How To Become More Well Rounded

Part of the human experience is going through many diverse occurrences in life and dealing with a variety of challenges. We can do this with what we know but something that makes this more manageable or even enjoyable is being a well rounded person.

What does it mean to be well rounded?

If you are well rounded, then this means you have a variety of skills and talents across many areas. These areas are often seemingly unrelated but you still manage to exhibit some level of competency in all of them. For example, a student may be great at basketball and great at chemistry class.

Now, being well rounded is great but we should also be setting limits on what we expect of ourselves in this regard. It is unlikely and improbable that someone will be talented at every sport, knowledgeable in every subject, and capable of doing just about anything flawlessly. Think about it, how much would that require from a person in terms of physical and mental energy? The focus of being well rounded is about having many diverse skills and talents across many (but not all) fields.

Ways to become more well rounded

1. Pick your areas of focus

Since trying to be skilled in every area of life is simply too complex, the best course of action is to select a few manageable skills or subjects to focus on. These areas of focus should lay the foundation for your path to becoming a more well rounded person. What you choose to focus on is really up to you but there are a few pieces of general advice that may help you choose.

If you have any existing knowledge or expertise in a particular area or areas, try to build on your skills there. There’s no need to discard your existing talents, but instead you can build on and grow them. Try to focus on skills that will benefit you in your life (whether in your career or your education). This way you might actually be able to make use of these talents in real life and elevate yourself in the process. You can also choose areas that interest you so you try to make your journey more enjoyable overall.

Remember that certain areas of expertise will assist in other related areas as well. So try to dedicate efforts where you can also gain transferrable skills. This could help you become more talented at other things with little or no practice. For example, developing your writing skills may make you a better public speaker by default.

2. Read up on your areas of focus

Let’s say you’ve picked your areas of focus and you’d now like to start the process of developing yourself. Well, if you are unfamiliar or have limited knowledge on these areas then you may struggle to know where to begin. So try reading up on your desired subjects so you get a general idea of what you should be working on. For example, if software coding is one of the things you’d like to learn, read up on what key lessons should be learned, what is most important to know, where to start and how other coders learned themselves. Don’t waste too much time doing the initial research, but try to make an effort to get an overview before you get started.

3. Practice

What’s the point of planning if you don’t work towards having the skills to become well rounded? You should be dedicating time to practice and sticking to schedules so you can actually gain experiences. This is true most times when people try to learn or develop skills but it is especially true when working to be more well rounded because the main idea becomes building variety in your talents.

Another important point to add for practicing is it should be done by dedicating time to all or most of your areas of focus. I.e. if you want to become a better communicator and a better golf player then you should dedicate time to practicing communication and golf. Avoid disregarding some areas of focus unless you feel they are not useful and you’d like to shift away from them. If you are to become more well rounded then you shouldn’t just be doing the things you like or dedicating time to one or two skill areas. You should be spreading your efforts evenly.

4. Set (realistic) goals and expectations

If you are going to be good at every area (or at least many areas) you are seeking success in then you should have a way to measure success. You should be setting realistic goals and expectations that align with what you are looking to become. The key word, though, is realistic. You should not be expecting yourself to master a craft in one day if it takes most other people weeks or years to learn. Yes, you might be a fast learner so it’s not impossible, but the reality is you (like the strong majority of other people) need to dedicate time to improving your skills. Saying to yourself that you will attain a writing level similar to a best-selling author and musical skills like an instructor in a few days is a far stretch.

So set realistic goals with realistic time-frames but also aim to pinpoint exactly where you expect to be and when you want to be there. If you are looking to become a better musician, maybe in a week you can learn 3 or 4 seconds of a simple song and play it on the piano. Then grow from there. Your pace, the amount of free time you have, how much time you can dedicate to training/teaching yourself, and a plethora of other variables play a part here. It’s up to you to determine what you expect to accomplish and in what period of time. Use your judgement to determine what is realistic.

Bonus tip: write your goals and expectations down. Try to keep a journal of your progress so you can monitor where you stand and avoid forgetting what your objectives are.

5. Be patient with yourself

Always remember that not everyone is born good at everything and most people don’t become experts in a field over night. Be patient with yourself if you don’t meet your expectations but set them to have an idea of what you’d like to work towards. Expectations are more of a guide towards an ideal that may or may not be met. Don’t expect to be a CEO tomorrow because you read one book about business. Becoming well rounded takes time and effort for most people and it very likely will for you as well. Relax and work towards your goals with a clear and patient mind.