As much as people make fun of the eighties, the clothing, the music, the yuppies, the "greed", as a young adolescent I was strongly influenced by it. Movies which showed the protagonist working until three am then up again at six were my work ideals. The fast working environment, the jogging at central park to alleviate the stress, the acerbic exchange over the phone, all of these where exactly what I wanted be. In high school I took college credits along with my regular studies, I marched, ran and volunteered for charities. I did two internships along with the college credits, regular studies and charity work. Because I was running against my ideals, I had to do more, have more, be more. I had to take twenty credits my first semester. I had to continue with internships in addition to the work study in the comparative literature department. Every paper, every midterm, every final the pattern was the same. The week I scheduled to study was the same week I had to clean my place.  The same week I had to increase my exercise routine.  It was that same week I wanted to prove that I could do it all and get the grade.

After fifteen years of having that routine which served me well in school and career, I decided that maybe I needed some self reflections as to why I thought it was so great to be a triple threat. Now that I know that it takes expert skills and not mental agility and physical strength to get the job done, I've given myself permission to acknowledge the fallacies of having it all.

Rule No. 1 Unless there's discipline for the mundane and tedious            requirements to learning a specialized skill or performance, there's 
no need in attempting more than two.

In reality, it's not personality that gets the job done it's the skill. Expert, tempered, thoroughly tested, brilliantly perfected skill. Until you go through the tedious and mundane learning process to get to that level, attempting more than one specialize skill or performance is futile. Although I've always been vibrant, enthusiastic, I learned the hard way I will burn out relying only on my personality. Better I have a bona fide tested disciplined and experience which can support me, otherwise not only will I not do the job as expected, but I will bankrupt my soul, mind and body. Better to be proficient in what's required with the tedious yet necessary skills then to impress people and fall flat.

                           Rule No. 2 Over scheduling is not a sign of being wonderful.

Although, I am well able to come home from my nightly fifty five minute work commute and make dinner, clean the kitchen in the process as well as do the laundry. It doesn't mean I should. Though there is a great satisfaction to seeing a project completed because the kitchen really did bother me, it doesn't replace what's more valuable and most memorable.  That is healthy, funny, positive human interaction. I will clean and do the laundry a million times, but that one phone call I decided to pick up will probably be the most memorable. Or selfishly ordering Papa John's "The Italian" pizza is okay too. Over scheduling at the cost of snapping at people for not moving fast enough doesn't make me more wonderful. Though I hate making compromises on my own standards, It's okay to tasks out and  get the job done without burning myself out.

                           Rule No. 3. Sleep is allowed.

Movies and shows of my childhood: Baby boom, The Secrete to My Success, Wall Street, LA Law which showed working until three am and starting again at six weren't entirely wrong. But now after going to bed late and waking up early for almost fifteen years, I realize there's a time and place for that: major proposal, major project for one week at most two weeks -yes. But every single day as normal way of life -no. My priorities are readjusted after seven hours of sleep. After I've made a mistake those seven hours of sleep always readjust how big or how bad that mistake was.  My most inventive solutions to tough situations have come out of those seven hours of sleep. There's a human wholesome quality about sleep that can't be substituted. There's a freedom to having a new perspective on a problem in the morning.