There’s a certain question that arises the moment you realize you’re a multipotentialite. It goes something like this:
“I’m a multipod, great! But um… Now, how do I make a living?”
The “work question” is almost certainly the biggest, most pressing, anxiety-inducing issue that multipotentialites face.
There are an innumerable number of ways of structuring your work, but that only makes it feel more daunting, since we are lacking an established model or path. To make matters even more complicated, thriving financially as a multipotentialite often means forging your own way or doing your own thing, which is scary in-and-of-itself.
While researching my book, I interviewed dozens of people who identified as happy and successful multipotentialites, and tried to put together some commonly used work models.
In truth, most people are hybrids, but I think that it’s helpful to delineate some common models so that people have something to start with as they go about designing their own unique approach to work.
Each of these models starts with the premise that, in order to be happy, multipotentialites require three things:
- Variety (not too much, not too little, amount varies per person)
- Meaning (a sense that you’re making a difference in the world)
- Money (the right amount for you, varies from person to person)
4 Work models commonly used by multipotentialites
There are four main work models that I’ve observed in the multipotentialite community.
Model #1: The Group Hug Approach
The “group hug” approach is interdisciplinary and allows you to smoosh many of your interests together. It involves having one job or business that is multifaceted and allows you to use many different passions, interests and skills in your work.
From an employment perspective, it might mean working at a startup or small company, or just an organization that allows you to wear many different hats on the job.
From a self-employment stance, this would be the Renaissance Business: one business that allows you to integrate and use many different interests in your work.
The opposite of this approach would be the narrow job title or the niche business.
Model #2: The Slash Approach
The slash approach involves having two or more narrow jobs or businesses that you shift between. Your various projects remain separate and are not overtly combined.
This is the person who does graphic design part time and teaches yoga part time. It’s the lawyer/minister or the therapist/luthier.
From a self-employment perspective, it’s the lateral freelancer or the person who has multiple, unrelated narrow businesses.
Unlike the “group hug” approach, your interests remain separate, and instead of getting the variety you require internally (in one project), you get it through pairing together multiple narrow revenue streams.
Model #3: The Einstein Approach
Did you know that Albert Einstein had a day job working at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property evaluating patent applications? It was this very stable, menial job that left him with time and creative energy to work on his discoveries.
You might be familiar with the “good enough” job, which Barbara Sher has written about before. I find that terminology mildly depressing though, so lets go with Einstein, (smarty pants. 🙂
Many multipotentialites find themselves day jobs that they enjoy but aren’t particularly interdisciplinary or don’t rely on their multipotentialite super powers. Yet because this job doesn’t take up much time and/or creative energy, they are able to engage with their other projects and passions outside of their work.
From a self-employment perspective, this might be the consultant or web designer who has found a well-paying income stream that they can use to support themselves while they play with their other interests on the side.
The Einstein Approach is sometimes used as a transitional tool. For example, multipotentialites often use a secure day job or income stream to provide security while building a Renaissance business or developing additional revenue streams. Once that side project is generating enough income, they might quit their job or stop consulting.
Model #4: The Phoenix Approach
This model is best used by multipotentialites who are more sequential in nature. It involves working in job for a period of time– 4 years, 6 years, whatever feels right for you. And then when the boredom hits, shifting to an entirely new field altogether.
Phoenix multipotentialites often begin researching their new fields casually, on the side, a long time before switching. Sometimes they use the connections, resources and knowledge from their current work to help them transition.
From a self-employment perspective, this would be the serial entrepreneur. Someone who starts a business, runs it for a while and either lets it go, sells it or automates it and steps away. Then they start a new business and begin all over again.
Hybrids
As I mentioned earlier, many multipotentialites are hybrids and draw from several of these models. Many of us morph between them occasionally and it’s often possible to see how your approach could fit into more than one model depending on how you look at it.
However, I’m hoping that having these structures delineated in my book will help people get a sense of the different ways that they can obtain variety in their lives and provide a good starting point.
Your Turn
Which work model best describes your approach to work?
**
I go into the four multipotentialite work models in depth in my book, How to Be Everything. I include plenty of real life examples and exercises to help you build fit your unique passions and skills into your career.
These approaches make a lot of sense and are very useful. I do find it amusing though that I could fit my situation into most of those categories. Very multipotentialite-like!
The Group Hug Approach:
– My blog which will hopefully one day be a business is definitely a Renaissance Business
– My job involves editing, scheduling content, researching, writing, designing, customer service, project and event management, managing social media, and learning how to do anything my boss would like me to try – I never get bored because it’s so varied
The Slash Approach:
– I’m a Content Co-ordinator, a Support Worker, a blogger and a freelance illustrator.
The Einstein Approach:
– While I love my two main jobs, they’re not forever jobs and at the moment they’re paying the bills while I work on my blog and my novel on the side.
The Serial Approach:
– I imagine in the long run, my life might look like this, as I grow out of each new interest, project, business, job, and phase of life.
= Hybrid!
I’m not entirely sure where to put my other job. I’m a Support Worker for a disabled student at my old uni. Basically, I get paid to go to his lectures and seminars and take notes for him. This student studies German and I used to study French, German and Slovene. About half of the lectures are on topics I did in my first year (free revision!) and about half are for modules I didn’t take (free learning!). I also used to take notes for a student who studied Classics. I got paid to learn all about masculinity, sexuality, and sculptures in Rome and Greece. Fascinating. It’s the perfect job for a multipotentialite because you basically get paid to learn.
Wow, that is awesome! Thanks so much for giving this a go, Jo.
In terms of your other (amazing) job. Perhaps it’s a “smooshy” slash? Haha. Like not as narrow a slash gig as “graphic designer” but it also doesn’t take up enough of your time to be a group hug career? Hm. But yeah, hybrids are the challenge of this whole thing. Because we are all hybrids. But the fact that you still found these categories helpful is really great.
How did you become an educational support worker? I love this idea and want to do it!
Hi
May I ask how you became a Support Worker for a disabled student at your university? I am interested in this type of work and training.
I tried to apply for this kind of work at a university near my home but they only accepted volunteers. I have heard of registered students doing the work as part of a work study option to help offset tuition costs, as well.
I worked at a university in Quebec typing notes for a student who is hard of hearing.
Thank you and all best wishes.
Wow, amazing! I love the idea of being paid for the taking notes for someone else and learning topics you like 😀
I can also fit my passions, interests, jobs, business into several categories… I’m a yoga teacher, psychotherapist, coach, healer, astrologer, dancer… working as a freelancer (with long-term contracts) and as a self-employed, working both offline and online (but currently only online).
I have always had difficulty with choosing one path… or just focusing on one narrow “niche”. Although I always tend to have a main focus, I always have “side projects”. 🙂
This is great! I really like the categories that you’ve selected. I can tell this is going to be a super-useful book!
I don’t know if I’m “successful” enough to merit a case study, but I’m of course happy to throw in my experiences. Honestly, what holds me back from feeling successful as a multipotentialite is that I’m still dealing with student/car loans/etc. If I’d had this mindset right out of college, it would be a different story — which is why it’s super-important to get these ideas out to people before they waste time pursuing “traditional” options.
Do you know yet if you’ll be self-publishing or pursuing a mainstream book deal?
Haha Saul, I’ve already written a whole section on you. I’m including the Lateral Freelancer as a subcategory under the slash approach. I’ll shoot you over a copy for approval when it’s ready. 🙂
I think I’m going to try for a mainstream book deal first. I know you can make a lot more money through self-publishing, but I think I’d like this thing to spread as far and wide as possible. The media connections that big publishers have is really hard to beat. If that doesn’t work out though, I’ll definitely self-publish.
Hey,
Hope you are well? I would recommend looking at Seth Godin’s Domino Project, try and connect with him on publishing your book: http://www.thedominoproject.com/
I just think Seth will provide insight on which is the best way to go.
We’ll have to chat again soon, there’s so much to share : )
Many Blessings Emilie,
Owen Greaves
That’s a great idea, thanks Owen!
Oh, wow, that’s good to hear! Mainstream definitely sounds like a good option for this, that way you can reach a wider audience and get some press. I’m sure you’ve already done some research, but you might try Launch Books Agency (which repped AONC). They responded well to my lateral freelancer pitch, but passed on the manuscript. Keep us posted!
Funny, you were the first person I though of 🙂 From what I’ve read, I believe that you are definitely succesful enough to become a case. It doesn’t matter that you still have some things to solve, everybody has them, important thing is that you know a way how to do it and how to manage your life as a multipod. That’s a thing totally worth spreading.
I’ve been following this site for a while but it is now that I felt I have to push the comment button and express my thoughts about the topic of multipotentiality because this post was definitely helpful for me personally.
I think these are not just categories. They are also TOOLS for young people like me who can’t decide on what to do after college. I just graduated and I can’t make the right decision. But I am sure about what I really want. I want to spend each day doing what I want with maximum freedom–that involves learning any thing that would catch my interest!
After reading this post I sort of had an aha! moment like “Ok, so I can be this kind of multipotentialite for this year and perhaps this kind next year.”
These categories are like a set of clothes. You can choose to wear any of them! You can choose to be any of them!
Thanks for the post Emilie. I hope your book gets an updated version so I can volunteer to share my would-be success story! (with all hopes)
🙂
Hi Vincent,
Thanks so much for the comment. I’m really glad you found these categories helpful and that it sparked an AHA moment for you. That’s awesome. Please do keep in touch. I would love to feature you in the next revision. 🙂
Just like the amount of variety differs from person to person, I feel the interpretation of which model of work one uses is also different.
I do not know which model I’d put myself in but here’s what my situation looks like:
(1) Day job – Automobile Engineer. Love automobiles, hate the corporate work culture.
(2) Evening job – Blogger. I write on my own blog with the aim to help others quit their unsatisfying corporate jobs. I also learn how to increase the impact of my blog through SEO, marketing, psychology etc.
(3) Night job – Freelancer/Entrepreneur. I am learning how to build a business by offering my writing service as a blogger/content marketer/copywriter, while parallely earning through my freelance writing ventures.
I don’t know about success but I know that I’m financially secure enough to quit my job in September because I’ve got more than one year of savings to live off and I’m seeing some traction from my freelancing.
Just an year out of college and I find your story interesting and inspiring. I am truly inspired. Thank you.
I like how this allows hybrids to exist 🙂 Many times when there is a number of models in any theory, I feel upset about not being able to pick one when the thing is clearly forcing me to and doesn’t even mention another option.
When I look at my own history, I’ve clearly tried out more of these approaches but mostly the Einstein one and the Serial in long term perspective. I’ve tried several “dumb” dayjobs where I was hoping to use multiple skills and I usually did but in the end of a day, the jobs were really not what I needed and wanted to do so I’d just use them to get my financial security and fill the free time with stuff that made me happy, like blogging. And the jobs would vary from financial advising (lol, the worst thing I’ve ever tried) to teaching english or working as a waitress in a coffee shop, whatever felt decent enough at the moment.
Right now I’m an au-pair which means that I’m asked to do whatever needs to be done at the moment and that can vary a lot but at the same time I try not to be all about that and to work on my actual passions like writing and photography, so yes, I guess I’m a hybrid and the kind that still searches ways to set up something more secure for future ’cause I still don’t feel like this is where I should be. I’m really excited about this book and the studies therefore! 🙂
I’ve been trying out these different methods without realizing. In the beginning I did The Serial Approach and now I am doing the Slash approach. I think that is great word for it because that is literally how I feel, cut into pieces. It is not working for me, but I’m glad I gave it a shot.
I feel like I’m looking at a menu right now, and I think I’m going to try out the Group hug approach, that’s what I need right now. Yeah, I’m gonna try that sounds good!
Ha I love that you see this as a menu! So cool. Have fun trying them out. Thanks for the comment, Jen.
I used to follow approach #4 for many many many years.
Right now I am fully committed to approach #1…I feel that this is the road to ultimate success and joy.
What a great post!
I have been wondering about this for the past week! Amazing how the universe aligns to brings you what you need.
I am still having trouble smooshing all of my interests and currently exploring it. I have been working as a freelance graphic designer to fund the relaunch of my jewelry business for the past 18 months but keep going back and forth with other projects and interests. Thanks For this Emilie – the distinctions help.
I love this article! I am currently employing the slash approach – early interventionist/dog trainer/writer. I recently quit my (steady) teaching job and these other things started falling into place, and my boyfriend asked me if I was “going to do this forever, this piecing things together thing?” I told him that I was going to do it as long as I can – I get to do everything I love to do! 🙂
Can I be all of the above? 🙂
1) Group Hug – I like to own businesses or work at new organizations because I get to wear many different hats.
2) Slash – But I’ve never really found a business that encompassing all of my interests, so I tend to refer to myself as an Entrepreneur / Educator / Cognitive Scientist / Dancer.
3) Einstein – When I’m not owning a business (and even sometimes when I am), I often have a part-time job that makes fairly good hourly money, such as tutoring or bookkeeping.
4) Serial – All of these combinations are always changing and evolving! I’ve owned several businesses, helped start two non-profits, worked a variety of other random jobs, etc.
It’s having the variety and the change, on all sorts of time scales (daily, weekly, seasonally, yearly, etc), that satisfies my multipod self! 🙂
I am also a “smooshed” mixture of these! Not sure how successful, but…
For my undergrad I double-majored in chemistry and psychology and minored in education and biology. I loved every course I took and wanted to major or minor in it (was 3 credits away from minor in math–decided to take a pottery class instead…) I ended up getting a masters in education (after turning down a doctorate in neuroscience because I suddenly had a passion for travelling..)
Now that you understand the background, you will understand the jobs!
#1 Teacher: This has been a very successful choice for me. There is a lot of work during the school year, but there are a lot of breaks to pursue other passions. I am a “Group Hugger” when I teach. I like to create websites (I made one for my class). I like to be creative–I teach the chemistry of art, and the chemistry of cooking. It doesn’t matter what interests me at any given moment. I can usually tie it to chemistry and have a fun class. My interest in psychology works well here, too!
#2 I have never been much of a “slasher”, but I am trying it now. I am teaching online part-time, creating a website, and training for a 3rd job (another online job) while trying to get up the nerve to write the book I always wanted to write! I like the flexibility of working on-line. It allows me to work different projects into my day. I get a little happy lift then! I recently knit a sweater for a teacup chihuahua during my day breaks.
#3 Einstein: 2 of the jobs I am working at now are total no-brainer’s!
I am not really a serial person. All of my jobs have been in the science and education field 🙂
Good luck on your book Emilie! I will buy it!
I am amazed at how you’ve distilled this information down to 4 groups and that they fit so perfectly. SO perfectly. Can’t wait to read the book. Wish I was solid enough in my endeavors to submit for the case study. One day : ))
Emilie, this is just the post I needed right now.
I only discovered puttylike relatively recently and through it crystallised the realisation that I am indeed a “multipotentialite”. And I’m at the stage where I’m like “Ok that’s great, now how the hell do I figure out what to do?”
Your post actually helped me to feel a whole hell of a lot better about where I am now. I’m at a stage in my life where I’m generally trying to figure out how to earn a living in a way that makes me happy. I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do while resenting my “dead end job” which, as a fellow PuttyTribe member recently pointed out to me isn’t a very constructive place to be to create or seek solutions from.
The “Einstein Approach” method that you identify here has helped me to really transform the way I look at my current situation to a far more positive one all around. Having of a menial job that pays the bills but doesn’t sap too much energy, and that free’s you to work on your creative pursuits in your spare time outside of it – what a shift in perspective – maybe I’m not in a “dead end job”, maybe I’m actually being like Einstein! Haha :-p
Love it, Thanks Emilie! 🙂
I’m going for mostly the Einstein (I have a job at a library, which is also the BEST JOB EVER. I love books so much and get tons of inspiration from all the books I find, but I will admit that the job is crazy tedious which also leaves my creativity intact. And did I mention books?).
Along with that, there’s kind of a melding of the group hug and the serial approach in that I’m doing a bunch of things all around the focus of telling stories, but any change in format of how I tell those stories (like from book to video game) happens sequentially. That is, I’m spending most of my time right now working on my paperback, but with bits of time spent on other upcoming projects, and then next I’ll be spending most of my time on a comic, followed by a novel, followed by a video game. But they’re all stories, so they all fit with what I do and, overall, I’m giving far more focus on my novels than anything else, since I want them to form the core of my storytelling career.
In the future I’ll be doing clinical psychology in some capacity, but I’m not sure yet how that’ll fit and that’s also several years off, so I’m not too worried about it. 🙂
I’m a group hugger! (And I like the idea of using the group hug as my business model). Working really hard right now to get everything I love hugged in!
Energy work, teaching, healing sessions, self-actualization, meditation group, herbal products, nature-friending, farmer’s markets, blog, etsy shop, ebooks to come, & planning to record a new album this summer, that fits right?
Jumping from one thing to the next as I feel inspired & as deadlines arise. . . branching out in several different directions at once, many of them obviously connected, some not so obviously! My husband says he’s starting to see why I couldn’t just focus on one thing at a time, and how my big vision requires doing everything. . . The income is starting to trickle in from several directions. . .
I plan on being case study material by the end of the year, ok? 🙂
Great post. I think I’m doing according to the Einstein Approach. Working for the government, I like use my extra time to craft some simples devices for my community. I hope my secure day job will let me build a Renaissance business as mentioned.
Hi
Great site, love all your posts! Keep up the good work!
I’m an American living in Italy. I once had an office job in a web development company but I always felt like my efforts only benefited others and not myself. I moved out of the big city to a smaller city and changed jobs and lifestyle completely. I guess I use the “Slash approach”, I have ‘day job’ teaching English as a second language to adults, which means I mostly work in the afternoons and early evenings, so it gives me plenty of time for my blogging and jewelry making. Although the blogging and jewelry making make just enough income to cover their expenses, I couldn’t live on them alone, but with my job I have free-time between classes or in the mornings to dedicate time to them. It makes me feel more well rounded. And who knows, perhaps I will change job or lifestyle another time… isn’t that what ‘Puty Like’ means ??? 🙂
Great website Emilie, it is today that i came to know our ways.
I’ve been doing this for years, thinking i’m (as my wife says) “dicking around”. We’re both doing this, now I live in Indonesia, Yogyakarta in a big stone house with another around 10 people similar to us, doing all sorts of things. I would like to send you my story but my schedule is so full of things 🙂 you would not believe it.
Any ways, love and see you in the future.
Vale
Love this Emilie! I definitely feel I fall into the group hug approach. Love that description it feels so warm and cuddly :).
I would say that I take the “group hug” approach, with a splash of “serial”.
If I told you I worked for an IT Consulting firm, with 1000 employees in 7 major cities, you’d think that we had specialist of everything running around. But, to keep everyone “billable”, they encourage a large amount of cross-training in industries and in talent. From what I’ve seen in 7 years, you either are a specialist, or you are intellectually limber and can fill nearly every role.
In the short amount of time since I found your website and podcast, I realize how incredibly lucky and grateful I should be in working with such a flexible company. I started in the corporate office, working in communications. when I was starting to get bored and asking for more challenges (4 years later), my management put me in the field . (this is the “splash” of serial)
The group hug came into play when I became a consultant. In the last 3 years, I’ve worn a bunch of different hats as my projects have changed. The skills I built in corporate communications do not go to waste, but I also get a chance to show off at project management, data analysis, business process design and other resume-friendly words.
But at the end of the day, I’m solving problems. I’m taking bits of information, putting them together, seeing the bigger picture, and solving a business problem. And yes, it pays well. Also, while my company mostly does work locally, I have had a few chances to travel on the job, which feeds another interest of mine.
As far as future success and satisfaction, my company encourages you to raise your hand BEFORE you are at your burnout point. When looking at that seemingly greener grass, raise your hand, let your manager know, and they’ll start making a plan to move you to a different project, client, or role, in a way that is good for them and good for you. I’ve seen it, experienced it, and it works.
Hey Sarah,
Don’t know if you are following this comment thread anymore, but I must say that I am intrigued by the management style of your company. Huzzah to them for being so open, flexible, and caring toward their people! This is a rare thing these days, and I think that such employers should be recognized and applauded for their commitment to treating their staff like the amazing human beings they are.
I truly believe that if more companies valued their team in this way, more multi-passionate creative people would flourish in their work and businesses could only prosper and grow from this.
And wouldn’t that just make the world a little better place to live? 🙂
I started been a mechanic,I had been an accountant for eight years, Poultry farmer for six years, At the moment am working as Health care assistant, I finished my electrician training just last year 2013 with level 3 City and Guide in Electro technical technology certificate. Am now doing pharmacy assistant course which still on,and just last wednesday I started guitar training for beginners that will run up to 10 weeks. I will attend bread making course in november this year. Last week, while sitting in the lounge listen to somebody saying YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE CALLING, I examing all the skills that I have gained, I asked myself what’s wrong with me having all these skills instead of one.I felt some how, you know what I mean I felt like discontinued with the present trainings am doing. But when I went on the internet to ask the question: HOW WILL I KNOW MY CALLING, I stumbled on your website which provides answers to my question, where you said there is nothing wrong with me having more than one skill,you said. I AM A MULTIPOTENTIALITE. Oh…. Emilie, you have changed my mindset. God bless you.
On the creative side, I am a successful multipod, but not on the financial side (yet) 🙂
No, really! Where has this website been all my life???
🙂
Have you thought of writing a career advice book for young people who are still exploring their options? Or perhaps just a rejigged version of existing material, tailored at a younger market. Young people are being tied down by college loans and demanding yet low-level corporate jobs – the kind that only pay off after ten or twenty years’ progression and ascension. If that young person is a multipotentialite, this pathway is probably a waste of time, money and energy. Get in quick, and head them off at the pass.
Lia
Hey Lia,
That’s pretty much the book I’m writing, yup. 🙂
Emilie
Hi Emilie, I’m fresh out of uni and was freaking out in the exact way you described; fearful of a life of boredom and regret in a field I knew I’d lose interest in over time.
In my mad search for answers I stumbled across Barbara Sher’s work (that woman is a god send), which in a roundabout way led me here. I love your site, and I’m very much looking forward to reading Renaissance Business.
Good luck to all the scanners/multipotentialites out there!
Glad you made it here, Alex. It’s nice to meet you. 🙂
Hey Emilie!
I cannot stress enough how perfect the timing was that I happened across your TEDtalk about multi-potentialites! I am in the midst of having my second quarter-life crisis arising from a career change AGAIN! I felt amidst successful family and friends that I was being judged and pitied. I admit, I was throwing my own pity party! Why couldn’t I commit? Is it simply a question of discipline?
So, I want to thank you for having the courage and foresight to understand your own hardwiring before me.
On a side note, I am 26! And you mentioned that you began this site at that age! I hope I can begin some synergistic movement myself that I can look back on 5 years from now and be proud of! 🙂
Thank you! <3
~Natasha Narkiewicz~
Hi. Today, as usual, mom will talk to me about things such as ‘oh you need to pick a career path’ or ‘oh you need to think about what you are going to do when you grow up’ or ‘oh choose your major or else when highschool people ask and you say idk they won’t take you’ and so on and so forth.
And then just a minute later dad came over with the usual TED, except I felt like it was directed to me.
Before I found out the word ‘multipotentialite’ (did I spell it right?) I will often think of myself as ‘indecisive’ or ‘wanderer’ or ‘do whatever you want when you feel like it’ sort of person, which is obviously not welcomed in colleges or highschools. They want people who have goals, not people who keep on saying ‘idk’ and shift around.
I used to always feel like the odd one out, not being able to settle on one thing. Sometimes, I feel like I am good at everything (which I don’t like to say out loud because people will think I am boasting and etc), because really, when other people excel at one particular subject at school, and be like ‘oh when I grow up i will be a scientist’ and so on, I excel at Science, Math, Spanish, Art, English and so on, because it is ‘good to be good at everything’. And then I can only pick one thing I want to do for the rest of my life, I don’t think I will be able to without regretting later. : l
I will ask my friends if they decided yet. One of them just said: ‘Oh, probably economics because my parents will want it’. Oh, easy for her, my parents didn’t care, so I am practically lost in the possibilities.
I think when I grow up, I might end up with a day job like the Einstein method for sustained income and another secret job no one knows I like to do at home.
Isn’t it a win-win? I won’t end up starving but also I will be able to do what I want at the same time! : D
Many thanks to Emilie, for showing me how my life isn’t doomed and I am not alone.
Hello Emilie,
Yes I am one the serial type. Multi interest in learning, focused on Insurance,real estate, land development, building renovation and project management.
Also write poetry, studio arts graduate, paint, pottery.
I have been around for while as you can see. Now devoted to learn neurobiology and apply my understanding to counseling therapy to resolve anxiety, depression in young people. In 2013 finished a MS in counseling. The key is never stop learning, synthesize be aware and seek solutions. I love to solve problems.
Good luck to you !
Lea
Hi – just finished watching your TED talk and it feels fab to have discovered your site! There is something wonderful about someone who defines and categorises exactly how you feel! It appears I’ve been battling against being a multipod forever. Through law and out, yoga and out, travelling, food and writing I’ve done it all and keep beating myself up for not choosing something. I even saw a fantastic careers coach and we came up with a business model but even then I just felt I couldn’t stick to it. It seems I’ve stumbled on your site at the right time, currently working on an Einstein approach – a first for me as I kept thinking I had to sack it all in and search and develop my ‘calling’. Anyhoo, exciting to have a look around the site and many thanks, Jane
Wow, Thanks so much for this and you’re insight. Your words knocked me right on the head of being a Mulitpotentialite. As a single mother I was always trying to do the 9-5 job to earn a living for my family, but I nearly drove myself up the wall with that pathway.
I tend to get bored very quickly and would always be asked when are you going to choose just one thing, you’ve got to be more settled for your children.
Instead I decided to throw in working for someone and now use a few different approaches to earn a living so I can be home with my kids as well as expand my wings a little.
So, for a couple of days a week
I am a Family Educator and have before and after school care in my home.
During the middle and end of the semester I mark university papers,
I have regular business clients who I work with to virtualize their business (run it in the cloud)
I make and sell canvas/vinyl pieces to keep my creative side happy.
This works for me and I love the diversity and change that comes with living in my own moment. It’s not always easy, but I provide for us, we are never without, we still travel and most of all me and my children enjoy our life.
Thanks for providing a place where I know I’m not the only one out there who felt like trapped in the normal, mundane way of life.
Sylvs
Emilie,
I saw your Ted talk and immediately forwarded it to my two college going sons. You have opened so many doors for discussion, thank you!
Great TED video. As a multipotentialite, I can feel a bit scattered at times. I was really happy that you’ve laid it out so clearly. Putting the pieces together and making a customized career work is a challenge, but, since I’ve never really fit in anywhere, I’m used to/prefer doing things outside the norm.
I found this article very helpful, just to get ideas about what might be useful approaches to the conventional world of the workforce.
I’m an author with a strong background in poetry (I was a poet from 2001-2008) and movie-making (discovered film in high school in 1998-1999, eventually studied a degree in writing films.) I’m writing a young adult novel because one of the rejection letters I got, from a publisher said that I am very talented, blah blah, but then added a really cool suggestion that I should be writing young adult novels – which gave me a way of packaging myself as an author.
I’m also learning web programming for software and an income, and python and possibly unity 2d for game development. I’m writing plays, four blogs, writing and art direction for a graphic novel with an artist friend, and writing short movies (with plans to produce next year) and short stories.
When I have some money I want to build art installations (electronics, creatures and software are my main focus as an artist,) direct a web series based on an unpublished short novel, do art direction for feature films, produce web software and direct animated films.
At the moment I’m also in the process of volunteering at the theatre in the art department – props, costumes, sets.
Twitter: @filmnerdmike
Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!Yesterday I watched your video, “why don’t some of us have a true calling.” It so resonated with me. At last I know what I am.
I am 55 and have always love learning. My career path is so long that I had to stop putting things in when I went for job interviews.
(Shop assist, Sales Rep,Manager several times, Landscaping gardener, Market Research, Medical receptionist, website builder/designer, floral arranging, quilting, dressmaking, felting, painting, manufacturer, bookkeeping, payroll, grief counselor,personal assistant, real estate rep, real estate account/property manager, Home loans finance advisor…)
Whenever I start a new hobby or career I go like a bull at a gate and devour everything on the subject. Once I have learned it inside out proficiently I get bored. So on to the next hobby/career.
Currently I live in Saudi Arabia as my husband works here. I am not allowed to work here. However I thought what can I do. So I decided to teach Arts & Crafts to the many different nationalities of women on our compound. I would go on youtube learn how to do something then show the girls. We have made many things from shoes,crochet, knitting, weaving, ceramic painting,sewing projects… many of the ladies have never been taught lots of the skills. So it is very rewarding to see their progress.
At the moment I am doing a drawing course with a famous Painter here. I love pinterest and keep getting asked if I would like to upgrade to business because I have so many pin interest.
Now I can stop thinking what is it that I was mean’t to do. I am also very perceptive and intuitive. I have assisted many when they are dying to be able to let go. I have always known how different I am. As I got older and particularly since being here I have embraced my multi facets. I have no problem talking to groups or strangers. During my life I have had some very extremely difficult circumstances to deal with, but this is what has made me the person I am today.I love life and helping others.
Sorry for the long comment, you have made my day. Thanks Emilie xx
Hi Emile,
I send you greetings from the tiny Island of Curacao in the Caribbean.
Do you like Major League Baseball? Maybe you heard about Andruw Jones (an outfielder). He was called ‘the Curacao kid’. He played for several years in the Atlanta Braves and he won 10 gold gloves. Nowadays you have Andrelton Simmons. He plays shortstop in the Atlanta Braves. He is also from Curacao. By the way Curacao isn’t an independent country. We are a autonomous country within the Dutch Kingdom. With Dutch we mean the Netherlands as a country (sometime its called Holland) in Europe. Do you sometime see soccer-game? Did you here about Johan Cruijff. He is the greatest soccer-player ever in Dutch History. In 1974 they lost the world-final of soccer to the Germans. The Dutch aren’t the same folk as the Germans. People mostly mistakes these European countries as part of the same. This is only to give you an orientation, but enough with the introduction.
A friend send me the link of your TEDx presentation. Really a blessing. Can you imagine yourself the possibilities for a multi-potentiality living on island of 444 km square? When I was 17 years old I went abroad for study in the Netherlands. I was an Afro-Curacao-en in predominant white community learning advance science in a foreign language (thus, in Dutch and sometime in English!). In Curacao we learn to speak four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento (is my mother-tong). I have a bachelor in spatial (urban) planning and a master in human geography. After 8 years I came back to Curacao in 1990 and I worked as a project-leader in Neighborhoods Rene-wall in Willemstad, in the capital of Curacao, for about 16 years as a public servant. Simultaneously at the end of my public career I finalize two studies in sequential order; one as Internal Ad-visor (Organizational Change, Change Management etc.) and secondly, a Master in Business Administration (MBA). After that I worked as a project-adviser at “USONA”, an institute that management funding with Dutch grant of development-cooperation projects on the five islands of the former Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao, Saint Maarten, Saint Eustatius and Saba). In 2009 I and my wife started until today an own consultancy bureau named Indigoblue Consult. Sorry for, but our company website is written in Dutch, but we are working on an expansion of it in several languages. Thus also in the English Language. On LinkedIn you will find more specifics about mine background in English. A sidestep: In 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was dissolve as an autonomous country within the Dutch Kingdom. Curacao became now a separate autonomous country from the other islands within the Dutch Kingdom. For coincident in these days I’m working very hard in cooperation with a representative of the Chamber of Commerce of the island on my USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for myself within the boundaries of our company. For me it means a real transformation, because I have to focus now much more on the private sector and foreign customers as potential client, instead of governmental agencies and NGO’s (the social sector). Maybe you have tips for me?
I have to inform you, after a very successful year in 2014, I having problems with acquiring assignments of potential clients during this current year. This because of the total decline of the grant-economy on the island. In December 2014 the last Dutch available grants for development cooperation projects has stop after 10 years. The whole island, inhabitants, project owners, contractors, NGO’s and others are directly effected by this semi-crisis situation. At the same time I’m embarking fully on preparations for writing a proposal for Ph.D. dissertation. For almost the last four year I have been exploring this endeavor to startup. The subject for the proposal will focus on ‘Cooperatives’ as a theme. Last year we went to Mondragon in Spain and this year in April we were at Bologna (the region Emilia Romagna) in Italy to do contacts with peers on the topic of cooperatives. I’m also very interested in knowing a lot more about the Cleveland Model in the USA, where mister Gar Alperovits, he and his people have developed three coops (a laundry, a second one for the making of solar-panels and an third one focus on agriculture based on aqua-ponics), with very interesting results for job-creation and less unemployment. I hope soon to hear from you. Kind Regards, (mister) Sharnon Isenia (mostly Sharnons in the USA are females, but I’m a male). “Ayo”
I need a little help here.
I’m in Med school currently. Just 2 years left to graduate. And, I’m 100% certain that I do not want to practice medicine or be a clinician.
I have no idea why I wanted to be a doctor in the first place. Because, now I realize I don’t wish to be one at all.
Before applying for medical school, I considered Journalism/ Law.
Is it sane to switch over to either of them after investing 5.5yrs in Medicine ?
🙂 Yes, it’s sane. Better to quit now than after you’ve invested 10 or 20 years of your life to medicine, right?! I quit law school after getting my law degree. I never practiced, but I knew law wasn’t for me. Really happy with my decision, and a lot of my legal skills have been helpful in other projects.
Hi Emily,
Nice to get in touch with all this multipotentialite people and I finally found out that It’s not just me like this. I’m Elena from Italy and I’m everyday “fighting” to be me. I’ve been working in my parents store for 8 years (normal job) but when I was 27 I left Italy to fly to Australia and follow me dreams. I studied graphic design at the high school and I’m always been a good athlete, photographer, geek, social media adicted… I’ve been repearing the old selfphones while I was in the family store, reading the english dictionar to learn another language… And so on! I felt lost for many years after I lived in Australia for four winter seasons, but at the same time I started to understand what I really love. A started to snowboarding and take pictures of action and I also found out that I’m perfect for traveling! After almost 8 years I’m back in Italy. I’m a freelancer writer and photographer, I’m a cycling blogger, I know people from al over the world, I speak english and I’m ambassador of some famouse cycling brands in the world. I’m making my way… It’s gonna be a hard climb but I’m sure I’m goong you male it. Thank you to let me share my story… I did so many thing in the last 10 years as traveling in India and Vietnam, lived with aborigenal in Oz… That I feel so different… My point of view is changed.
Ciao!
Elena
I feel like Einstein Approach would work for me but i’m still struggling to figure out what i’m going to do with my life, i was wondering if anyone can give some advice?
I’m just about too finish year 12 and everyone know what they are going to do or what they want to do. Everyone keeps asking me what i’m going to do but i can’t give an answer. There is just so much i want to do, there is music, art, language, sport, computing, but i know after a while, i’ll just get board and want to do something else.
Anyways, i had a point, i’m thinking i should become a police officer, that way i can feel like i’m helping people while doing my job, but still (hopefully) have time to do my many projects. Do you think this is a good idea?
Thank you, 😀
Why don’t you spend some time talking with people who have the careers your considering? If possible, spend a day shadowing them.
I needed to see this because I recently identified as a multipod, but I’m struggling with “what to do when I grow up”. Now I know I will ALWAYS struggle with this question, and that’s okay.
I think it’s because I’m a Serialist. I’m also VERY ambitious. I don’t just want to do new things, I want to do new AMAZING things! I’m at one of those crossroads. I’m 7 years into my current job, and there are some great things about it: moving every couple years, changing job details each move, tying the strands together for analysis that others miss. (That’s my true gift to the job, the entire reason I am so good at it, and it’s all due to my multipotentiality.)
But I’m looking at maybe not doing this job in about a year, so I have ALL these options in front of me. Why would I leave a job that caters to my multipotentiality? Because it doesn’t, really. I get to study many different topics, but I’m always an analyst. I’m ready to be an emergency manager, or a personal trainer, or a librarian, or an editor, or a business owner! I want my current job to be an Einstein job, and I just don’t have that option right now. I will throw myself wholly into it if it is my primary job because that is my nature.
When this one slips into an Einstein job (I have that option… in a year), I’m sure I will return to my Serialist ways. I just need to decide which way I’m pointing my compass when that time comes.
I love this site, and I love that I finally have a way to describe exactly what and who I am, and to know I’m not alone!
I would have to say I am a serial/Einstein hybrid, I explore new territory, learn all I can about the new path to my satisfaction, and when i am done, I’m done. I used to always joke that there wasn’t a job I wouldn’t try, at least once!
As I go about exploring these new fields of interest, I always keep a menial day job to pay the bills and often to finance my new ventures.
It gives me enough stability to try new things without ending up on the streets :).
In my life, I have been a journalist, web designer/developer, social media specialist, IT manager, exotic dancer, a chandler, a non-profit executive, blogger, podcaster and, and wife (my multipod tendencies seem to go there as well. I’ve been married multiple times, each ending amicably. When it was just time to go, and I had learned all I could from them, that was it.)
Right now, I am at the beginning of my latest endeavor, writing/producing/directing a new web series, and two short films.
And it doesn’t matter that i haven’t done it before. I just seem to have an innate sense of how things should work, and they usually do. Not sure why that is.
Well I am glad I have FINALLY found my tribe and I will be on this site constantly. i cannot wait for your book to come out!
I am totally an Einstein. I get so many weird looks from people when I say that I work so that I can do other things. Sometimes those things are travel, sometimes those things are different volunteer opportunities, or creative endeavors. I find, though, that I can struggle with too much the other way – instead of consolidating into a focus, getting involved in too many things and feeling like I’m short changing either them or myself. Sometimes I end up, through all of these things that I love and wanting to see my friends and needing to work and, and, and…. that I also go through a boom and bust cycle of doing /everything/ and then needing to do nothing. I have yet to be able to smooth out the wave so I’m pleasantly busy and not feeling like I need to hide in a cave to recover.
As a Group Hug/Einstein hybrid multipod, I’ve been fortunate that two of my first ‘real’ jobs out of college were brand new when I took them. I had a whole lot of input and autonomy to shape and grow the positions into what I wanted them to be. I might still grow bored with them eventually, due to industry, employer-specific/stystem, or financial constraints, but its been two very thorough excercises in self-actualization and adaptability.
I recently hired some help with my website – rewriting my bio. One of the things the freelancer was able to do was to simplify the focus of my occupation. From an outside perspective she was able to define me as writer, designer, art director. Which I’m happy to consider myself as, with sometimes being more specific eg. writer (young adult novels, short fiction, 4blogs, scripts), designer (games, software, puppets, electronics), Art Director (comic books, animation, television). With this as a starting point I can continue working on various creative projects, with a backup learning of computer game programming in python for a potential day job/expanding the studio into design projects. She wrote a really cool bio which I’m glad I paid for and now I’m currently in the process of having my website migrated to a wordpress skeleton – with my blogs underneath it, that I set up.
Thank you very much! Emilie, you saved my life . I always tried to believe that rested perhaps more than just that -That one . At times I thought that maybe I’m doing something wrong, but vseravno adhered to the inner spirit , and now At last I overheard that I did everything right. It is wonderful !!! Why I did not give up and do not make the wrong belief – perhaps because I quickly pereklyuchlsya to another , more positive idea) Sergey , Ukraine, Cherkassy.
I’m totally a serial careerist! I have a B.A in Liberal Studies and a teaching credential. It took me 6 long years, after which, I taught for 3 years, then abandoned it. I started a wedding consulting business. I ran that for about 3 years and abandoned it. I tried teaching again and hated it so I decided to go to massage school. I did that for 9 months, then spent the next 6 years running my own day spa. Got tired of that and went back to teaching and hate it. Again. I tried to quit last summer and ended up thinking I wanted to stay but now only in November, and I’m ready to quit again. I have no time or energy for my interests. I feel like my entire life is working. I want to go back to having my own business, which I loved, but I’m not sure if I want to go back to massage, or start something new entirely. I’m trying to work on a handmade soap business but I know that will never pay the bills, but it’s fun to do. My family is supportive, especially my husband, but I feel like he’s kind of sick of my indecisiveness. He works really hard and takes on several different jobs so that I can stay home if I want to, but I know he hates putting money into another idea I have.
I am also a teacher and I hate it because I have no time for my other interests. I quit teaching for a while, and tried it again thinking that I just was too young and immature the first time I tried, but I still can’t stand being robbed of the time and energy to do all of the other things I love to do.I want to help others, but not at the expense of making myself miserable. I need out of this career so badly, but I don’t know what to do next, and I feel like the moment someone looks at the education section of my resume, they wonder why I don’t want to teach and why I have had so many different jobs and toss it to the bottom of the pile. Ironically I became a teacher because I had no favorite subject in school, so I figured that I could enjoy teaching them all to elementary school students. Choosing a university degree at age 20 is a great way to make the rest of your life very difficult… I am 28 now and I still have no clear direction.
I absolutely love this website having only recently found it via a link in the Careershifters website about why not everyone has just one career. That link took me to Emilie’s TED talk and it all started to make sense. I have definitely been using the serial approach over the almost 30 years of full time employment but now want to move towards the slash approach, having more than one thing on the go at the time. As with a lot of the comments on this page my big problem is that work is just getting in the way of living so perhaps an Einstein approach would fit me better……ah, decisions, decisions. This website has made me think about work in a whole new way. It made me actually think about it in a mindful way instead of just stumbling from one career to another with no great thought or direction. Who knew that at 40 something I would be reinvigorated about the possibilities and potential that the world of work holds for me and what I can bring to the world of work!
reading and thinking here; does being a multipotentialite always mean small company/self-employment/startup? Or do some of you more experienced multipotentialites (ahem, only been exposed to the idea for an hour or so) think bigger collectives, structures, companies are also an option? Thank you very, very much.
Another question – what happens when the question about your qualifications arises, a la, “are you even the right/competent/qualified/specialist enough person to make this descision/thing/statement?”? Is it a matter of waving your various degrees and diplomas and papers in front of the asker or…?
Thanks again, thanks again.
I’ve been wondering similar things reading through these comments, currently in my own ‘what to do next’ phase and looking back on my own (fairly successful) career to date. Not quite sure where it will go from here…
I did a geology degree and ended up working for an exploration office, fixed their computer once and became the IT expert, then the GIS expert, then the database expert etc… I then did an MBA as it was obvious that I liked the business process & software more than rocks (plus my process efficiencies had made me redundant), and ended up doing business analysis/project management in IT projects involving operational software (drill & blast, modelling, etc.). Then cause the industry crashed, I did some corporate management (looking after HR, Finance, IT, media & strategy), and had the opportunity to be the Acting Director for a few months, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
I always said that working on Projects was a good strategy as I could change projects rather than companies to keep me interested, working with different functions and stakeholders each time. IT projects were a little too focused on cost/time at the expense of functional scope though, so I became quite disillusioned about these aspects.
I’m currently considering Business Excellence/Operation Improvement roles now, as this gives me a similar ability to explore a range of new things, and it was the fun part of what I did with the project management/business analysis.
General management has a similarly varied role and I’m also on an industry committee to try and explore a career as a director – being on a few company boards is another way of finding that variety factor, and these contracts are usually for 3 years each, so encourage movement and new ideas.
Unfortunately I’m feeling a little trapped at the moment with the “are you even the right/competent/qualified/specialist” factor at the moment. Most jobs I’ve applied for recently have over 100 applicants, all of whom have had similar role descriptions for many more years than I have. Convincing someone you can do the job is hard, even if you think you will bring a new perspective (or multiple new perspectives) to the role.
Square peg, round hole. Again. In hindsight, I should have been more proactive in a previous role to try and get to know people in the areas I was interested in, and then use these connections to move around. Going through recruitment agents is an absolute nightmare and mostly doomed to failure for me, given my experience to date. I think for multipotentialites, we need to use our connections and reputations more than our CVs?
I’m also interested to hear of anyone else who’s had similar challenges, where they’ve managed to get to, and how!
I’m delighted to have just discovered this website, and found a name for my identity! I’m firmly in the serial camp (PC specialist, commodities trader, training manager, analyst, strategic planner, back office manager, stay at home mom, option trader, part-time non-profit programmer) spending 3-5 years at nearly all of these endeavors. My question is: now that I am approaching the final 1/3 of a “patchwork” career, how can I persuade people to take a chance on someone with a background like mine? I’ve been looking for full-time work for over 18 months, having never previously had to spend more than 8 weeks! The catchphrase for job seekers these days is “branding” and quite frankly I haven’t got one. If any of the talented multi-pros on this site have faced a similar mid/late career challenge, I’d love to hear how you broke through the logjam.
I just saw Emily’s talk on Ted. What a discovery! My whole adult life I have had a terrible feeling of guilt that I could never find a “true calling”. I’m 64 now and that’s a whole lot of guilt. Even though I have done and experienced so many things and enjoyed those things immensely, the term “shiftless” has dogged my mind forever. To know for the first time that it is an actual personality type and that there are others like me has blown me away. I live in Bend, Oregon and wish now I had seen her talk in person. My son has inherited the same trait. I know that sharing this with him will help to relieve future years of guilt. I think for the first time I can look back to all the fantastic experiences I have had over the years with pride and not shame. Thank you, Emily!
I have done the serial approach in the past, and I have gone through major career changes; one time I had to go back to school, other times I just did evening courses…. This time, I’m not sure the serial approach is the right thing for me as I want to do multiple things, and I don’t want to put things on hold. The Einstein approach is too difficult for me as I go way into what I’m doing where I have no more time or energy to do anything else, or at least this has been my experience. I guess if it was a part time, then it could be possible.
Group Hug and Slash Approach seem quite appealing.
By the way, great choice of names, love it!
I guess I’m a Model #1, but Hybrid.
Been working for myself for almost 12 years now, with the odd “real Job” mixed in here and there, briefly.
Saw the Ted-talk and it hit me like a ton of bricks “Multipotentialite!”
I’m not sure if everyone else here is, but I’m ADD as well, which is what I had long attributed to my situation in life.
I’ve worked 50 jobs, got bored with most, but still delve into many others on a regular basis. Working for myself is best for me, but choosing the right integration of my skills/talents to build my own business was the tough part.
Now, as a consultant/general contractor, I can travel and work from pretty much anywhere. I much prefer consulting, as it doesn’t require any large physical tools.
Thanks for your insight and great talk Emilie!
~Allan
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
Interested in what I’ve done?
TheABCs.Co
thefixer.ca
Hi Emilie,
Great post, and I’m so excited to have found your site. It’s really helping me feel better about how I approach things and also feel like I can use my natural talents/way of thinking to do something awesome.
I went through your Overarching Theme Kit, which was a huge help – it made me realize that pretty much ALL my interests have a central common theme: the joy of experience and the fun of playing with a purpose (my personal metaphor is untying knots). So many things I could do with that (cooking is a passion of mine, as are books/movies/music. Also love Marketing / SEO, and technology / futurism). So many ways to combine them, but do you have any suggestions on how to research whether or not there’s the potential for profit? I would love to start a blog, but I don’t want to spend a year building it up without seeing any ROI.
Long story short, do you have suggestions for how to identify which of my many ideas/interest combinations have the potential for profit? There are so many blogs out there about cooking, marketing, literature, etc. already.
Thanks again for creating such a fantastic resource for us polymaths! 🙂
Hi Keegan,
Thanks for the kind words. In terms of profitability, I would think about the audience. Who are they, where do they hang out, do they spend money on this sort of thing? If other blogs/businesses exist, that’s a good sign. But as you mentioned, an over-crowded market is not ideal. In those cases, you might ask whether you can bring a different perspective to the mix. Maybe smoosh in another interest of yours to help you stand out?
Hope that helps! Cool overarching theme. 🙂
Thanks! Any tools or websites you know of or have used for market research (other than good old Google, of course)?
Hey Emilie,
This is a great article and a great website! Thank you so much for your work, it helped me realize what´s “wrong” or better what´s right with me.
I have changed my major from social science, to fashion design and finally economy. I´ve been working in a job were I´m able to combine my passion for art and music for almost 10 years now and a lot of people say that they would really love my job, but I´m never satisfied, always bored and almost depressed. But I could never tell anyone about my this, because people would think I´m just ungrateful.
So instead I tried many different things in my spare time, got a new hobby or interest every other week. Painting, photography, natural medicine, working with animals, learning languages….you name it.
My biggest problem is that I´m so overwhelmed with all the possibilities that I wish I had a couple of lifetimes to discover them all. And of course there´s always this fear of choosing the wrong path. I´m 35 years old now, have a family and a mortgage, so trial and error is not really and option for me.
One discovery I made along this road is that writing is a great way to combine many interests and I think it should be on your list as well. As a writer you can dive deep into many different topics, write about a certain topic and then start with something new. Another advantage of writing is, that it can help you to structure your thoughts, which has always been a problem for me. So writer could be a great career for someone who´s interested in many different things. Hopefully, this will be the case for me 🙂
Have a great day and thank you once again.
Hi Emilie,
One of my friends in Grad school just gave me the link to your Ted talk after I vented to her about my life. I just finished watching your talk and instantly texted her to thank her for this introduction. I love that I’m not alone and couldn’t have asked to stumble upon this at a better time in my life (I’m 27 now). I look forward to digging more into your website – please use us to help spread your word, give examples, or whatever you need. We believe in you for believing in us!
Sincerely,
Jenn
It is a blessing I found your Ted talk! Finally, someone that understands me. Haha
Thank You so much eye so look forward to this…if just feels right after looking for something like this for so long… Eye am a total hybrid…but eye will draw from them all… but eye think the group hug…calls to me the most… again thank you…for providing this space and place of belonging…namaste valerie
Hey 🙂
I was so happy when I saw you on TED talks. It literally made my day and just found myself nodding and smiling all the time.
Definitely a multipotentialite!
I am actually in the process of quitting my job and taking a big chance on myself…to do what exactly? I’m not 100% sure but I know that it must be done.
So cheers to you and everyone else embracing who they are working towards a happier future. (She says with a very nervous smile)eeeek!!
Thanks again.
Chels
Emilie,
Thank you for so clearly highlighting the challenges faced by multipotentialites in a society so focused on categorization & specialization. I still vividly recall a job interview with Arthur Anderson as a college senior over 30 years ago. I was flown to their Chicago world headquarters for a final interview, where a partner lectured me on the importance to becoming a specialist, versus a generalist. He didn’t see how someone could possibly be successful wanting to learn “a lot about many things”. 30 years later, I’m grateful I didn’t sell my soul at that moment.
In terms of models, I’ve spent most of my career in model #4. While I experienced some degree of success, this approach has carried some significant costs, both in terms of career advancement and in disruption of personal and professional relationships.
I’m now fortunate to have found a home in model #1, with the flexibility to evolve and shift focus as my interests and the needs of the business change.
Thanks again for your contributions!
-Steve
I’m happy to see that I’m not alone! I was starting to think that I was becoming crazy :’)
I am so excited to have stumbled across this amazing community. For years, I have had so many interests and chopped and changed jobs like changing my underwear. I always thought there was something wrong with me which resulted in depression.
Just a few days ago, I decided to see a careers counsellor or life coach or something, but now I feel like I don’t have to.
I am not quite sure how I am going to combine all my loves, or the path that I am going to take, but at least now I feel relieved and not afraid and not alone.
Thank you Emilie!!! LEGEND!
Raquel x
Emilie,
You’re my new superhero.
Thank you for this. You have no idea how big of an impact this has had on me.
Love it : ), did the serial approach in my younger years, currently in Einstein mode and hopefully to make it to slasher in five months.
Thank you for this Emilie! I saw your TED talk and found your site through that. I am currently trying to come up with a life plan now that I know I will probably never be content with one occupation…it’s great to know we are not alone and share resources!
I’m not sure how you guys graduated college. I cannot even decide on a major long enough to start classes.
This is amazing! I have finally seen my job-hopper employment history written out in specific ‘Models’. Love it! I am encouraged rather than discouraged now 🙂
I haven’t read all comments, but a sub-type of “Serial” is “Cyclical”: I have found myself going back and forth between technology, marketing and education (or a combination of two of those).
I did not plan this, but it had the effect of building on previous knowledge and skills while at the same time acquiring new ones.
And it might be time to switch again 🙂
What about Serial Entrepreneurship? I have started one business but often feel I need to compartmentalise my interests into more than one business. No one likes a ‘we do everything’ business.
While I am no where near doing this, I am investing my time across various focuses, being employed part-time, investing time as a trustee for a charity and part-time self-employed. The one thing to be very aware of though is ‘conflict of interest’, which we could easily yet unintentionally fall prey to.
Hi Emilie,
I was very happy to have found your site : I only started feeling better after reading it ! Thanks to you i discover at the age of 46 (!) that i am “normal”
(Excuse my english, i’m french and live in Paris, France)
Over the past 20 years I went through different jobs (secretary/credit manager and the last : owner of my little firm of uphostery) but never really felt happy…
I tried 2 “skills assessments” and more recently a coaching, but it’s always the same : it ends like “you should carry on thinking of what you like most” ;-((
Before writing to you, i looked for “multipotentialite” knowledge, or groups, in France, but cannot find anything neither in french or around Paris.
If you have any ideas, they will be welcome.
“en attendant” (while waiting for your response), let’s start reading all your website !
Thank you Emilie!!!
Severine x
Hi Emilie, thanks for spreading this idea around:)
I am definitely a multipotentialist, but I struggle with the balance between a decent income and being happy at work. This is definitely a challenge that needs to be investigated and thought through collectively. I think I am getting bored quicker than it’s needed to make a new idea/business sustainable. And switching to a new job starting from scratch would make me unhappy because I would earn much less than my internal perception of my own value. I would love to find a daily occupation that enables me to do all sorts of stuff on a leadership level and be well paid at the same time. This sounds like a thing for a startup owner, but a startup owner can’t get bored of their own startup. this is the problem. He or she has to be the one who never gets bored about what he or she is doing and leading others in that respect. Plus, they don’t earn at all at the beginning. And in a formal organizations, it’s very hard to find a position where you can lead and do many things at once. Usually this kind of positions are closer to the top of the pyramid and you have to work many years in some area as somebody else to “earn” the leadership position.
I just discovered the term “Multipotentialite” while googling “I have too many interests which career field should I stick with?”
I like drawing, taking photos, fashion, acting, but I also like learning about law and medicine. I have considered being a lawyer, a doctor, a fashion PR, and actor.
The questions is: what should I do? I am finishing my undergrad degree majoring in law and french. I have absolutely no idea what to do next year. I need to start making money and to have a sense of direction of where I’m going. I love that I have many talents and interests but this uncertainty is giving me too much anxiety.
I need help! Any suggestions?
Emilie,
A friend posted your Ted talk on my time-line. You are wise.
Years ago, sensing that finding my passion was a losing cause for me, a brilliant friend suggested that curiosity itself was a legitimate passion… and then I was on my way. When my interest is ignited, I research or explore, learn a new skill, resolve my questions, until I reach a satisfactory (to me) level of competence, then, as you say, something else takes my attention.
In my “career”, I was an Einstein, worked for the Federal Government (Canada) luckily as an employment counsellor, met thousands of great people, who showed me how wide-ranging the possibilities were.
The day I retired, I got my life back, the one I gave up when I started Kindergarten. I had always said my education began the day I finished school. My entrepreneurial life began when I was free to learn everything.
I love machines, logic, words, materials of almost any description, I love artists and craftspeople processes, I love science and the environment. I love finding things and making them into objects that make people smile. I am a neuro-linguist and a graduate of Clown School. I love magic and surprises. I am a poet, a writer, a carpenter, a maker of anything I want to understand. I love power tools and sailing.
Emilie, I am 69 years old, your grandmother, your grand-friend. You are full of good helpful energy. Many of the multipotentialites have been labeled as people with deficits. You understand that they have superpowers.
I would love to know what happens in the putty room but my pension limits my “fun money” and right now, I want to learn more about soldering so I can build a person out of metal garbage. I think it will be funny.
Oh yes, and we are building a community of artists and musicians, in a tiny town. We don’t buy much and we share everything. There are people here who can’t afford hockey and dancing lessons but art and music are accessible in our town.
Thanks for sharing all of your wisdom with so many people.
You Rock!
Diana
So, I just want to share my experience.
At the moment my ‘job’ is researcher: i have a grant as a research student. In the mean time I work on my dream startup, which is an innovative approach for funding charity projects.
In my free time I am a volunteer in an art lab for people with mental disabilities (it’s been two years… and I am not getting bored at all! Maybe first time in my life). I am even studying foreign languages: japanese and french. Soon it seems that I am going to give up my job as researcher (my grant is going to finish) and I have passed the oral exam for another job : working in a bank.
In the future, I would like to have some short experience abroad as a volunteer (going to Africa or/and Asia) and I would like to become a volounteer in a field which makes me meet people with a different background (migrants, people in prison and so on)
Until now I used to think I was insane… now I know that I am special (but too much: this thing that I am has even a name)!! I think I will really enjoy this website 🙂
Hi Emillie.. Thanks for these eye opening tips. Here in Africa, young multipotentialites take a lot of heat from parents and peers. They are considered as persons without direction or focus. They say ” that kid is confused, just doesn’t know what he wants” and in no time depression sets in, you start to think you’re crazy or a weirdo . I’m glad there are many hybrids like me out there. I have this nag for pets, animal science’s and nature, I write poems and short stories, I’m into graphics, classical music, chess and acting.. I’m rounding up my degree in mass communication and i basically earn a living as a music teacher and a breeder. I was struggling to balance between settling for one interest and dealing with the boredom and exploring my multi-skills without fear.. This really means a lot to me.. Thanks again Emillie and a big kiss to all multipotentialites out there 🙂 i love you all.
Hi Ifeanyichukwu,
Thanks so much for the comment. I’m sorry you haven’t found support at home. For whatever it’s worth, that’s a pretty common thing I hear a lot from people in many different countries. You’re definitely not alone there. One of my goals is to get the word out about multipotentialites and our strengths so people start seeing us for what we really are, rather than as some outdated aforism (like “jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” or whatever the saying is in your language).
Enjoy your many passions! (It sounds like you are. 🙂
I am a totally serial multipod. I have worked in many career fields, and never gone back to them. Admin, libraries, charities, education, publishing. All in chunks of 3 years or so. The education one was 10 years, but in various different aspects of the education area.
It only occurred to me recently that I have lived the perfect multipod career. The only thing I haven’t done is make lots of money, which is not helpful. But otherwise, I’m the perfect serial multipod- learn about a job area, get as much as I can out of it, then move on.
It took me uncountable jobs and ventures before I found my current one, owner of a LEGO Makerspace. In my 52 years I reinvented myself every few years. And now, for the last 6 years, I found my group hug base. I can play with kids, teach them new things, build and program robots, create websites, inventory systems, help parents understanding their kids, do my books and marketing, and when I get bored I invent a new activity to do with the kids.
Next step? Move my business to a bigger location, and expand.
I certainly fit the Phoenix mold until just recently, when I switched to Einstein mode, it seems. My current job doesn’t require much of me, but I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing!
Quick synopsis: English major bound for law school, veered off into helping found a high tech startup for lawyers in the early 90s, morphed into web design (taught myself HTML 9 months pregnant in 1998 because I was bored!), kept a healthy passion for history and storytelling alive by running the local historical society, pursued my passion for architecture by earning my M.Arch in my 30s, moved into museum education and non-profit management and now I help my husband run his wealth management firm.
This current gig has more number crunching which I didn’t realize I actually enjoy – funny since I always thought of myself as more artsy. But really anything that lets me fall into my “zone” is what I’m into.
I wish I discovered all of this sooner! Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this topic of being a mulitpotentialite! I’ve recently been feeling burdened with what I’ve been describing as “burnout.” I’ve only just begun to realize this duality I’m experiencing has a name.
I got excited a few years ago because I believe I now know exactly how to combine all of my past experiences into one incredible company. However, to build that company I need money and need to support myself living in NY. Navigating the startup world isn’t easy and has gotten to be exhausting as a minority and female entrepreneur (who lets be honest we get funded the least). So, I set out to find a meaningful and steady job while I’m building.
The toughest thing has been packaging myself on paper as a specialist when I’m really a multipotentialite. Even now, I can’t put that on a resume, so I’m still struggling to figure out how my resume should be modeled when I have varying skills and jobs. Even when I tie them together and spell it out for people that my skills are transferable, they want someone with singularity.
I find it particularly hard when interviewers ask what I’ve been doing for that last 4 years and I have to explain that I took a break from corporate endeavors to focus run a business dealing with artistic interests. While I’ve discovered tactful way to say this, I feel like I’m still being pigeon holed into a box where people see me as a creative for those experiences. Despite the fact that I’ve won business and entrepreneurship awards and made great achievements, it’s still frowned upon. It doesn’t help that I’m also an introvert (not shy at all, just my energy typing) in a society (and city) I believe has shifted towards extreme extroversion.
Anyways, how does one find good companies that are seeking multipotentialites? Are there platforms, career sites, agencies or other resources you know of where people value this skill set in NY?
Wow. I had no idea there was a name for people like me. I’ve always tried to learn as much as possible. Everything just made perfect sense for me reading this. I’m once again in a place of having to reshift my tool box after 9 years at a job that were multiple hats. 9 years was too long and I was itchy for the last 2. Swimming in deep waters right now not sure where to land or what to do.
Hi! Emilie. I’m mania.21.I was so into ‘what’s wrong with me?’ … until I found you … thank you so much for letting me know myself ..i was depressed for over 6 months and had many problems and even went to a counsellor but didn’t work (he said i have a desire to pretend) so i got more depressed but tried to forget until my sister found out…she saved me saying ‘we’re the same we all pretend to be a better person’ and she helped me getting into things i once loved and had forgotten about..
actually what depressed me was i started to work with my best friend and at some point i didn’t want to do it anymore cause i already learned what i came for and the work didn’t had any progress and my family was against it. At first i told them ‘i want to do it’ but after 1 year i didn’t want to. But i couldn’t say it to my friend so continued. But the work didn’t progress so I started to think something’s wrong with me because i tried the most but no results. Then, i started to just fallow my friend’s sayings with the hope maybe my work proceeds like her. Then i found myself doing her orders and letting her badmouth my family…i had changed myself, i stopped doing my hubbies just to focus on my work as she said, and stopped all my projects, didn’t even listen to the music i love not any progress and.. I was angry with myself so i started to hate myself so much that i got depressed and would cry for no reason and…. i stopped coming to work…
So I cut all my connections with the world out even my friend … and just stayed at home…I lost interest in my major and take the semester off…
After my sister found out about everything asked me ‘now what do you want to do?’…and I’ve been researching about what i really want, what i am born for, what i can keep doing like a forever and so on, i found things i love but i would just go so deep in them and then make it slow being interested in something else and do that for a while then come back for the first one do it again and go for something else and this process.. But nothing like a single main thing. I just jump from one to another….and i was over confused and i found you.
i was looking for what should i do with my major in university keep it while i don’t like it or choose something else and how…then I found you, you’re my serendipity:)
Now can you help me with the major? I have this fear if i leave the major and do something else i would lost interest and would have no degree forever and again if i do that I’m afraid my family make me marry (they want me to continue my major and I think they don’t let me leave it) and all my dreams would go and even if they don’t and I quit my major I’m afraid they badmouth me so I lose confidence in doing anything. So what to do?
Thank you so much Emilie for sharing your great work and passions with the world !!!!!
We need that so much nowadays.
I felt like i’m crazy having and enjoying so many interests and passions.
I’ve learned so many things in so many diverse fields including being a corporate lawyer, horse professional, showjumping rider, catamaran sailor, chess player, music composer and player, dj, actor, financial markets trader, cybersecurity and data protection officer, automation marketer, horse insurance agent, web designer, project manager, event organizer, artist and painter, scuba diver, blogger, real estate investor, travel agent, online entrepreneur and business owner.
Sounds crazy I’m sure – but it’s who really I all am 🙂
To overcome all the overwhelm I started an equestrian business, so I can merge all those talents with showjumping horse. It’s very niche but yet very diversified because needs all of that property, agriculture, travel, pharmaceuticals, events, law, insurance…etc
I thought it’s the only way I can combine my all over the place crazy passions and skills under one roof. It’s might not yet be as financially rewarding as just being a corporate lawyer as I used to be, but at least it’s given me the lifestyle I love to live in open door, doing healthy activities with funny people and horses 🙂 rather than being stuck in an office or a court of law from 9 to 5 dealing with ruthless clients!!!
Would love to hear your insight on how would you have tackled those diverse passions since you have also studied law and know its potential and financial rewards?!
Do you think that’s a good business model to go through, or what would you suggest?!
Do you offer 1 on 1 session where I can pick your brain a bit or how do you roll?!
Thank you so much for your very interesting posts, approach and empowerment.
You’ve so much inspired me!!!!
Stay on your game, the world needs your multipotentialite approach only you have 🙂
So looking forward to your feedback.
Have a wonderful evening!
Cheers,
Mohamadino
Where have you been all my life?! I found you because I’ve been in a nose dive (on my way back up, thankfully) after hitting some massive goals. I’m now stalking every one of your articles. Brilliant! Thank you for being you!
I am a multipotential and recently I recognize it, I have problem in finding job, because almost all well paid jobs are for specialist and I really want to almost know every thing! Now I am a sport coach and painter and master in physics, but I really very have problem in deciding and choosing one field for mastery. I know I want to be master in science and do my zumba and painting beside. But I have multi interest in science also that makes me some problem, and by the way I have some problem in my self confidence because I think I am so talented but I cant earn much.
I am looking forward to hearing from you;)
Hi Emelie,
Thanks for this wonderful post! I am kind of starting to understand myself and people close to me (who are professionals) and their career decisions a lot better.
I am a graduate student who would be passing out in a few months. I have been really confused about the direction to take, the kind of work to go for and your article has really helped me in looking out for my options and confidently take whatever I would like to.
After reading a couple of the comments, I must say it’s inspiring. It’s getting nearly an year since I graduated and these comments have thrown a lot of light into the careers I would like to pursue parallely. So, thank you everyone. Thank you Emilie.
I am 53 years old… I had to wait that long to define my “inability to define” myself? Amazing… real quick list of who/what I am:
Pre-med Student (Biology Degree)
Ranked figure skater
Spelling Bee champion
First chair flute All-City Orchestra
Also played piano and clarinet
Ballerina
Physiology Research Associate
Bartender
Bookstore Manager
Restaurant Owner
Serial Entrepreneur (1991-1996) and (1997-2001)
Accounting Degree (2nd return to college)
CEO, Network Communications Contractor
Stay at home mother of 5 for 10 years (five children – 15,17,18,19,27)
Divorced from husband, 2009
Widowed by soulmate, best friend, love!e of my life, 2016
International Property Owner, Kyrenia, Cyprus
Writer
Third return to college -Humanities, 4.0
Published Nature Photographer
Financial Manager, HVAC Industry
Lyft and Uber driver
Business Creator – working on 4 ideas, all to be cross-marketed for maximum effect
Serial Business Creator
…
Does all that classify me as a Multipotentiate? Because I always tell people whom I meet for the first time, “I haven’t yet decided what I want to do when I grow up!”
Finally I know thyself!!
Bonnie, aka The Pomegranate Princess author
Emilie,
First of all thank you. Thank you for confirming that after 40 years on this earth, I realise that I’m not lazy, weird or abnormal, I’m a multipotentialite!
The realisation itself has made me wake up to the reason that I don’t enjoy my job, it’s not (only) because I don’t agree with the direction of the company or the attitude and tactics of the MD, it’s because I’m done with this role.
I’ve helped double the companies turnover in 4 years, made huge changes within the organisation and realised that my efforts are not appreciated but also that I won’t tolerate them anymore.
Having interests in Maths, technology, science, politics, psychology, leadership and helping people is ok, it’s my super power!
Hello Emily,
I am really interested in your TED Talk and your book. Good to see and hear that I am not alone.
Graduated as a Geographer (BSc) and then an Urban Systems Engineer (MSc).
Since then I am trying to find myself.
I worked in 5 different positions in my last 3.5 years, and now I want to change again for a totally different position.
My latest 2 jobs were: Business Systems Specialist and now I work as a Jr. Product Manager and planning to be a Photographer.
Sometimes I feel literally that I am struggling because I have too much interests, I want to try everything and it is changing in every 2 hours, plus I have a lot of good idea, but they are complex to implement in real life so I am not starting to implement them because I have some fears related to growth of the implementation.
So it is interesting that I have no fears for changing between jobs but have fears which related to my ideas implementation.
Could you tell me what can I do if I have that kind of problems?
I know that they are good ideas but need to time to make it happen, I mean I should be an enterpreneur and be in 1 place for longer time but I have a continuous motivation to change not just between jobs but geographical places too.
Not easy to live like that but life paths can be interesting.
BR,
Reka
Just watched your enlightening Ted Talk and took the quiz. It was good to fill in some of the holes in my self-knowledge and I’m very definitely a multipotentialite, so thanks for that! I’ve known this for a long time but didn’t know how to describe it. Having explored and achieved some level of mastery in many disciplines, I’m currently at a career crossroads and struggling to choose a path going forward. Right now I’m looking at moving back to traditional employment as either an HR/Training and Organizational Development Professional or pursuing consulting work as either an HR Professional or as a Climate Change Consultant. Funny thing is I see these occupations as drawing from similar areas of my background (consulting, coaching, quantitative analysis, technical writing, research, project management, facilitation, presenting, etc.)
I’m also struggling with hobbies/interests in that I’ve made a considerable investment in gear and equipment that I’m not currently using. That includes enough whitewater gear to outfit a small expedition, fly fishing gear, archery equipment, auto mechanics, DIY home improvement equipment (enough to start a business as a building contractor.), outdoor photography gear, etc. The list goes on and represents a substantial investment. I’ve achieved a high level of skill in most of these areas and truth be told – each provided an outlet to relieve boredom and reduce stress from my regular job. My hobbies also provided a sense of growth, purpose and fulfillment that wasn’t always present in my regular work.
I’m trying to decide whether to sell some of this gear or wait until the stars align and time and interest brings me back to a place where these are joyful and productive pursuits again.
I would write more but I have to go finish painting a bedroom and then I’ll be wrapping up a finish carpentry project. When that’s done, I’ll be overhauling my Treager grill with all the new parts that just came in via Amazon. I’m anxious to try some new recipes once the repairs/upgrades are complete. I also have a consulting proposal to write this weekend and some research to do on performance bonds and liability insurance for my current (fledgling) practice. Then there’s that gym membership that I’m exploring with my son.
I’m an elementary music educator. This has been my primary career for most of my professional life. I am on year 3. I think I’m going to be a Phoenix?
I’m ready to get out. I struggle with being invested in this job, and that isn’t fair to my students. I want to be better, I want to find my “calling” in whatever job I choose to do. But I don’t know if I can be one of those people that is happy working in the same job, or even the same field for the rest of my life.
I don’t entirely think I have a choice in this. I need to make stable income for my family, for the children my wife and I eventually want to have. Working as an educator is great when you have kids, the hours are just nice to be able to spend time with family. I’m considering going back to school to be a in-school counselor. But I don’t want to waste money going back to school for my masters in something that I might not even like.
I really hate that our workforce is so vertically integrated. I would like to do some kind of menial job that doesn’t require a ton of mental effort, but still pays well like my career. But I know that’s a fantasy. I don’t want my life to be work. I want to read, I want to make art, travel the world, do research, play games… but I don’t feel like doing those things most day after work. I’m tired emotionally, and I just want to rest. I’m an introvert, so spending time with energetic, loud kids every day is super draining. I love them, but they exhaust me.
I hate planning lessons. I don’t want to do it. I’d rather teach “off the cuff.” But school admin doesn’t like that, they want plans. They want to hold you accountable, which I understand. I feel like a crappy teacher most days.
Wow. This is so helpful.
For months I have been confused after graduating and completing my national service. I knew I had many interests and the ability to succeed at many fields but I didn’t know the term “multipotentialite” then. I was very confused about what to become but now I see these models, I’m going to sit down and walk through each one to see which one will work best for me.
Thank you so much, Emilie. (Happy New Year 😉 )
Many thanks Emilie for this eye opening, inspiring and feel good talk!!! I’ve recently been made redundant from my Group Hug/Einstein job and this felt very much like a gift, as if I could choose anything from now on.
First i tried to change (from my previous marketing communications job) into an interior design job (took several courses). However the reality showed me that it is difficult here to find a job in that area if you don’t have a master’s degree in that subject.
So I am back to the drawing board figuring out what to do with my many interests. I feel that my ideal job would be a mix of having projects that tap into different interests (architecture/design/colour/energetic space/wellbeing/communication/
blogging/and surely many more to come) and earn a living with it! That – earning a living with it – seems to be the hardest part. And the one thing that is probably holding me back the most is MYSELF. Even though I dive into a subject and take courses on it and am passionate about it, I haven’t got the specialist expert knowledge yet, so I feel incapable of asking money for a service where I am not thé expert yet. Is that something that other multipotentialites struggle as well with? Any advice from anyone?
Thanks so much!
OH my GOD! Finally someone who understand me. I just found about multipods and I am so happy. I am 28 and all my life I felt like alien. Thank you very much for your TEDX talk and this page ??
Woo hoo! That’s awesome, Andu. Welcome home. 😀
I’m 60. I’ve changed careers and fields of study all my life. It’s been fun. And stressful, but manageable — until around 10 years ago, when I left the film/tv industry to become an elementary school teacher then decided that was not for me. At 50+ years old, it became all-but-impossible to get hired to do *anything.* Ageism is real, nobody I know, except for a few ‘specialists,’ can get a job anymore, even in their late 40s. I finally got a job at a hardware store for $9.00 an hour after a 2-3 year search. My wide-ranging studies, experiences, and skills should be sought-after. But I never landed on a means of marketing myself that would get me past the threshold of hiring requirements.
I guess I’m trying to illustrate the fact that being a multipotenialist after a certain age is a huge drawback in the job market. If you’re not easily definable and/or young, all the doors slam shut.
When I read the headline my first thought was “every which way!” LOL This is a great article as always. I’ve done all of these and now it makes more sense to me as to why. 🙂
This has helped me a lot to understand myself. I definitely belong to the Slash Approach (I’ve unrelated work profiles like part time social media manager (marketing side) and Data Scientist (IT job), along with recording Podcasts!
Super helpful! I feel I have used the Slash approach a lot in the past. I am trying to get into the Einstein approach to fully embrace the Group Hug approach. Quite a journey! ?
Hello, I am a librarian in a digital library and I have utilized my multi-potential skills in my work. I work from 7 am to 2 pm in a large organization and have a collaborative approach as I can do amazing things here, including web design, graphics, project management, CRM, coding, photography, content production, etc. After work, I manage two single-item stores for jewelry and stationery, which I am not interested in at all. In my remaining time, I work on business consulting projects and hope to help with my dream job, which involves exploring and helping to improve the business systems of others.
Are there any Putty People my age? I just turned 60 and realized my career path is not linear due to my multipotentialiteness. I’ve made a very nice living, at the expense of happiness and social connections (because my jobs always drained me).
I think I’ll retire and reinvent myself. It’s not too late.
Of course! I’ve gotten emails from many multipotentialites in their 60s, 70s, even a few in their 80s. And we definitely have folks of all ages in the Puttyverse.
I have traveled through all they types through my years. Having many jobs all at once, I owned a Star Route and delivered mail in the mountains, was a seamstress for a store called the wedding specialist, worked as janitor cleaning bars, and I was also working in a convalescent hospital, all at the same time while being a free lance housekeeper for 3 clients.
Some jobs I have ended after only a few months from boredom.
Phoenix approach =
I just wanted to add that the types and kinds of jobs that I have had are too numerous to even list., my favorite job currently is building tiny campers. 69 years young. Life seems to be just getting started for me, but then I do live in the now.
I am totally phoenix type. I have impression that I live in the circles and each circle is totally different. It takes about 2-3 years to be in one. But for me it is not satisfying at all, so I will look for strategies you mentioned in this post.
i love all these great ideas. but i struggle with self doubt and putting in action to set up the income stream. my struggle is not so much the fear of not being able to be a multilpot as much as not being able to pay my bills. and here i am unemployed. unable to kickstart an income flow in any of the wonderful fields that i already excel in . wish there was a way or us multipotentialites to not lose heart and get into pits of depression that stops us from exploring ourselves fully, no matter using what approach. we multipotentialites are the best case for universal basic pay. we deserve it.
Hola, Emily. Mientras espero tu libro en español, ahora mismo soy una multipotencial #2. Necesito una estabilidad económica, tengo dos hijas estudiando y no puedo permitirme ir a la aventura. Sin embargo, mi trabajo en marketing digital es desde casa, seis horas al día, lo que me permite organizarme para poder crear con mis manos tocados artesanales nupciales y otras piezas artísticas para atelieres, además de escribir para casas rurales en sus blogs y estudiar dos másteres en mindfulness y coaching de fortalezas. Aun no he encontrado la conexión que me permita unirlo todo, y sigue produciéndome algo de estrés. Pero no puedo renunciar a nada de ello. Así que, por favor, sigue ayudándonos. Un enorme abrazo.
I’ve previously used the slash method! I was a nanny by day (a very flexible job) and a concert MC for Sofar Sounds concerts (new venues every day of the week and new musicians of every genre!). So I definitely got the variety, and had a fair bit of meaning mixed in, but was lacking in the money department. I moved to Spain to be an au pair and study Spanish, and have since been traveling around full-time, where my Einstein job is pretty much pet and housesitting in exchange for housing, with some paid petsitting mixed in. I’m now lacking in the money and meaning department, while I potentially have too much variety. I’m 24 and have applied to a grad school program, but am not quite sure about next steps. Thanks for giving me some ideas about what I could do, I really appreciate your book for giving me more options for my career!!
Hi Emilie, I am honestly so happy to be part of this amazing community. I’ve never been so related to a concept in my life!
My story – a true case of multipotentialit-ism. I’ve always considered myself a creative being, I love to draw, paint, and build stuff…but at the same time, I’ve always enjoyed STEM classes, especially Physics and Math. When growing up, THE question popped up “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And it was such a hard decision!
If you had asked me, I’d have chosen “Architecture” as I it wrapped many of the skills I love. However, my parents didn’t believe in it, so I ended up prioritizing my STEM skills, becoming a systems and industrial engineer.
Quickly enough I realized engineering was ‘too stiff’ and limiting. So I did a bunch of ‘side projects’ that really ‘lit my fire’ – from becoming a Fellow for Vital Voices (a women’s community set up by Hillary Clinton) to being a cheerleader for my school’s football team. I also did a Erasmus to France and the US, as part of this natural curiosity of mine.
Before finishing University I started working in a multinational in an area that really sparked my interest, HR. And soon enough, I was mixing and matching much of my previously gained knowledge into this job, making it all about a new approach using tech and analytics. I turned HR into something quite unique, making me love it for a long time.
Fast forward some years later and a couple of jobs in between, I decided I wanted to build my own startup with everything I had learned so far. And so I did. I also became a mom, and I started to do it all at the same time. Many would have failed, but I didn’t, it kept me going, I was learning so much about life and businesses! I was invited to do a TED Talk about my research – you may find it in YouTube.
A few years later, I was done with that. I sold it. And moved to Product Managament, working for a few unicorn HR Tech startups. I moved a few times, landed my “dream job” as Head of Product, and a few months later, realized it didn’t spark my interest anymore. I had achieved it, I knew everything there was to know about Product Management and realized, it wasn’t giving me what I expected, that learning, that novelty…
And so, now I am embarking on a new journey which I am still figuring out… trying to put together many topics that I love and adore, being a successful mom (in all areas), personal and spiritual growth, the future of work/HR, product management, coaching… and then maybe adding some of my life-long interests like design and art. So who knows where life will take me… But so far, I’ve achieved a lot, more than many, and all thanks to my multipotentialite way of being.
I hope my story helps 🙂
You’re a true inspiration Emilie! Thank you for this!
Einstein and Phoenix feel good about right now. I recently left my high-tech job because the focus was getting more and more narrow and I was asked to create solutions without any clear problem to solve. When I started that job, I had freedom to do whatever I thought was necessary in an autonomous fashion. Training, tool development, quality control, process improvement, and more all in an entertaining fashion. Now, I’m embarking on a small business with my wife to sell our handmade potter and provide classes for those interested. We have two talented daughters in commercial arts and I have a background in design and marketing, so we are exploring how we can take these combined skills to help businesses market themselves. In the meantime, I’m looking for a job in case we don’t see the success we expect. I’m torn between getting an Einstein job and going for something with variety the way my last job started.
Dear Emilie, I found your YouTube video from many years ago. I was incredibly in AWE of your presentation. I AM NOW DIGGING FURTHER INTO THE SUBJECT MATTER AND I’M GLAD I FOUND YOUR WEBSITE. MUCH APPRECIATED.
Hello Emilie and others MultiPods! I just started with the Renaissance Business programme and I after 15 minutes got a totally new insight: I don’t like to sit in the same room or on the same chair behind my desk all the time! So I now am sitting on the ground in my living room and I feel more free to acknowledge my needs and authenticity. So great!
Very interesting article! I have found that the Phoenix approach works for a while, but at some point recruiters don’t understand your CV any more. This in combination with age discrimination almost leaves you no option than to go into entrepreneurship. Recruitment really really needs to make a step forward in understanding competencies and their transferability, rather than looking for the very apparent expertise in a straight-line resume.
Thank you for the work you do — I thoroughly enjoy reading your content!
I’m 47 years old and I still haven’t found my passions. I’ve worked in various jobs, and when I start learning something new, I get bored quickly. I feel sometimes that some people born without talents or potentials.