Sometimes being an expert is not as hard as you think. If by expert, you mean competent enough to contribute then it is doable. It is hard to get acclaim in multiple fields. Building that status is a life long endeavor. But doing something self-actualizing in multiple fields with competence is totally achievable.
I personally want to write a book, record an album, publish as first author in a tier 1 research conference and patent it, create a useful product with real commercial appeal, perform a standup special and be a great educator. As long as I don't care about citations, billboards or best seller lists it is all achievable.
I got the paper/patent out and am on my way to building a useful product of my own. I am getting better at the drums and jamming, have performed short skit comedy on stage and make sure to write long form stuff on useless internet forums. My educational pursuits are lagging, but I do try to mentor half a dozen people at any given point in time.
I didn't start with most until I was an adult too. As of now, it feels achievable. But my ability to achieve it is a purely internal pursuit, which helps. My natural ADHDness also helps. Ask me again in 30 years, maybe it'll be a good time to write about how I tried to do 20 things and succeeded/failed.
The key is to put yourself within easy access of these activities and be content with little wins. I wrote skit comedy when i was with fellow drama kids. I play drums now that i have a garage. I taught when my prof needed summer volunteers. I stubnornly seeked a role at the intersection of research and industry to find easy opportunities for novel applied research. The fun is in the journey. A healthy dose of self-delusion saying you don't care about the outcome also helps. I could go into a long tangent on the powers of self-delusion....but I'll leave that for another day.
I personally want to write a book, record an album, publish as first author in a tier 1 research conference and patent it, create a useful product with real commercial appeal, perform a standup special and be a great educator. As long as I don't care about citations, billboards or best seller lists it is all achievable.
I got the paper/patent out and am on my way to building a useful product of my own. I am getting better at the drums and jamming, have performed short skit comedy on stage and make sure to write long form stuff on useless internet forums. My educational pursuits are lagging, but I do try to mentor half a dozen people at any given point in time.
I didn't start with most until I was an adult too. As of now, it feels achievable. But my ability to achieve it is a purely internal pursuit, which helps. My natural ADHDness also helps. Ask me again in 30 years, maybe it'll be a good time to write about how I tried to do 20 things and succeeded/failed.
The key is to put yourself within easy access of these activities and be content with little wins. I wrote skit comedy when i was with fellow drama kids. I play drums now that i have a garage. I taught when my prof needed summer volunteers. I stubnornly seeked a role at the intersection of research and industry to find easy opportunities for novel applied research. The fun is in the journey. A healthy dose of self-delusion saying you don't care about the outcome also helps. I could go into a long tangent on the powers of self-delusion....but I'll leave that for another day.