As for responsibility, Ricardo's comparative advantage says you should do what you are best at (even if it's crappy compared to everyone else): England may be

As for responsibility, Ricardo's comparative advantage says you should do what you are best at (even if it's crappy compared to everyone else): England may be so circumstanced, that to produce the cloth may require the labour of 100 men for one year; and if she attempted to make the wine, it might require the labour of 120 men for the same time. England would therefore find it her interest to import wine, and to purchase it by the exportation of cloth. To produce the wine in Portugal, might require only the labour of 80 men for one year, and to produce the cloth in the same country, might require the labour of 90 men for the same time. It would therefore be advantageous for her to export wine in exchange for cloth. This exchange might even take place, notwithstanding that the commodity imported by Portugal could be produced there with less labour than in England. http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/readings/ricardo7.html http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/readings/ricardo7.html [I know this from The Rational Optimist] And, as Aaron concludes, you get better at whatever you do. So you might as well do what you love. Most of success is staying the distance - which is easier if you love it. The thing is, most people happen to "love" what they do well at; which I suspect means that it's not intrinsic love, but it makes us feel good about ourselves (a sense of mastery, objectively confirmed by others). You can turn this around by lowering your standards, so that you feel good about any level of success - the smallest possible measurable improvement. This happens automatically in school - you're only competing with your peers, who (let's face it) are pretty crappy compared with ordinary adults. Yet you feel good if you do well compared with them. See also the time of year of birth, of hockey players: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/081208 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/08120...