I have always struggled with knowing what I want to do in life. I never had an answer as a child for the adults' constant questioning about my future plans. After high school, I started an unintentional whirlwind tour of university degree programs. In two years I jumped from architecture, to chemical engineering, to nursing, to physics, to bio-physics (yes, that's a thing), and then to philosophy. In hindsight, I think what I really needed was some time off. I got my degree in philosophy, went on to law school and have been practicing law for two years. But now I am getting the itch again. I don't know what, but I want something different.
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Have you always (or maybe just recently) felt like you missed the jump onto some hidden set of train tracks that others are riding? You have probably heard dozens, if not hundreds, of stories about people who always just knew that they would be doing this one thing. Well what do you do if those stories don't resonate with you. After all "a jack of all trades is a master of none." Right? Sure, there is some validity to that, but is there nothing between "jack of all trades" and master of only one?
The economic model of training future workers to decide early in life what it is they will be doing for the next 40 years was an important underpinning for the industrial revolution and the subsequent century. But we're not in that age anymore. Maybe you have seen it first hand. Employers and employees have a diminished sense of loyalty to each other. Many jobs do not require or reward staying there for 40+ years. Couple that with the explosive accessibility of quality information and training, more and more people are deciding to make dramatic career pivots.
Still, there is a problem with the way we talk about this. We have a tendency to look at everything before the pivot as a mistake. We say that weren't doing the thing that we should have been doing all along. The thing we were made for. And maybe that is true for you. What if instead, that language is just a way for us to try to justify our transitions to ourselves and the onlookers around us? What if your calling, the thing you were meant to do, could be more than one thing?
This is an idea that I have been coming across a lot lately on some of the fringes of entrepreneurial resources and it has been resonating with me more and more. Oh I forgot to mention, on top of the list of educational jumps that I listed above, the rest of my life has been evolving as well. In the last six years: I have had five kids, taught myself woodworking, been elected to the board of directors for a small school in Detroit, started a non-profit with my friend, become a cryptocurrency enthusiast (and trader), started blogging, and begun training to lead people through emotional healing care groups. I like to do a lot of different things, to say the least. While that is often viewed as a weakness--e.g. "master of none"--I don't think it has to be.
I have been inspired by three different entrepreneur thought leaders that are pushing against this idea that doing many things is always bad. If this idea speaks to you, check out these resources. You won't regret it.
The Limit Does Not Exist
The first example of this multi-faceted career life that I came across was a podcast from Christina Wallace and Cate Scott Campbell called The Limit Does Not Exist. The show hosts believe that STEM and creativity should be much more co-mingled than our society has often allowed them to be. The have this label that they use in every episode called "human Venn-diagrams." If you're unfamiliar with a Venn diagram, just google it. As applied to our lives, imagine all of your different interests, skills, history, experiences, temperaments, connections, etc, as a separate circle. You are likely the only person who has this unique overlapping and intersecting of qualities. And that makes you valuable. It is your job to find the space to live into, and sometimes combine, those many parts of you.
The Portfolio Life
Jeff Goins is very well known for his blogging and video course success. He made a dramatic change and started exploring something totally new to him. He has now published several best selling books and continues to crank out quality content on his blog, his podcast, and various courses/webinars. Jeff encourages his audience to build a portfolio, a variety of skills, interests, and experiences. Something that you can present as your life's work. That means taking a second look at the time spent at that "dead end job" and considering how to repurpose that time and experience.
Puttylike
I actually discovered Emilie Wapnick through an episode of The Portfolio life, but have quickly become smitten by her content. Emilie actually invented a word for those of us who feel like they still don't know what they want to do: "multipotentialite." Sound it out, multi-potential-ite. She runs the sit Puddylike.com and recently published a book titled How To Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up.
So what's the big deal? First of all, your mental health and happiness matters. That's not up for debate. Second, the world and your community need you to be doing what you are meant to be doing. Whether that is one thing, a series of transitions, or multiple things at once, it matters that you are pursuing what fits.
Let me know in the comments if you identify with this place. What has your story looked liked up to this point, and what are you dreaming for the future?
Until next time, be blessed.
Sam
Image Sources: Tangled
Recent Posts:
More Than Cutting | What Is Non-Suicidal Self-Injury?
Never Be a "Full-Time" Employee | Why You Should Keep Things From Your Boss
You Probably Know A Couple Hundred People Who Have Self-Injured
Men and Women Don't Age Differently, We Just Objectify Them Differently
Get Bored and See What Happens
Your Brain Creates Shitty First Drafts of Reality
How to Know if Your Job is Killing You
Mannabase is a cyrpto approach to Universal Basic Income.
Sign up now for your FREE weekly distributions of Manna
Full disclosure: it is a referral link.
May this serve whoever reads it:
Think back to your childhood and recall the things you really loved doing.
Write down at least 25 things.
When you get past 15 you'll really be searching; that's where the really good stuff will be found.
Re-engage in that activity (set an appointment in your calendar, and stick to it!) for a couple of hours and you may find a new hobby you love (or had forgotten about).
So much of life is re-discovering ourselves in a world constantly fighting for our attention.
Look within yourself to determine what to do with what's all around you.
Love this advice. It is really hard for me though. In more than one way, I feel very disconnected from who I was as a child. It honestly makes it hard to even access memories. I don't remember having interests or things that got me excited as a kid. Definitely not more than a handful of things. I plan to spend a lot more time and energy this year on digging into that though because I think you are right. Tapping into that can be really restorative and eye-opening as an adult.
What if you can't even get to 15
Play pretend, seriously: Imagine you can remember more things and write those down; the inspiration came from somewhere in your subconscious and you can't write down a wrong answer.
Genius idea!!!
This is entirely me, has been for as long as I can remember, and is/was a common theme with many among my family and closest friends.
My Steemit profile description gives a good indication, but there is so much more, and what it basically comes down to is a lifelong refusal to fit into the nice neat box into which others (including a couple of former spouses) would choose to restrict me. Thanks, but no thanks.
My sister Carol once noted that our family was filled with late-bloomers, but while that is true on one level, more correctly we are simply people with many widely varied interests, who choose to pursue those interests to a greater degree than most.
And the irony is that it was often these same people who most fervently tried to get me to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else, regardless of what I wanted, and what to me made my life worth living.
My mom used to say she knew a little bit about a lot of things, and that is true of me as well, so I can at least converse intelligently on most subjects.
But there are also several areas in which I've amassed a great deal of knowledge over the years, and it has been more and more clear to me in recent years that I am here in large part to pass on that knowledge, as I wrote about in my Day 99 - Daily Haiku.
I am finally owning my role as a wise woman elder, which would never have been possible without the long, varied and often circuitous route I've taken throughout my life.
With writing as one of my lifelong passions, I am able to delve deeply into different areas and mine out the gems, or at least do my best in that regard. It seems to be the most fulfilling way that I've found thus far to bring it all together.
Awesome comment. And sorry for the late response--I was traveling AND getting sick. Not a great combo.
I love this line:
It is always really difficult to see in the middle of it how something that others call less efficient or the wrong path can actually end up being exactly what we needed. Hearing stories like yours are encouraging though. Thank you for sharing. And I'm sorry to hear that you have had to deal with pressure and resistance from those around you. Even if (and that's a big IF sometimes) they are coming from a place of love, it is rarely helpful to direct people like that.
Cheers to you for sticking with it!
Thanks, @ssimkins9!
Nice to know there are others out there making the same sorts of choices, which I've always known, but it's still nice to have confirmation.
I've been enjoying your posts for the same reason - you've clearly allowed yourself to learn the lessons that have presented themselves along the way, as opposed to so many who choose to ignore them, even when they are screaming in their ears. And, learning the lessons is no small task, as you well know.
Hope that you are feeling awesome by now. Traveling while sick seriously sucks, which my husband has also been doing of late, so here's hoping that you are both completely healed and healthy and happy!
Whenever we decide to break away from the main flow of people, it can feel very lonely. That beautiful thing about the internet is that we can discover that there is an entire subculture and network of people who are also doing the same. They may be spread all over the world, but it helps to be able to connect with people choosing the unconventional.
And we are all healed up and healthy! And happy. Thanks for asking.
(for whatever reason, this comment did not post when I originally wrote it days ago).
Indeed, choosing the unconventional can leave us feeling like outcasts, until we manage to link up with others making similar choices. And I agree, the Internet has made it far easier to find those with whom we have much in common, far more so than has ever been possible before.
Funny, I've have several comments that have failed to post recently as well, and one that disappeared after it initially showed up briefly. Very odd.
Glad to know you are well again. Be blessed. ;-)
This is pretty much me, I've always bouonced from interest to interest, never even spending enough time to make something out of it. I went into engineering because I had no idea what I wanted to do but I was good at math and science.
Really I think everyone should take a break after high school. For people like me and you I think it's good to build a portfolio, all I have going on at this very moment is my writing, but I want to branch out, I feel like I've picked up skills and knowledge. It's all a learning process, some people nail it on their first go, but like you I'm the type of person called to more than one thing
I feel you on this man. My start was technically engineering too (architectural engineering). I'm not entirely sure why I picked it, but not knowing a lick about myself was a big factor. Haha. I still wish I had taken a break. Even after undergrad and before law school. It was a hard call though since I already had my second child on the way. I really want to get school behind me. Well, we live and learn and pass on our knowledge.
Too true, I was wishing that I had too, but things seem to turn out either way, we figure it out haha
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by Sam Simkins from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
This is entirely me
Hi ssimkins9,
Wow, this describes my life journey so far and I glad to have come across this.