We have all heard it — jack of all trades, master of none — usually not as a compliment.

I admit, I have at times used it myself to describe who I am. And yes, I purposely dropped the second half:

“Jack of all trades, master of none — but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

Because truthfully, I don’t always feel like I can even be the master of one. So who am I to believe I could be better than someone who is?

At least they had the discipline to choose one path. It takes dedication. Commitment. Horse vision. If you keep going up, up, up and reach the top, the world will certainly acknowledge you. But life rarely moves in a straight line. Mine moves in zigzags.

I feel like I climb one stair, then leave it and climb another. I never seem to climb high enough in one place to reach the top. I tell myself I’m bored — but what is actually happening underneath?

Comparison.

Has it ever happened to you?

You try something new. You’re excited. Curious. Hopeful. And then you see other people doing it so well while you’re still struggling. You know they’ve been doing it longer. You know experience matters. But still, a little voice in the back of your mind whispers: they’re probably just naturally talented.

So we assume talent over hard work. Because if even after hard work we might still be defeated by “genius,” then maybe it hurts less to believe we never stood a chance. But we forget something important. Talent, too, had to be nurtured. Realised. Practised. Tested. Repeated — often quietly, often for years.

Have you ever randomly thought maybe I should work somewhere else, try something new, change my degree, change my major — just out of nowhere? Me personally, very often. Because doubts have a way of creeping in the moment we unconsciously compare ourselves. And sometimes, the world helps those doubts grow louder.

People tell you what you’re good at won’t pay enough. Your passion isn’t practical. Your aptitude won’t help you survive in this cut-throat world. And slowly, quietly, you start feeling jealous of people whose talents seem more marketable, more rewarded, more secure.

But maybe — just maybe — we become jacks of all trades for a reason.

Maybe we try our hand at different things because we are searching for the shape of our own potential. It is okay to be a master of none, because sometimes, eventually, you become a master of one that is built from the combination of everything you explored along the way.

It is okay to be confused.

A jack is not someone who lacks discipline. Not someone who isn’t dedicated enough. A jack is simply someone brave enough to ask: why just one? Why must my life move in a straight line? Why can’t I have more than one version of myself? What happens if I step off the path?

To all the jacks — I see you. You are not alone.

I doubt myself every day. I try every day. I feel that familiar drop in my chest when I compare myself to someone who has been practising for three years something I just started last month. But here is something we rarely say out loud: many jacks are actually perfectionists. Not quitters. Perfectionists.

Sometimes we step away not because we don’t care, but because we care so much that not being immediately good at something feels unbearable. Yes, sometimes there is a lack of patience. But patience is a virtue that builds with time — and often, we feel like we don’t have enough of it.

A jack could be someone still looking for their passion. Someone trying to discover their natural strengths. Someone deeply curious. Someone thinking, can I do this too? Someone wanting balance between work and hobbies. Someone who refuses to believe life must be only one thing.

And that is okay.

Mastering a field is often described as a lifetime commitment. But to some jacks, spending an entire lifetime doing only one thing feels… confining. Everyone is different. If we imagine the jack and the master as two different personalities, then we can see and appreciate both their strengths and acknowledge their weaknesses.

There is no universal rule that the master is better than the jack, and no rule that the jack is better than the master.

Have your own definition of success.

The world often measures success in money, titles, and prestige. But what if your definition looks different? What if success, for you, means writing a paper you are proud of, cooking a beautiful meal, earning your scuba diving licence, giving back to your community, or standing confidently to give a presentation?

Maybe you are not a millionaire CA. Maybe you are not a Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist. But those were their mountains. And you are climbing yours.

You should strive to achieve the greatest version of what you want from life — your highest level of potential — not what the world decides potential should look like.

Maybe for some, greatness is solving complex equations in seconds.
But for others, it is the profound ability to connect deeply with another human being, to care for nature, to create, to heal.

Your potential is yours to define.

Because in the end, a jack is not directionless. Not a wanderer without purpose.

A jack is someone whose purpose is to discover themselves — layer by layer, again and again.