By Jack Hoey

Early in my working life, I observed to my surprise that people’s interests usually narrow as they age. Fresh out of college, where people studying a wide range of disciplines surrounded me, I found myself in a workplace where people had a fairly homogenous set of educational backgrounds and career aspirations.

I discovered that some very successful, obviously intelligent people in the organization could hardly converse on anything outside of work or a limited range of common cultural artifacts—popular TV shows, recent sporting events, etc.

I now realize that these people are the normal ones. Modern life is challenging and demanding; generally we have our hands full keeping up with the things we have to do, and have little energy left for doing other things we’d like to do. Few of us have the energy, desire or the discipline to structure our lives in a way that keeps our perspective broad.

This tendency to narrow one’s perspective to fit the shape of one’s daily surroundings isn’t limited to people in business environments.

People in not-for-profit environments can be just as narrow, though their interests may lie in a completely different direction than their business counterparts.

And yet, breadth of mind is important. At the most basic level, we need to exercise our different mental capabilities or they will atrophy, just as our muscles atrophy without exercise.

Furthermore, each of us needs a brain that possesses a range of capabilities. All of us have problems and challenges to deal with. If our perspective is narrow, it’s another way of saying that we are unable to think outside the limits of our experience.

It’s difficult for narrow people to deal successfully with new things; they tend to try to force them into the framework of what they already know. But all of us need to assure that we’re seeing things as they are, not as they’ve been in the past, or as we may want them to be. This is particularly true in our dealings with other people.

If we are to offset this tendency to grow narrower with age, we must be purposeful about it. We need to introduce regular sources of fresh insight and perspective into our lives.

All of us need outside interests that play this role in our lives. They should be challenging—something that will genuinely test, stretch and develop our intelligence or skill.

For example, I tend to be utilitarian in how I use my time and in the things I pursue. For that reason, I’ve found that art is a good interest for me to cultivate. Art is an end in itself, not a means to something else.

You might say it is purposeless. This keeps me from cheating, from trying to make every minute of my time “productive” in some way.

Art seeks to create beauty, however that may be defined, rather than functionality. It is often unstructured and idiosyncratic. All of these characteristics help me remember that not everything important in life can be translated into input/output equations.

By seeking to understand some of the ways different people have seen, experienced and interpreted life and the world around us, I gain more points of reference by understanding people who are different from me and who see things differently than I do.

Do you have an interest that stretches you? My impression is that while most people have hobbies, often their sole purpose is relaxation and they don’t offer any potential to develop one’s capabilities. This is not to denigrate hobbies; we all need to find ways to relax. But both kinds of interests are valuable.

Is there a subject you’ve always wanted to study? A place you’ve always wanted to go? A skill you’ve always wanted to develop? As you think about your goals, figure out how to take some steps in that direction. This is not an indulgence; it’s a key way to maintain your intellectual and emotional health.

It’s also relevant to your success. It’s our interests that keep us interesting. By that standard, how interesting are you?

Jack Hoey is president of Coastal Glass Distributors, a leading glass fabricator based in North Charleston. He can be reached at jhoey@coastalglassdist.com.

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