the exam hastily, he will probably waste his time in the past few years and live up to the knowledge he has learned. It is actually a pity when you think about it.

My advice to S is that unless you are really determined to change careers and you are sure that you are not impulsive, you should still complete your college studies first - not only to get a college diploma, but also to learn a complete set of knowledge structure, so that you will at least be able to make a living in the future.

As for the fields of art and design that S likes, I think we can still use our free time to explore them. Think about it, being a “Pro-Am” master, or developing in the direction of the popular “Slash Youth” is actually quite good!

The so-called Pro-Am is actually a combination of the English words Profession (professional) and Amateur (amateur). The professional part does not need to be explained too much. We have all seen that there are many professionals in this society, such as doctors, professors, accountants, and judges.

Next, let’s look at the amateurs! The English Amateur is derived from the Latin Amator, which originally means lover, loyal friend, or can be regarded as a person who goes all out for a goal. So, in the most primitive sense, we can say that amateurs are motivated by pure love.

In this diverse era, each of us may have multiple interests and expertise at the same time, but if we want to be proficient in them all, we must invest a lot of practice time and resources. Take “[Exploding Trends](https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010853939?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=rec ommend&utm_campaign=ap-202004)”, “[Decision in Two Seconds](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/0010691640? The British-Canadian writer [Gravel] (ht tps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BA%A5%E7%88%BE%E5%9D%8E%C2%B7%E8%91%9B%E6%8B%89%E5%A8%81%E7%88%BE) (Malcolm Gladwell, once said that to achieve success, you need to obey the law of “Ten thousand hours”. To put it simply, no matter which profession you pursue, success often requires 10,000 hours of continuous practice.

The reason why people see geniuses as extraordinary is not because of their superior talent, but because of their continuous efforts. Ten thousand hours of training are the necessary conditions for anyone to transform from ordinary to extraordinary.

Of course it would be best if you can balance interests and expertise. Otherwise - let us strive to become amateur professionals in a certain field!

Maybe your job is a website front-end designer, but you can carry a camera and act as a wedding photographer on weekends; or you are originally an office worker, and you can sit in a cafe after get off work, sipping coffee and reading quickly. Maybe you are the next J.K. Rowling. Special](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/0010550779?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-202004)” series of works) Hello!

I believe that if you can first take stock of your interests, expertise and resources at hand, it will naturally be helpful to formulate career planning ideas and even polish your personal brand!

Speaking for myself, it is true that I have many interests and many dreams that I never realized when I was a child, and I want to pursue them now. In some specific fields, I may be an expert, but in other fields that I like but may not be familiar with, I naturally need more efforts! Well, I also hope that I can become a professional in more fields.

Dear friends, let us encourage each other!

★ Featured image credit: Tim Bogdanov

---

Further reading

• Are you a potential rookie, or are you ready to compete?
• How do I develop self-confidence? Don’t just imagine, take action
• Build your private board of directors: Let growth no longer be lonely or blind

---