“So is it supposed to mean I’m somehow quicker at getting good at stuff than everyone?”

Unfortunately maybe not.

Specialists deserve credit, they’ve achieved a ton for civilization and for the furthering of the arts (including technology), and advances in culture and communication that make it easier than ever to be a multipotentialite.  The tools for creating and sharing your work have never been more accessible.

Maybe you’ve heard that Steve Jobs, now becoming to millennials what John Lennon was to baby boomers, wasn’t an amazing programmer.  I would venture to say that he was not a specialist even, I may venture further to say that he was more like us multipotentialites.

Okay maybe I can’t claim that, nobody gets to claim Steve Jobs’ legacy or his “type” anyway…

But if you are having a moment where you find yourself surrounded by mastery, by specialists who you see as more talented or more hard-working or more masterful of their style, and you’re cursing your multipotential nature/gifts or you’re just feeling envious, then you need to take a step back.

First of all, if you’re here, then rest assured you are one of us, just accept that now.  You’re not alone.  And many of us know that feeling of being surrounded by specialists, grading their talent on levels of mastery.  We’re tempted to think “They’ve made it!”

Now just for a second, let’s look at what it is that truly makes us tick.

A Multipotentialite’s Mind

I’ll set a quick scene: There’s me and I see or hear something really amazing, then I have this thought: “I want to do that.  I could do that.  Doing that would make me incredibly satisfied.  I will learn how to do that.”

And maybe I tell someone.  Next scene, six months down the road, and I am doing that thing, or learning how to at least.  Maybe not perfectly, maybe not getting the results of a master, but I’m fine with that.

“Wow you really do what you set out to do!” our most positive, friends might say in a matter of words, inspired by our diving into the unknown.

Being Misunderstood

“Oh, what is it this time?” might be another reaction, perhaps implied from more cynical people, transferring their own dissatisfaction with not finding “their thing” onto you.  If only they knew…

We Are Driven By Desire

The difference between your healthy desire to pursue new things and the way the cynics may see it as “the indecision of a dilettante” is a major one, imposed by the lens of a society obsessed with specialization, craving simple romantic myths about people who were “born to (insert interest or skill here)” and became “the best” as a result.

The competitive mindset we are exposed to from a young age takes over, we need to know who’s the best, and often debate who’s better than who.  We’re obsessed with the #1′s in society.

But isn’t that kind of ridiculous for artists?  Aren’t we supposed to be the ones who live outside this hierarchical way of seeing things?

Competition Obsession and My Beef With #1

The backlash of this “number ones only” mentality is that it discourages innovation and creativity in newcomers to any genre, medium or discipline.  Of course, one can just ignore this, and ubiquity and recognition aren’t everything.  I’m only bothered by the #1 obsession insofar as it encourages the amateur to give up.

It also means that the majority of people around us who do specialize, even in the arts, likely aren’t as familiar with that zone of uncertainty as we are.

It’s lonely there, scary to not know what’s next–painful, even, dancing on the edge of the unknown. What’s next for us?  We truly often don’t know, and that’s what we deal with!  I’d say if we’re masters of anything, it’s dealing with that!

People start cloying for attention and followers and “likes” because they fear being unknown or unappreciated.  That to me isn’t a fear worth entertaining.  Why worry about ubiquity when you could be pushing the envelope, trying new things, living in the uncertainty.

Pushing The Envelope Is What We Do Best

Our society is obsessed with showering the best with rewards and fame, always at the exclusion of those of us who are heroic in our ability to start over, over and over again.

Seth Godin mentions in his new book that what we love to do may not always make us money or would even make us happy if it was a career. The truth is that society may not always reward us for being who we are. While society rewards mastery in any given medium, it does as readily reward the multi-talented, since there needs to always be a “best.”  I personally don’t want to be appraised by the medium my work is in, since that is not my identity!

What Makes Us Multipotentialites in the First Place

We don’t give up until we’re finished.

“Finished” may not be defined as “complete,” as much as “I got what I needed.”

Whether it’s to get good enough at graphic design to copy some amazing master’s style and use it to make our own album cover, or to learn how to do public speaking despite zero experience, or just to prove to ourselves that we can do something and then using the conceptual framework of that on everything else in our lives, the fact is that we can’t help it. We do it out of pure desire.

Many times it means putting that thing we made out there and saying “Look, I made this!”  People, unaccustomed to the amateur may not know how to react.

Obsessed with overnight success and drama, we forget the purity of the amateur and the newness they bring.

The artist can’t expect more, even though more might happen one day.  Sometimes art only makes a small sound.  Are you ok with that?

Of course we’ll get the blues, nobody said it would be easy, and this isn’t a recipe for amazing business success, nor is it a sign that we’re all amazing entrepreneurs–it’s just our way of life.

So you can take all the business and self-help tips in the world, but none of it will make you happy unless you accept who you are and love it.

Make sure your expectations are in line with what you really want to be doing every day / week / month / year, and not the residue of expectations collected from traditional standards of mastery or the ubiquity of doing one thing only.

We all want to shine and be known for what we do, and for multipotentialites it’s going to take a while, because nobody like us has come before to give us an example of what it’s going to like.

Your Turn

What does being a multipotentialite mean to you?

I have a million ideas bouncing around in my head that I have yet to implement. It’s the shiny object syndrome. One minute I want to go this way, and another minute I want to shift gears and go the other way. The next thing I know, I’ve hit a wall. Analysis paralysis at its finest (if you could even call it fine).

Even the process of starting that new blog (or this one, at this very moment) can be frightening. Coming up with a topic. Wondering what idea to pick. And don’t even get me started with an editorial calendar.

With all those ideas, it can be tough to decide on your goals and it can leave you feeling stuck, without a plan of action. I get it. I know. Because I’ve been there. Am there.

Breaking Out of Analysis Paralysis

The best way out of analysis paralysis is getting clear on what you want and then taking action. At some point, you’ve just got to decide.

I’m a big believer in manifesting the life you want but it takes laser clear focus. It’s like pointing the magnifying glass at one spot of dry grass until it creates a spark that catches fire. That’s all well and good, and even Seth Godin’s latest book, The Icarus Deception, tells us we should “fly closer to the sun” but how do we focus clearly with a million ideas in our head and multiple paths of interest? How do we combine our ideas into some semblance of clarity enough to catch a spark?

“Pick one thing and do that thing.” That’s the advice I didn’t want to hear.

It reeked of specialization and made me feel like I just wasn’t meant to be a generalist if I knew what was good for me. Can multipotentialites have focused clarity too? Sure we can.

Turn Down the Noise

Unsubscribe to all of those email lists you never read. Turn off the TV (or limit it each day). You don’t need more information and less is more.

Clarity comes not when we’re worrying about the future, but when we focus on the present moment and learn to be mindful. It is in this space where we can do our work 100% with the dedication and passion it deserves. Worry and anxiety robs us of the present moment.

The only way we’re able to move forward is to focus on the present right now. Be conscious of your choices and mindful of your actions. Worrying about the future or dwelling in the past keeps us stuck.

Find some quiet time to just sit and meditate, write down your thoughts, or take a walk outside. All things done with focused attention and observation is a form of meditation.

Brainstorm

Mindmap all of the goals that you’re passionate about achieving and how they relate to your interests. Then sort them out in order of preference. My top five goals ended up being “financial freedom, becoming a digital nomad, being a creative director of my own boutique design agency, writing bestseller erotica books and doing social outreach projects for kids in slum communities.”

At the heart of this mesh of goals lie my interests in writing, creativity, design, travel, social change, and my desire for freedom. Now I know what my focus should be. If I achieve even one or two of those things, it is a step in the right direction.

Get Help

Sometimes, listening to a friend or hiring a coach is the right thing to do if you’re feeling stuck and need to take a step back. Observation from an external source could give you valuable advice that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to see on your own. Just don’t rely on others to do all the work for you. A coach is there to help you come up with the breakthroughs and guide you to the process. It’s still you, yourself, who will need to go through it and do the work.

Remember, you don’t have to pick ONE thing and do it. Design your life or business with an overarching theme and do that with laser-like focus. Find creative ways to market that utilize your creative skills and quirky passions. Show people the personable side of who you are to connect with your audience.

Your Turn

Have you faced analysis paralysis? What have you done to take the steps towards more clarity?

But this post isn’t about me.

Without further ado, please, give a warm welcome to my new Putty Teammates, Janet, Josh and Bev!

Meet Janet

Janet Brent has been involved in the Puttylike and Puttytribe communities for a long time. I can’t even remember when we first met. I think I discovered her excellent, inspirational blog, Purple Panda shortly after launching Puttylike, and we’ve been friends and fans of each others’ work ever since. Janet’s kind, compassionate, spiritual, creative, and smart. I think you’ll really enjoy her work.

The Q&A with Janet

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

Actually, when Emilie approached me about writing for Puttylike, I couldn’t help but think I was unqualified for such a task but that was my own fear (lizard brain) talking. I trust Emilie’s (objective) judgment in choosing the right contributors for the site and was extremely honored. I think what qualifies me is my immersion in the Puttylike community in general, and in Puttytribe. I’m successfully leading a ‘multipotentialite’ life that sustains me, by way of various creative projects and partnerships that leave me feeling excited and refreshed and never bored!

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

Like most people, I hadn’t heard of multipotentialites until I discovered Emilie’s site, but I knew right away that this was a place that really resonated with me. I’d always thought of myself as a renaissance soul, and I discovered Emilie fairly early on.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

I love this community and I love to write. It fulfills my multipotentialite cravings to add variety to my day since I’m mostly doing things with design but wanted to have more writing in my life. I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to contribute or subject to write about. With other sites or guest posts, things feel more forced but with Puttylike, I know I can flow easier since it’s just part of who I am.

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

I’ve got a lot of new stuff on my plate that’s brewing. My background is graphic/web design and I love it. Aside from client work and some writing, I’m about to start some collaborations that involve e-zines, online courses, and other fun stuff. On the backburner, I’ve got a lot of “personal projects” with writing a conscious living manifesto and erotica. I’m always interested in cross-cultural things, and “bridging the gaps.” I’m also fascinated by the processes from idea to creation and helping people launch online businesses through branding, design and tech wizardry.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

I would just say enjoy the process. You won’t be on a traditional path but just enjoy the ride because it’s an immense gift! I see my work as having more personal meaning, so it’s already a success. Try not to compare yourself so much even though it’s hard not to. You’re doing exactly what you’re meant to do.

Connect with Janet at byjanet.net and on Twitter @janetbrent.

 Meet Josh

Joshua Lundquist joined the Puttytribe last year and almost immediately, he was everywhere (actually he was everywhere in the Puttylike comments even before joining the Tribe). He was initiating discussions in the forums, organizing groups and initiating collaborative projects. He even once sent me a sample-based, hilarious music track he’d created about being a multipotentialite, just for the heck of it. Wildly creative, and interdisciplinary, with a unique spin on the world and a love for collaboration, that’s Josh.

The Q&A with Josh

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

I think anyone who has experienced the frustration of being pushed to choose one thing, while being in love with multiple things is qualified to write about being a multipotentialite.

As for my experiences, I have been making music since I was 15 and never settled on a genre. It has been a struggle for me, and now I embrace it. Yet I keep it on the down low because in music I don’t see a whole lot of multipotentialites. Except for Ween or Madlib, maybe.

I also have found the perfect outlet for my multiple creative interests / abilities in a sort of dark comedy podcast I made with a friend for two years. It allowed me to do writing, comedic acting, improvisation, recording, editing and producing skits and music with occasional video projects. We chose a process and a situation that allowed us to create anything in any genre, ultimately making us experts in making random ideas fit together–a multipotentialite strong suit.

In terms of envrionment, I think adapting to a foreign culture has helped me to be take a mental respite from the culture I was raised in and entertain other ways of seeing life. In Japan there is a word for “multipotentialite” actually, which is Tanno. It’s a person skilled in many areas. It’s a good thing here, but I don’t know anybody who knows anybody who attributes that title to themselves.

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

I think I put “I have too many interests and don’t know what to do with my life” in Google search. I found Emilie’s page the same day via Michelle Ward’s “When I Grow Up Coach” page. I had been skeptical of epiphanies or moments where you realize something great about your life and the shadows are burned away by the sun–but that is exactly how it felt for me, like a part of me that had been in the dark suddenly saw the light. As typical as that may sound, I can’t say it any other way.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

I want to write for Puttylike because it’s a lively community of people that feel like family, and to newcomers, I am excited because of the answer to the above “Why are you qualified?” question.

I feel like going through life without knowing that there are others out there like you is incredibly hard and yet multipotentiality / being a generalist up until now has hardly been discussed or allowed to be a way of existing (and it polarizes people), so many of us have trouble shaking off the stigma we’ve absorbed from a society that rewards specialists–and to some degree perhaps we haven’t let us be our best selves.

The relief of not just knowing that I don’t have to be about only one thing, but that there are others out there who are the same way and that we need each other is amazing. I want to contribute to that feeling for people.

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

Currently I’m creating music at the intersection of UK Bass music and 80′s Boogie music. I have always loved 60′s soul, funk & psychedelic music since discovering the indie radio station in my town as a teen and that got me started looking back for influences.

I’m not trying to fuse all these genres / era’s all together under one name, but doing all of them at once under totally separate monikers, which is the most satisfying thing to me. They do influence each other, though, I’m sure.

Writing and recording skits, music and motion graphics for a series where David Lynch meets SCTV and Harmony Korinne.

I have a passion for figuring out people’s learning styles and mental blocks and helping them overcome the resistance of learning new things.

Fascinated with the idea of writing / designing a ridiculously funny, surreal, beautiful video game.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

I would tell myself not to not goad myself into clinging on to one medium or form of expression just because everyone else seems to, and to reject the feeling like I should be more of something I’m not. I’d tell myself to figure out a way to make all those things work, instead of waiting for one to be the weakest link and cut it off.

I would also tell myself about Stephen Pressfield and Barbara Sher, for sure, that resistance is a thing that exists, and that I’m not wrong for changing my interests all the time. I would also tell myself to get started figuring out ways to make money off of each interest instead of putting that pressure on just one thing (especially music, where I just hoped that one day I’d get signed and the world would create a way for me).

Connect with Josh at anincrediblewasteoftime.com and on Twitter @lundquistjoshua.

Meet Bev

Bev Webb has been amazingly helpful in the Puttytribe. She is one of the wisest and warmest women I know, and she’s always making new puttypeep feel comfortable in the bi-monthly Euro-Timezone-Friendly huddle that she organizes and leads. Bev really goes above and beyond in reaching out and helping our multipotentialite community flourish. She’s also got an impressive background in the arts, and knows a TON about creativity and moving through creative blocks.

The Q&A with Bev

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

I’ve been a multipod my whole life, although for a long time I didn’t understand why I was different (or even that I was different). I also didn’t have a name for it back then, but that didn’t stop me from pursuing everything that interested me.

After uni, I started to develop a portfolio career which would allow me to encompass the majority of my interests. Creativity has always been my core overarching theme, and this has enabled me to do everything from performing in a fire circus and managing a hip-hop dance company, through to web consultancy, jewellery design and running community arts projects.

I like being able to break down boundaries and think it’s high time we had a wider definition of what’s considered “normal.”

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

My first hint that I might be a multipod was when I incurred the wrath of my headteacher when applying to sixth form college (the equivalent of 12th grade in the US).

I thought it was totally normal to choose to study both art and maths. It made perfect sense to me and I couldn’t get my head around why this was such an issue to everybody else.

And the pattern just sort of continued from there. My interview for university went something like this:

Interviewer: “So what do you see yourself specialising in?”

Me: “Well, I’m quite interested in sculpture and 3D work, but I’d also like to do some printmaking, photography, animation, film-making and live art.”

Interviewer: “Yes, but what do you want to specialise in?”

Me: “All of them.”

Interviewer: “But you won’t be able to SPECIALISE in ALL of them!”

So to cut a long story short, my final degree show did indeed contain elements of all of the above. I was determined to prove that if I wanted to do all of them, then I darn well WOULD do ALL of them.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

Because it’s like coming home. I get to write about everything I find interesting and don’t have to pretend I’m something I’m not. The freedom to be me.

I mean seriously, what more could anyone ask for?

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

Hmmm, that’s always a challenge as it varies week to week! Currently I’d say I’m totally intrigued by 3D printing, learning Italian, jewellery techniques, laser cutting and shoe-making.

Projects wise, I’m currently experimenting with creating online retreats for artists and creatives. Loneliness and isolation is a key issue for many creatives, who spend a lot of time working solo, so I’m exploring ways of bringing people together. We have the digital technology to make this happen, so let’s use it.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

“For goodness sake, chill out!” I really wish someone had told me that it wasn’t some kind of ‘problem’ with me. That I wasn’t alone in my crazy ambition to follow so many interests.

Then (and this is going to show my age!) I’d say, “One day this amazing thing called the internet will be invented and you’ll be able to connect with people world-wide. People just like you. People who thought it was a problem with them too. Relax, you CAN do ALL the things you’re interested in … it WILL happen.”

Just knowing it would be possible would have been so reassuring. It would have saved me all that time and emotional energy which I invested trying to figure things out on my own!

Connect with Bev at Kickass-Creatives.com and on Twitter @creativekickass.

You’ll be hearing from Janet, Josh and Bev in the upcoming weeks. For now lets give them a warm, multipod welcome in the comments!

Two and a half years ago, I launched Puttylike. At the time, I had no idea whether this information would be of interest to anybody. I didn’t know any other multipotentialites in my life. That word didn’t even exist back then. The only words I knew that might refer to our type were things like “dilettante,” “dabbler,” and “quitter.” Things I didn’t want to be.

However, I figured that if this was something that I was struggling with, then there were probably others out there who were struggling too. What if, instead of trying to fight our curiosity and fit into specialist boxes, we stopped apologizing and learned to embrace and use it instead? Was that even possible? Would people care?

They did care.

You might be someone who comments regularly or sends me emails or tweets. You might be a member of the Puttytribe, a former coaching student, or someone who has read and applied the lessons in Renaissance Business. Or maybe you are someone who just silently reads the blog.

I know there are plenty of you out there, the “silent majority.” I see you in my website analytics, reading my work from far away places like India and Argentina, as well as nearby states and provinces. And I appreciate every single one of you, even though you may never reach out.

At this point, you may be getting worried. Why is Emilie talking like this? Is she about to shut down the site? Does she have a terminal illness? Does her multipotentialite nature mean that she’s finally BORED of us? What’s up?!

Don’t worry. It’s good news that I’m about to share.

First of all, you can rest assured that I am going nowhere. I will continue to publish my thoughts on the blog and send out my weekly personal emails. I’ll remain on Twitter, stay as active as ever in the Puttytribe, leading as many huddles as I can, and respond to every email I receive, as always.

However, over time I have gotten busy with other projects and blogging has become harder to fit in. Puttylabs and the Puttytribe are two such projects, but there are others. There’s the album I recorded and am in the process of mixing, there’s my blossoming interest in functional medicine and the biology course I’m about to start, there’s a huge seminar I’m putting on and preparing for that’s happening next January and the book on Multipotentialites that I want to write and see on bookshelves.

Because of all of these amazing projects on my plate, I had to cut back from two posts a week to one. This happened a few months back, and I hate that I had to do that.

Now for the big news…

Starting next Monday, June 10, Puttylike will go from being a solo act, to a multi-author blog. I have chosen three excellent, multipotentialite writers, each of whom has been very involved in the multipotentialite community and whose work I respect tremendously. I also chose writers with a range of different life experiences and perspectives, which I believe will add to the richness of the site.

I’ll introduce you to your new writers next week, but rest assured that I chose my writers very carefully. I’m being totally honest here. It’s very important to me to maintain an extremely high quality of writing on the site. Puttylike posts need to be personal, inspirational, practical, interesting and at times, challenging. These are the values that have made Puttylike what it is, and that’s not going to change.

Having more writers on board means that we’ll be able to go back to a 2 posts/week publishing schedule, which I’m thrilled about.

The Faint Whisper that a Change is Needed

It’s been weighing on me for a while. I’ve known that a big change had to happen for Puttylike to continue to provide amazing resources to multipotentialites, and for my own voice to stay fresh and inspired. But it’s so hard to change something that’s working well. I know that I’m a pretty decent writer because I’ve been doing it for so long. I know how to structure a blog post at this point, and how to engage people. The growth of Puttylike is largely due to my writing ability. Should I really mess with something that’s working so well?

I have to.

As a multipotentialite, I bet you can relate. I’ve been feeling this way for some time, and I never want to resent my work so I need to nip this in the bud now. I don’t want to abandon you or become bitter. That’s why I need to remove the pressure that I currently feel to publish my writing every single week. I have to write when I am moved to write or have an idea that needs to be express. Having a few other writers on staff will allow me to do this.

I will continue to blog at Puttylike, but my posts will be slightly less frequent. Only slightly. Out of the 8 blog posts we’ll be publishing per month, I will probably write 2-3 of them. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how much I have to say. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I will continue to send out my weekly, personal emails. Those aren’t going anywhere.

I have this feeling that by removing the pressure to deliver each week and allowing myself to indulge more in some of my new projects, the writing that I do publish on the blog will be far stronger.

I know change is difficult. But I promise you that these changes will only make Puttylike a better, more interesting, and more helpful home for multipotentialites.

Thanks for your love, support, and understanding. Thank you for caring about my work. Thank you for embracing your multipotentialite nature and being who you are.

This is going to be awesome.

See you next week!

Your pal and fellow multipotentialite,

Emilie

It’s pretty scary when you first start doing it, but it’s great practice if you’re trying to stay on your toes for any speaking engagements you might have coming up.

At this point, I had been doing it for a few months. My speeches weren’t amazing, but I could usually think of something to talk about and get a few laughs out of people.

This one time however, the question hit me square in the face and I was stumped. It was:

“Tell us about what you’ll be doing in the year 2020?”

I had no idea how to answer that. There were too many possibilities.

In my nervous state, I made something up to fill the time. I talked about my scriptwriting goal, and how in 7 years, I would be in LA writing for a teen drama that I’d created. Even as I spoke about this, I spoke tentatively. I wasn’t exactly exuding confidence.

The truth is, I have no idea if this is where I’ll be in the year 2020. But that was one possible answer, so it didn’t feel like a total lie…

Thing is, I could just as easily be in Chicago, running a co-working space/cafe or on a book tour for my first novel, or working as a functional medicine doctor in Brooklyn. I am a multipotentialite after all.

In retrospect, I should have just said that. But I was nervous, and 1-2 minutes didn’t feel like long enough to get into multipotentiality. I was afraid that all they would hear is “I’m a dabbler with no direction and no idea what I want to do with my life.” I didn’t want that, so I filled the time as best I could, and answered the question with something plausible. One of my many “potentials.”

After it was all over, I remember shuddering, and feeling like I had betrayed myself. It was so unlike me and everything I stand for.

I tried to forgot about it afterward. I let the memory fade, as though it had never happened. It was just a silly Table Topics speech and I’d bombed, much like every comedian does in her early days. Not a big deal. Move on.

But then months later, something happened that shook the memory awake. I received an email from a Puttylike reader. She told me that in an interview she was asked the question “where do you see yourself in five years?” and had had no clue how to answer it. At that moment, something clicked in my head. I suddenly realized why I had had such a hard time giving that Table Topics speech months earlier.

Of course! The “where do you see yourself” question was a common annoyance for multipods everywhere, much like the One True Calling question.

How do You Answer the Question, “Where do you see yourself in 5+ years?”

I asked you guys on Facebook last week, and got some fabulous answers. Here are a few of my favorites:

• “Where my creativity and opportunities brings me.”
• “I generally see myself being wherever & doing whatever makes me happy and provides a stable lifestyle for my family.”
• If it’s a job interview I come up with something that sounds like what they want to hear.
• I usually answer “happy, healthy and wealthy.”
• I usually say, “I’ll keep listening to my intuition and see where it guides me. That will take me cooler places than trying to plan it out in my mind with what I know now.”
• For a Job interview: “The journey is so much more important than the destination. Since I don’t yet know everything I will learn here, I can’t yet imagine all the places it might take me.”
• In an interview I make up some crap that they want to hear, such as I’m going to get a higher degree in the field I’m applying for, or obtain a certification that will advance me in the field. I certainly don’t tell them I’ll be sick of this career within about two years and be headed off in another direction!
• “Being happy.”
• “Helping people.”

In sum, the answer seems to depend who’s asking. If it’s a potential employer interviewing you, you might tell them what they want to hear. If it’s anybody else, a nosy relative, someone on your kickball team, a friend, give them an abstraction.

Here’s what I mean by an abstraction. Don’t talk about the specifics, like the medium you’re going to be working in or the particular project. That is impossible for you to know. Instead, broaden out. Talk about the TYPE of work you might be doing, the TYPE of change you want to have in the world, and the TYPE of feelings you want to experience. Focus on the Whys, not the What.

Of course, I still have no idea how I would fill 1-2 minutes of time answering this question. I guess if it were to happen to me again, I would probably spend the time talking about what it means to be a multipotentialite. Then I’d give them a “happy, healthy, and wealthy” sort of answer right at the end.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what other people think about where you’re going to end up. What matters is that you are comfortable not knowing, and trusting that as long as you follow your curiosity and your intuition, you will be right where you are supposed to be.

Your Turn

How do you answer the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5+ years?”

We’re taught to follow the specialist life plan by picking one thing to be: a schoolteacher, a midwife, a politician perhaps.

If we think about it, we can see that when someone decides to become one of these things, often they’re deciding what they want to do, and how they want to do it. For example, an aspiring teacher decides to educate children by explaining concepts in a classroom. An aspiring midwife chooses to deliver babies by working in a hospital.

We’ve got the what, and we’ve got the how, but, if you’ve heard of Simon Sinek, you’ll know that it’s the Why that’s most important.

The teacher who wants to pass on her love of learning to the next generation is more likely to have a fulfilling career than her colleague who picked teaching because he enjoyed giving presentations. And the politician who’s determined to achieve equality will be more passionate about his job than his rival who simply enjoys debating.

To pick a career then, it makes more sense focus on the Why than the What or the How.

Multipotentialites can use this approach to explore lots of different interests as part of one career path.

In December, Josh stressed the importance of expressing an idea before you choose a medium. And Emilie talks about finding your overarching theme – the idea that runs through or links everything you’re interested in – to build a business.

“Usually your overarching theme is very close to you. It’s less about a discrete topic, and more like a personal drive or value that you hold.”

Now why don’t we take that theme – that personal drive or value, that Why ­– and, instead of just applying it to individual projects or self-employment, apply it to more conventional employment? Rather than building a career around a What or a How, why not build one around a Why?

I found one overarching theme that links all of my career interests.

Once I hit the you’ve-got-to-be-realistic-about-your-career-now age, I decided I wanted to be a translator. I had my what – translating texts from another language into English -, and I had my how – working at a computer in an office, ideally one day for the European Union. I didn’t have a why.

You can probably guess that I didn’t become a translator. My frustration at not seeing any point to the texts I was translating during an internship, and the realization that my dream job basically meant copying debates about tomato sizes from Slovenian to English quickly put an end to that plan.

But, recently, I’ve started to think again about my career path, by looking at jobs I’ve enjoyed in the past, jobs I’m genuinely passionate about, and jobs that I don’t know much about but which appeal to me:

• LGBT activist – encouraging people to accept other people the way they are
• Author – writing young adult novels about accepting yourself, and going after the life you want
• Teaching assistant – helping children find those ‘aha’ moments so that they believe in themselves
• Personal trainer – helping people to become the way they want to be, and proud of themselves
• Blogger – inspiring young people to live on purpose by working out who they are, and what they want

There’s a pretty obvious theme there of helping (young) people to feel good about themselves, and to improve their lives and self-esteem.

Once I noticed that theme – that Why – my jumbled collection of seemingly unrelated career interests made sense. I was also able to think of several more jobs that might give me the opportunity to help others feel good about themselves (beautician, counselor, child minder, tutor), which I think I’d enjoy.

Making your career about your Why – for example, helping others to feel good about themselves, or a How – for example, being a personal trainer, means that you can keep on achieving something you’re passionate about, whilst not getting fed up of doing the same things in the same industry forever. Once you’ve satisfied your interest in personal training, you can become a beautician, or start working on your novel.

Obviously there are drawbacks to hopping from one industry to another, but if you’re passionate enough about your Why, and enthusiastic enough about your latest interest, I think this approach has the potential to give rise to some very exciting careers.

Your Turn

What’s your Why? What draws you to your various pursuits?

You know about the oddest of topics because you were once obsessed with each of them and now you have extensive knowledge of the physical properties of the planets or how to build a tiny house on wheels or the themes explored in coming-of-age films.

All of this jumping around has felt amazing. But if you stop to ponder your path for too long, it starts to worry you.

You wonder why you felt drawn to pick up those water colors when you never ended up doing much with your art. You wonder why your love for psychology, which you once thought your calling, dwindled and why you suddenly find yourself writing and self-publishing a novel when you went to school for architecture. Where is the rhyme and reason to all of this?

And then you discover that you are a multipotentialite.

Suddenly it all makes sense. You realize that you are not broken or non-committal or afraid of your own success. The reason you can’t find your One True Calling is because you don’t have a singular calling, you have many. The zigzagging, the sporadic obsessions, the weird interdisciplinary projects, they all now fit now. They make sense.

It’s a huge relief when you learn that there’s nothing wrong with you, and I’m lucky in that I get to hear these stories via my inbox all the time. But what’s next? What do you do once you learn that you are a multipotentialite? Do you just continue going about your life as always, with maybe a greater sense of ease and confidence? Perhaps. But more likely than not, you still have questions…

Being a multipotentialite is wonderful. But along with this gift, comes some challenges.

The biggest challenges for multipods seem to fall into three categories:

1. Career – how will you use your drive to pursue many subjects to fuel your work and income?

2. Productivity – how will you split up your attention between many projects and still get things done?

3. Confidence – how do you feel about yourself, and how will you deal with those around you who don’t understand?

I view these three areas as the big ones that every multipotentialite needs to address. There is no one answer that suits us all. We each have different scanning styles, different ways of working, and different priorities. It will likely take a lot of time and experimentation before you come up with solutions that work for you.

Moreover, what works for you now may stop working in the future and then you will have to pivot and try something new. But the more you focus on these areas of challenge, the more you learn about yourself, and the easier it becomes to adapt.

So what happens when you learn that you are a multipotentialite? Well, now the work begins! Now you start testing out different career models, different productivity techniques, different strategies for overcoming fear. Now is when you can really get to know yourself.

Your Turn

What questions did you have after learning that you were a multipotentialite? How did you deal with them?

***

Don’t forget that the Multi-Passionate Must-Haves bundle sale starts tomorrow, May 14 and runs for 72 hours. That’s 27 hand-picked books, courses, and guides to help you ROCK the multi-passionate lifestyle. ($1,379 worth of products, for $97).

Also, Michelle and I are hosting a multipotentialite Twitter party tomorrow at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern. Join along with the hashtag #mpmh. I look forward to seeing you there!

I have some really exciting news to share. For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a big project that’s going to hopefully have a massive impact on your life as a multipotentialite.

My friend Michelle Ward and I sat down one day to talk about ways that we could bring a lot of value to the multipotentialite community. This is what we came up with.

It’s called Multi-Passionate Must-Haves.

Multi-Passionate Must-Haves is a bundle of 27 hand-picked books, courses, and programs that will help you ROCK the multi-passionate lifestyle.

Both my book, Renaissance Business and the Productivity for Multipotentialites course will be included, alongside these amazing products:

• BYOB Build Your Online Business Guide by Natalie Sisson ($37)
• Pitch Perfect^(TM) Pack by Dyana Valentine ($57)
• The Creative Ignition Kit by Melissa Dinwiddie ($37)
• Renaissance Business by Emilie Wapnick ($49)
• Productivity for Multipotentialites by Michelle Nickolaisen and Emilie Wapnick ($67)
• Operation: Creative Career Cheer by Michelle Ward ($37)
• Social Media Rehab by Tiffany Han ($59)
• Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead ($47)
• Life is Messy Planners by Mayi Carles ($40)
• Creating Your Own Mastermind Group by Jen Louden ($100)
• The Declaration of You by Jessica Swift and Michelle Ward ($57)
• The Comparison Cure by Kylie Bellard ($15)
• Ethical Selling that Works by Pamela Slim ($97)
• Help, I Need More Time! by Bev Webb ($46)
• How to Describe the Indescribable by Alexandra Franzen ($17)
• The Art of Earning + The Art of Growth by Tara Gentile ($40)
• Spin Your Story by Amanda Oaks ($10)
• The Joy Equation by Molly Mahar ($147)
• 52 Weeks to Awesome by Pace & Kyeli ($52)
• The Right Brain Product Development Playground by Jennifer Lee ($97)
• How to Take a Career Break to Travel by Alexis Grant ($29)
• Small Army Strategy by Srinivas Rao ($2.99)
• The Kick Burnout Kit by Michelle Nickolaisen ($17)
• The Yearly/Weekly Planner Bundle by Michelle Nickolaisen ($23)
• The Courageous Living Program by Kate Swoboda ($125)
• The Momentum Kickstart Kit by Charlie Gilkey ($47)
• Guerrilla Influence Formula by Tyler Tervooren ($49 value)

The total retail price for all of these products comes to $1,379. But for 72 hours starting next Tuesday, May 14, you’ll be able to snag them all for only $97.

And because we feel strongly that the power of multipotentialites need to be used for good, we’re going to be donating $10 from each sale to Michelle Ward’s team for the Avon 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk in NY. (Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011 and declared cancer-free in June 2012, and this will be the 2nd year she’ll be walking 39.3 miles with Avon over 2 days with her mother and bestest friends.)

Sound insanely awesome? I was looking over the products the other day, just drooling over how good they all looked.

Make sure that you check back here next Tuesday to get your copy of Multi-Passionate Must-Haves! It won’t be offered again, so make sure you mark your calendar so you don’t miss it forever.

Your pal and fellow multipotentialite,

Emilie

Remember this blog post? It was my 2013 (anti-)goal setting post that I published around New Years. “Embodiment” was to be the theme of my year, and a big part of that theme was getting out of my head and “into my body.” Literally.

I guess I got lucky with diet, because going Paleo wasn’t very difficult for me (I was left no choice really. Those were the only foods that didn’t make me feel like I wanted to curl up and die.) A lot of people struggle with giving up bread or sugar when they go Paleo. My health was bad enough at that point, that I didn’t have this problem. Tony Robbins says that to make a big change you need either inspiration or desperation. I had the latter.

Establishing an exercise ritual on the other hand, has proven to be a real challenge for me.

Much of it was due to logistics (or excuses, or fears, depending on how you want to look at it). In January, I found a bootcamp I liked, but then I went off to LA for a month so I couldn’t continue. I wanted to just sign up for a gym and lift some weights, but I was afraid that I’d do it wrong and hurt myself, or that I wouldn’t feel comfortable among the muscly boys, or that a trainer would be too expensive or would force me to run on a treadmill and not understand my goals. I tried doing bodyweight exercises at home. It worked for a couple weeks, and then got boring. I tried going to yoga class. That didn’t last.

There were a million little things that seemed to be getting in the way, and nothing was sticking for more than a few weeks.

Well, I am happy to report that I’ve finally been able to instill an exercise ritual and stick with it. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, between my morning work and lunch, I swing by the gym.

The principles I’m going to talk about here can be applied to habits in any area. If you’re struggling with instilling a consistent work ritual for your multipotentialite projects, or fitting a certain activity into your day, take note.

1. Make the ritual as easy for you to do as humanly possible

Part of the reason that I always hated going to the gym was that I thought I had to run on a treadmill or elliptical trainer for twenty minutes. It never occurred to me that maybe I just hate cardio, and maybe that’s ok. A lot of research suggests that strength training is far more effective for losing weight than cardio anyway.

Once I started lifting weights, it all got easier. But even that didn’t really stick until I reached out to a friend who knew his way around the gym, and asked him to show me a few exercises.

Unlike the few trainers I’ve worked with at bootcamp, gym orientations, and such, my friend didn’t bombard me with 14 different exercises. He gave me exactly 4 exercises to do: two to work my lower body and two for my upper body. Since my goal right now is to simply get stronger all around, it made sense to work the biggest muscles. I will likely add more exercises to my routine in the future, but for now, 4 is perfect.

My exercise routine is simple. Each time I go to the gym, I am to choose one lower body and  one upper body exercise and do 5 reps of 5 with as much weight as I can bear while maintaining proper form. That’s a total of TWO exercises per workout.

Just to give you an idea, this whole routine takes me about 20 minutes to complete. I used to think that strength training meant doing at least ten reps, and by number six, I’d be bored out of my mind. (Maybe I just have a really short attention span, but so be it.) Five reps is over so fast. No boredom involved.

Oh also, I chose a gym that is right between the coffee shop where I often do my work in the morning, and my house. Anything out of the way, and there’s no way I’d make it there three times a week.

When you’re looking to instill a new ritual, look for the easiest, simplified, most fun way to do it. If you want to write each day, shoot for 5 minutes at first, and increase when doing so feels like it would be easy and fun.

2. Cue – Routine – Reward

I recommend that everyone read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. In it, he talks about habit pathways are formed in the brain. You need a cue (could be a time of day, a feeling, etc.), then you go into the routine, and then you get a reward. All three elements need to be present for an action to become automatic.

Knowing this, I decided that my cue would be finishing my morning work which is often done at coffee shops, my routine would obviously be the workout, and the reward would be dropping by the Paleo food cart for a small post-workout snack before heading home for lunch. It turns out there are a few rewards here. The endorphin release is one, being able to brag to my friends about how much I lifted is another (more on positive accountability later), and yes, the bacon-almond-dates, they help.

3. Tack your ritual onto an already established routine

The easiest way to create a new habit, is to find a cue and reward that already exist in your day, and swap in a new routine.

I already had an established habit of finishing my work and biking home, sometimes stopping at the co-op for a snack. I just dropped in a workout, which replaced the trip to the grocery store.

Try to fit your new ritual into your preexisting schedule, so you don’t have to go out of your way to make it happen.

4. Use positive accountability

There’s a puttypeep in the Puttytribe named James. James has a notorious, on-going thread in the Puttytribe Forum called “Daily Journal”. He posts in it every day, and he has inspired a few other puttypeep to start similar threads to track their own progress.

But it’s not just about tracking. James is using what I call positive accountability: the ability to run to your friends and brag about the awesome work you just accomplished.

I think positive accountability is actually more effective than regular accountability. Regular accountability goes something like: “I’m going to write this blog post by Tuesday. Hold me to that.”

See the difference? Regular accountability is asking people to watch and make sure you do what you say you’re going to do. Positive accountability on the other hand, is doing awesome shit, and then running back to a group or friend and telling them what you just did. Both are important, but I think positive accountability does more to light up your spirit and increase momentum.

Each time I am able to deadlift more weight or my muscle mass percentage rises, I shoot my buddy who showed me the gym ropes a text message and he writes back saying, way to go! It makes me feel great and keeps me moving forward.

5. Ask for help

And on that note, support is everything. It can be from a community like the Puttytribe, a mastermind group, or just an accountability/support buddy. I have two entrepreneur friends who used to call each other every morning when they woke up to talk about what they’re going to work on that day (I’m not sure if they still do this, but it’s a great idea).

See if you can find someone who is working to instill their own ritual or is embarking on a big project, and help each other stay on track through regular check-ins.

Big changes happen through these small, daily actions. That’s why learning to instill rituals is so important.

What about spontaneity?

You can still be a spontaneous, exploratory multipod while having rituals. You can either create a specific “scanning time” during which you only do things that you don’t HAVE to do, or you can just say that outside of your specified work rituals, it’s fair game.

That’s how I deal with it. As long as my morning ritual happens, I’m free to do whatever I like for the rest of the day– to dabble in whatever medium, to read about random topics, and to play with any new curiosities that arise.

Your Turn

What are some of your rituals, and how did you get them to stick?

On my journey into multipotentiality, I’ve discovered that having multiple interests is both a gift and a challenge. The gift is clear: we get to live authentically, in a world full of possibilities and time spent doing what we truly love. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. The challenging side of having those possibilities, however, is that through exploring them, we’re repeatedly thrown back into the vulnerable, somewhat uncomfortable ‘beginner’ phase, over and over again.

This has been one of my biggest struggles as a multipotentialite. I want to gain experience in so many things, but find myself hampered at one stage or another by ‘beginnersitis’ – frustration at my (lack of) progress, temptation to give up, and a desire to skip the hard part and be magically transported to the stage when I can experience the fruits of my labor.

Learning to identify and accept my beginnersitis has helped me focus more on the positive aspects of learning a new skill. When I’m not distracted by how far along I should be, I’m a lot more in touch with the excitement, the challenge, and the satisfaction that comes with finally mastering that one tricky part.

Here are some tips I’ve found useful for easing myself into being a beginner:

1. Focus on doing little and often

Doing a little every day can help us transition away from the beginner phase in three ways. Firstly, it’s a more helpful way of learning. Instead of cramming in a huge session once a week, taking the ‘drip drip drip’ approach and doing a little practice or learning here and there each day helps us move from the “consciously incompetent” to “conscious competence” far quicker.

Secondly, doing little and often prevents ‘brain overload’. Learning a new skill is incredibly energy-intensive, and it’s easy to get burned out. For example, one of my current projects is learning Spanish. Right now I can talk to someone else for about 30 minutes before my mind starts going blank, I make rookie mistakes and I start wondering if I’ll ever get the hang of this language malarky. Recognizing I’ve hit my limit helps prevent self-doubt and frustration and makes for a much more fulfilling experience.

On a related note, doing little and often is a great antidote to resistance. When we push ourselves too hard, experience brain overload, or set unrealistic goals and expectations, being a beginner stops being fun and starts being frustrating. With every new challenge, we need to strike a balance so that our experience is weighted mostly on the ‘fun’ side. Otherwise, we’re less likely to feel motivated to continue, and more likely to experience beginner’s resistance.

2. Be gentle

However fast we get to grips with or improve a new skill is absolutely fine, because that’s how fast we’re doing it. We can’t change reality and we can’t expect to move mountains in the first few days. Like we talked about in the last paragraph, setting harsh or unrealistic expectations for ourselves is a motivation killer.

Being a beginner is a fantastic chance to exercise our self-compassion muscle and practise being gentle with ourselves. This kind of compassion is invaluable: it doesn’t just apply to new skills, but translates to all other areas of our lives too. The key is to make sure we’re working with ourselves, rather than against ourselves.

3. Keep a journal

Keeping a journal throughout the learning process is a great way to keep track of positive progress. Not only does it help you see how far you’ve come, but it also gives you an outlet for self-encouragement. If and when that critical voice pops up saying “Shouldn’t you really be better at this by now?” or “This is pointless, you’re never going to get it”, your journal will contain reams of proof as to how much you have achieved, and how capable you are at going further.

4. Share the experience

Several of my friends were interested in starting businesses at the same time, so one of them set up a Facebook group. We have monthly calls where we give updates on our businesses and ask for feedback. Even though we’re all doing very different things, it’s been invaluable.

Community is a powerful motivating factor. Not only does sharing your goals with others leave you publicly accountable, but it also enables you to get any support and encouragement you need from people who understand what you’re experiencing.

Try finding others who are also a beginner in your particular skill, or embarking on a different project of their own (the Puttytribe is a great place to start). Sharing your experiences, frustrations, wins and knowledge with other people can keep you motivated and speed up the learning process. Sharing your goals and desires with the people closest to you is also helpful. Public accountability alone is a great motivator, and the right people will admire your courage in stating your goals openly.

5. Celebrate the small wins

One of my biggest challenges in being a beginner is accepting and celebrating the small wins; for example, the first time I managed to hold a certain yoga pose for three seconds, the first time I learned about the Spanish preterit tense, selling a certain number of ebooks per month, or completing the first draft of my new book. These small wins might be far removed from where I eventually want to be with each of these projects, but they’re important milestones and deserve a mini-celebration.

Sometimes, we can get so caught up in the eventual goal that we overlook the small successes along the way. Taking time to acknowledge these will not only help you appreciate how much progress you’re making, but also keep you motivated to continue further.

Your Turn

What are your tips for overcoming the struggles associated with being a beginner? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!