Multipotentialite Mentorship Changes Lives. Are You Ready to Step Up?

What is the first memory you have of coming into your own as a multipotentialite? For me, it’s my teachers and extended family members being supportive of my many projects as a child. With their support, I used to publish a handmade zine every summer, documenting moments from my day-to-day life in words and images. 

This was the starting point of my writing for an audience, even before I took to blogging actively as a preteen. In a way, if I hadn’t had the support of my teachers, family and the mentors who shaped my many projects, I would be nowhere close to the multipotentialite I am today.

Well, I’m older now! So, what if the tables were turned and I encountered a young multipotentialite—someone who showed tons of diverse interests and equal gusto to participate in them all? How can seasoned multipotentialites support burgeoning multipotentialites to live fulfilled multi-faceted lives? 

Many of us are grateful to the encouraging support systems we found along the way in our winding multipotentialite journeys. For others, this story may have looked different. If you didn’t have multipotentialite cheerleaders to help you, mentoring a young multipod could be an incredible opportunity to heal and give someone else the support you never received.

Here are five ways to offer your support and mentor a young multipotentialite:

1. Offer words of encouragement. They can last a lifetime

The multipotentialite journey is filled with immense self-reflection and, often, imposter syndrome. When I look back at my own journey as a writer, although I know that self-doubt must have been present, all I remember is getting regular encouragement from my family and teachers. Across my circle of extended family and friends, I was known as the “writing kind” and people took me seriously enough to give me several chances when I messed up.

While bosses and mentors can play carrot and stick , it is important to bolster confidence in young multipotentialites by reminding them that they will get better at whatever they are trying to do. Make it clear that practice and patience go a long way toward honing skills and developing talent over time. As a multipotentialite, you know the challenges inherent in our way of life better than anyone else. So be as kind as you can and support the budding multipotentialite through words of affirmation.

2. Share your journey so that young multipotentialites don’t feel alone

At my former workplace, I was responsible for onboarding and mentoring interns. Most of them were between schools and colleges, and had joined us to learn about project management, while supporting the staff at large. In my time as a mentor to these young minds, I learnt a lot from them. One of my biggest takeways from mentoring is that you have to be vulnerable and share your journey with your mentees. The interns that I worked with didn’t have lives that looked just like mine. But several of them struggled with something I understand deeply: having multiple interests and being interested in pursuing several things all at once, but lacking the direction and support to realize that. 

In opening up to a young multipotentialite, you will allow them to see a future version of themselves. You can instill confidence in their hope that it is possible to do a lot of things together and be good at some of them, too. You cannot possibly explain what being a multipotentialite entails without opening up about your journey. Share your vulnerabilities and listen to them when they open up about their strengths and weaknesses. These conversations can go a long way toward giving a young person confidence to move forward with a dream. 

3. Offer support by helping to hone their skills

Many young multipotentialites are filled with bright ideas, but lack direction in their quest to execute them. If I look back at my journey with bass playing, I can see that I wouldn’t be anywhere without the YouTube tutorials where I picked up my basics. However, I needed a few conversations with a senior bass player from the indie music community in India to set me up with those. He helped me identify the YouTubers that would be useful to me (way back in 2006-’07, in the nascent stage of the platform). It was such a small thing, but without those links, I wouldn’t have been able to teach myself the instrument.

Helping to hone skills doesn’t need to mean sitting with someone daily or tutoring them one on one. A little help in discerning the most appropriate resources, or doing some research on behalf of a young multipotentialite, can take them a long way on their journey.

4. Measure your criticism when giving feedback

As a multipotentialite, I feel the urge to offer feedback—not just to others like me but also to those who are seemingly specialists in their area of work. However, there’s often a thin line between critiquing work and criticizing it. Don’t forget that your delivery of the feedback and the way it is received by a young multipotentialite can be wildly different.

In order to ensure that you’re not harsh, try to understand their shortcomings and what resources are available to them, as well as their interest level and their ability to pick up on any skills needed to complete a given project. It is also critical to look at their age before going all out dispensing advice and guiding them through words. Sometimes all that a 10-year-old multipotentialite needs is validation for doing a task, not details of how they could have done better (from someone with triple their experience). Ensure that you are kind. Build their connection to their interests by guiding gently as opposed to discouraging them with unwarranted brutal honesty.

5. Consult with their parents and guardians to guide them better

Young multipotentialites can have all the intent in the world, but none of it is useful without their parents or guardians on board. If you have identified a young multipotentialite who is struggling to be themselves, it can be helpful to see that their parents and guardians understand what multipotentialites look like and how we function.

In South Asia, where I live, families tend to hyper-fixate on academics and co-curriculars as means to get into good colleges and find stable jobs. If a young multipotentialite gets enough support, the pressure to deliver results can ease up a little and they can shine better and brighter.

The onus is upon the well-settled multipotentialite to inform, educate and help nurture others better so they can be empowered in their multipod lives to do whatever awesome things they intend to do!

It is also important to establish boundaries and not overpromise. Your time and resources are finite and you do not want to lead a young multipotentialite and their guardians towards a situation where you cannot deliver what you have offered. Not only can the impact of not honoring a promise be devastating, but it can also be counter-productive to your mentee’s trust in you.

Your turn

Have you ever known a young multipotentialite? How do you support and encourage young multipotentialites around you? Do you have any words of wisdom for others who are mentoring and nurturing budding multipotentialites? Share your experience in the comments.