Good at many things/Great at nothing... Is this a common problem?

[Wongboy]

I have a similar problem. Specifically, I find that it is hard for me to stay motivated to continue improving once I have reached a certain level of competence at an endeavour.

When I start a new activity, it is exciting, there is alot to learn and it is easy to be motivated. As a result, I will tend to obsess on that activity. After a while, I have reached a comfort level or a plateau and new levels of achievement are fewer and farther between. As a result, I start to get bored and frequently drop interest in the activity. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

However, it is nice to achieve at a high level in something that people will pay you for. I have found that fear is a great motivator for this. Every time I find myself struggling to be motivated at my career, I drive by a homeless shelter / trailer park and contrast my lifestyle with others. This provides alot of motivation to "suck it up" and focus on my work.

I also constantly look for new projects and things that can be improved in my job. Fortunately, I have a job where I have this flexibility to see something that needs fixing and am allowed to go ahead and get it fixed (as long as I use my spare time). In other words, I am constantly looking for new challenges which naturally keep my interest. This has the added bonus of causing me to be viewed as valuable by the people who are paying my salary. Its a win-win.