Some people know who they want to be when they grow up.
They are clear about their career path, become specialists in one thing, and never feel awkward about describing their clear-cut career choices at family gatherings.
THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT YOU (or me).
I’m 33 and I’ve had 13 different jobs that are completely unrelated.
Before blogging I worked in digital marketing. Before that, I worked in tech sales. Before that I made pancakes. Before that, I was a journalist. Before that, I was a nanny.
There were times where I thought I found my purpose and I threw myself into a role with wild enthusiasm.
Like that time I was a journalist… only to lose interest years down the line.
What I didn’t realize is that my purpose is to be a little bit good at a lot of unrelated things so I can bring them together in unique and useful ways.
Doing one thing in a lifetime is disrespect of Human Potential.
I’m gifted enough to become really good at whatever happens to catch my interest, thanks to my perseverance and almost obsessive dedication – until I’ve mastered it to my satisfaction and something else catches my interest.
Yet the outside world accuses me of commitment problems. 🤷🏻♀️
Becoming a multipotentialite/slasher
3 years ago, I realized I want to be SLASHER, that is a blogger/ talk show host/author/columnist/podcaster/speaker.
I’m the happiest bouncing between different jobs.
Me as Oprah hosting the biggest blogger panel discussion in the UK.
I want a job that can satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit, as well as a job that allows me to present and tell stories, I love writing and inspiring, and helping people.
That’s my thing.
… and it’s impossible to turn this list into 1 job title!
For a long time, I thought that there’s something wrong with me, but it turns out they have an official name for people like me. It’s called multipotentialite.
What is a multipotentialite?
Multipotentialite (or multipod, slasher, polymath, hyphenate) is a person with many interests and creative pursuits.
Multipotentials don’t have “one true calling” and it’s actually our biggest advantage over specialists.
Why?
Our immense curiosity leads us to absorb everything we can get our hands, so we can easily bring unrelated ideas together in creative ways.
This ability of idea synthesis makes us great innovators and problem solvers.
My previous knowledge in Photoshop made it super easy for me to learn Adobe Premiere video editing software, making me more employable in marketing.
Example 2:
Knowing how to speak Italian made it easier to learn French … because all grammar is based on patterns, and once you know patterns in one language, patterns in other languages make sense quicker.
What makes multipotentialites different?
Multipotentials don’t start from scratch when learning about a new topic — we use the framework of everything we already know and figure out where it fits in with everything else we know.
The more diverse areas you know, the less time it takes to absorb the knowledge. This wider knowledge makes us better at “connecting the dots”.
How to find out if you are a multipotentialite?
If you’re not sure whether you are a multipotentialite, then this section will help you to figure this out.
1. Is multipotentialite someone who focuses on one thing for a while and then moves to another and then another?
2. Or is it someone who has multiple projects from various disciplines on the go at once ?
3. What if you are a combination of the above?
The answer is all 3 points above apply.
Multipotentiality is a spectrum.
On one end, you have the sequential multipotentialite: the person who dives deep into one subject for many years and then switches to something entirely new and focuses solely on that.
On the other end of the spectrum is the plate-spinner: the person with many different projects on the go at once. Most of us fall somewhere between these two extremes and shift around at different times in our lives.
Still not sure whether you are a multipod?
If you answer “YES” to more than half of the points below, you are a multipotentialite:
● Climbing a pre-made ladder created by someone else don’t excite you
● You love using your brain when you work.
● You thrive on learning and mastering your craft
● You can be in your workflow for hours if you work on something that matters to you
● You are mostly self-taught
● You are highly creative but people don’t “get” you
● You reject gatekeepers
● You worked at low-paying jobs because there’s nothing you’re willing to commit to
● You don’t necessarily want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg but you want to give your idea a go
● You still don’t know what you want to be when you grow up
What are the common problems multipotentialites face?
On paper, multipods lead fascinating lives with the potential to excel in multiple fields.
The reality is more complicated.
I detest family gatherings. Do you know why?
People around me talk about promotions and their success while I talk about beginnings.
I’ve never had any promotions because more responsibility seems like torture no matter how much money they throw at me.
I get more job satisfaction out of moving sideways into a completely different department rather than moving up.
Or I start something completely different somewhere else altogether, often from scratch.
I don’t mind it, I’m a learner.
But it’s difficult to explain to your family, who wishes to see you settled in your career, that you have multiple interests.
Below are the 3 biggest challenges multipods face and advice on how to overcome them:
PROBLEM 1: You don’t finish what you start
You often don’t finish the things you start.
People think you have Shiny Object Syndrome, always chasing the next sparkly thing.
If you end up getting into something, it’s only a little while before you lose motivation. And what’s even worse – you lose interest in things you thought you would be passionate about forever 😳
Make a list of things you want to do and do only 1 thing at a time .
It’s easier to focus when you treat your side hustle as “me time.” For example, every Sunday I chained myself to my favourite café for 4-6+h to write for my blog.
After a while, I started associating my side hustle with positive emotions, like good coffee, almond croissants and relaxing café music.
Don’t expect anything except the desire to learn. When you feel overwhelmed by the task at hand, stop and proceed to do the next thing on your list. Drop the expectations that you need to finish the project. It’s the learning that counts for you.
PROBLEM 2: You don’t feel that you fit in
You start feeling that you’re not like other “normal” people around you who commit to doing things.
You believe you’re different and feel you don’t belong. This can also lead to a sense of being alone in the world.
Give yourself the identity and find other like-minded people to hang out with in your area via Meetup or Facebook Groups.
Start referring to yourself as “slasher” or “multipotentialite”. Labels can be empowering. Especially, if you take a behavioural pattern that is commonly looked down upon, and turn it into an identity you wear with pride.
PROBLEM 3: You change jobs or career often
Your CV looks probably something like this:
DJ
Social media manager
Personal trainer
Pet sitter & trainer
Blogger
You’ve probably been on an entry-level wage for too long because you change careers so often.
When you switch to the next thing, find some overlap in the skill set required in the new job. This way, you don’t have to take as big of a salary cut, because you already have something that others don’t which makes you more valuable.
It also helps to transition strategically. Let’s say you’re a web designer but you want to start a photography career.
As you begin to transition careers, you could pitch new clients a photography package to go along with your designs.
When I thought journalism was ‘the one’.
Careers for multipotentialite
The “career question” is the most anxiety-inducing problem that multipotentialites face.
You probably don’t want a job that will take up all your time but you also don’t want to struggle financially. So, how do you find a fulfilling career as a multipotentialite?
Emilie Wapnick came up with 4 very useful work models that multipotentialites use. See if you fit into any of these:
1. The Group Hug Approach
The Group Hug Approach allows you to combine many of your interests together in one job.
Find a multifaceted role that allows you to use many different passions, interests and skills in your work every day.
Working at a start-up or small company will allow you to wear many hats. If you take a business route, then the passion-led lifestyle business (often called renaissance business) will allow you to integrate different interests in your work.
Me working at events startup in 2014.
2. The Einstein Approach
The Einstein Approach allows you to earn a steady paycheck while working on your projects on the side.
Many multipotentialites find themselves in dull day jobs that don’t take advantage of their multiple skills, which forces them to start something exciting on the side.
Dull jobs can a blessing:
If the job doesn’t take up much time or creative energy, you are more motivated to start something creative on the side.
For some people Einstein Approach is a lifestyle choice, for others, it’s a transitional tool.
I worked as a digital marketing specialist while I pursued other interests in my spare time: writing, blogging, video editing and recording. I made some money with each of those things, but my full-time job paid the bills and kept me afloat for years.
I used the Einstein Approach as a transitional tool – meaning that my goal was to quit my day job when my side projects started generating enough income.
FUN FACT: Do you why is it called The Einstein Approach? Not many people know, but Einstein had a day job working at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property evaluating patent applications. It was this stable, menial job that left him with time and creative energy to work on his discoveries.
3. The Slash Approach
The Slash Career Approach involves having two or more jobs or businesses that you shift between.
It’s the classic author/columnist/podcaster/comedian career approach you see so much on social media right now.
Slashers are typically freelancers, but they can also be business owners slash freelancers.
It doesn’t matter whether your various projects are related or totally different, what matters is that you get your income from multiple revenue streams.
The Slash Approach is a great way to diversify your income (if one income dries up, you have another one to fall back on).
I’m currently transferring from The Einstein Approach into the Slash Approach and I love it!
This year I switched from working full time to only 2 times at digital marketing agency so that I can still have a regular guaranteed income but more time to develop my personal brand and a business.
4. The Phoenix Approach
The Phoenix Approach is suited for sequential multipotentials who tend to work on something for several years and then shift for an entirely new field.
Each time you switch careers, you start over. And when you start over, you typically take a salary cut, too.
The remedy for this?
Transferable skills.
In other words, use the skills you learned in your previous jobs to help boost your resume in your new one.
When I switched from being a journalist to becoming a content marketer, I positioned myself as someone who could “tell a powerful story that will make customers act”.
After all, good marketing is good storytelling and I have the ability to make people stop and pay attention.
The bottom line is, rather than forgetting about my old job completely, I leveraged it to succeed in my new career, and as such, I didn’t start from the bottom.
Over to you…
Have you figured out which career path suits you? How do you currently work and are you happy?
Ask me anything in the comments below 👇🏼
Some people know who they want to be when they grow up.
They are clear about their career path, become specialists in one thing, and never feel awkward about describing their clear-cut career choices at family gatherings.
THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT YOU (or me).
I’m 33 and I’ve had 13 different jobs that are completely unrelated.
Before blogging I worked in digital marketing. Before that, I worked in tech sales. Before that I made pancakes. Before that, I was a journalist. Before that, I was a nanny.
There were times where I thought I found my purpose and I threw myself into a role with wild enthusiasm.
Like that time I was a journalist… only to lose interest years down the line.
What I didn’t realize is that my purpose is to be a little bit good at a lot of unrelated things so I can bring them together in unique and useful ways.
Doing one thing in a lifetime is disrespect of Human Potential.
I’m gifted enough to become really good at whatever happens to catch my interest, thanks to my perseverance and almost obsessive dedication – until I’ve mastered it to my satisfaction and something else catches my interest.
Yet the outside world accuses me of commitment problems. 🤷🏻♀️
Becoming a multipotentialite/slasher
3 years ago, I realized I want to be SLASHER, that is a blogger/ talk show host/author/columnist/podcaster/speaker.
I’m the happiest bouncing between different jobs.
Me as Oprah hosting the biggest blogger panel discussion in the UK.
I want a job that can satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit, as well as a job that allows me to present and tell stories, I love writing and inspiring, and helping people.
That’s my thing.
… and it’s impossible to turn this list into 1 job title!
For a long time, I thought that there’s something wrong with me, but it turns out they have an official name for people like me. It’s called multipotentialite.
What is a multipotentialite?
Multipotentialite (or multipod, slasher, polymath, hyphenate) is a person with many interests and creative pursuits.
Multipotentials don’t have “one true calling” and it’s actually our biggest advantage over specialists.
Why?
Our immense curiosity leads us to absorb everything we can get our hands, so we can easily bring unrelated ideas together in creative ways.
This ability of idea synthesis makes us great innovators and problem solvers.
My previous knowledge in Photoshop made it super easy for me to learn Adobe Premiere video editing software, making me more employable in marketing.
Example 2:
Knowing how to speak Italian made it easier to learn French … because all grammar is based on patterns, and once you know patterns in one language, patterns in other languages make sense quicker.
What makes multipotentialites different?
Multipotentials don’t start from scratch when learning about a new topic — we use the framework of everything we already know and figure out where it fits in with everything else we know.
The more diverse areas you know, the less time it takes to absorb the knowledge. This wider knowledge makes us better at “connecting the dots”.
How to find out if you are a multipotentialite?
If you’re not sure whether you are a multipotentialite, then this section will help you to figure this out.
1. Is multipotentialite someone who focuses on one thing for a while and then moves to another and then another?
2. Or is it someone who has multiple projects from various disciplines on the go at once ?
3. What if you are a combination of the above?
The answer is all 3 points above apply.
Multipotentiality is a spectrum.
On one end, you have the sequential multipotentialite: the person who dives deep into one subject for many years and then switches to something entirely new and focuses solely on that.
On the other end of the spectrum is the plate-spinner: the person with many different projects on the go at once. Most of us fall somewhere between these two extremes and shift around at different times in our lives.
Still not sure whether you are a multipod?
If you answer “YES” to more than half of the points below, you are a multipotentialite:
● Climbing a pre-made ladder created by someone else don’t excite you
● You love using your brain when you work.
● You thrive on learning and mastering your craft
● You can be in your workflow for hours if you work on something that matters to you
● You are mostly self-taught
● You are highly creative but people don’t “get” you
● You reject gatekeepers
● You worked at low-paying jobs because there’s nothing you’re willing to commit to
● You don’t necessarily want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg but you want to give your idea a go
● You still don’t know what you want to be when you grow up
What are the common problems multipotentialites face?
On paper, multipods lead fascinating lives with the potential to excel in multiple fields.
The reality is more complicated.
I detest family gatherings. Do you know why?
People around me talk about promotions and their success while I talk about beginnings.
I’ve never had any promotions because more responsibility seems like torture no matter how much money they throw at me.
I get more job satisfaction out of moving sideways into a completely different department rather than moving up.
Or I start something completely different somewhere else altogether, often from scratch.
I don’t mind it, I’m a learner.
But it’s difficult to explain to your family, who wishes to see you settled in your career, that you have multiple interests.
Below are the 3 biggest challenges multipods face and advice on how to overcome them:
PROBLEM 1: You don’t finish what you start
You often don’t finish the things you start.
People think you have Shiny Object Syndrome, always chasing the next sparkly thing.
If you end up getting into something, it’s only a little while before you lose motivation. And what’s even worse – you lose interest in things you thought you would be passionate about forever 😳
Make a list of things you want to do and do only 1 thing at a time .
It’s easier to focus when you treat your side hustle as “me time.” For example, every Sunday I chained myself to my favourite café for 4-6+h to write for my blog.
After a while, I started associating my side hustle with positive emotions, like good coffee, almond croissants and relaxing café music.
Don’t expect anything except the desire to learn. When you feel overwhelmed by the task at hand, stop and proceed to do the next thing on your list. Drop the expectations that you need to finish the project. It’s the learning that counts for you.
PROBLEM 2: You don’t feel that you fit in
You start feeling that you’re not like other “normal” people around you who commit to doing things.
You believe you’re different and feel you don’t belong. This can also lead to a sense of being alone in the world.
Give yourself the identity and find other like-minded people to hang out with in your area via Meetup or Facebook Groups.
Start referring to yourself as “slasher” or “multipotentialite”. Labels can be empowering. Especially, if you take a behavioural pattern that is commonly looked down upon, and turn it into an identity you wear with pride.
PROBLEM 3: You change jobs or career often
Your CV looks probably something like this:
DJ
Social media manager
Personal trainer
Pet sitter & trainer
Blogger
You’ve probably been on an entry-level wage for too long because you change careers so often.
When you switch to the next thing, find some overlap in the skill set required in the new job. This way, you don’t have to take as big of a salary cut, because you already have something that others don’t which makes you more valuable.
It also helps to transition strategically. Let’s say you’re a web designer but you want to start a photography career.
As you begin to transition careers, you could pitch new clients a photography package to go along with your designs.
When I thought journalism was ‘the one’.
Careers for multipotentialite
The “career question” is the most anxiety-inducing problem that multipotentialites face.
You probably don’t want a job that will take up all your time but you also don’t want to struggle financially. So, how do you find a fulfilling career as a multipotentialite?
Emilie Wapnick came up with 4 very useful work models that multipotentialites use. See if you fit into any of these:
1. The Group Hug Approach
The Group Hug Approach allows you to combine many of your interests together in one job.
Find a multifaceted role that allows you to use many different passions, interests and skills in your work every day.
Working at a start-up or small company will allow you to wear many hats. If you take a business route, then the passion-led lifestyle business (often called renaissance business) will allow you to integrate different interests in your work.
Me working at events startup in 2014.
2. The Einstein Approach
The Einstein Approach allows you to earn a steady paycheck while working on your projects on the side.
Many multipotentialites find themselves in dull day jobs that don’t take advantage of their multiple skills, which forces them to start something exciting on the side.
Dull jobs can a blessing:
If the job doesn’t take up much time or creative energy, you are more motivated to start something creative on the side.
For some people Einstein Approach is a lifestyle choice, for others, it’s a transitional tool.
I worked as a digital marketing specialist while I pursued other interests in my spare time: writing, blogging, video editing and recording. I made some money with each of those things, but my full-time job paid the bills and kept me afloat for years.
I used the Einstein Approach as a transitional tool – meaning that my goal was to quit my day job when my side projects started generating enough income.
FUN FACT: Do you why is it called The Einstein Approach? Not many people know, but Einstein had a day job working at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property evaluating patent applications. It was this stable, menial job that left him with time and creative energy to work on his discoveries.
3. The Slash Approach
The Slash Career Approach involves having two or more jobs or businesses that you shift between.
It’s the classic author/columnist/podcaster/comedian career approach you see so much on social media right now.
Slashers are typically freelancers, but they can also be business owners slash freelancers.
It doesn’t matter whether your various projects are related or totally different, what matters is that you get your income from multiple revenue streams.
The Slash Approach is a great way to diversify your income (if one income dries up, you have another one to fall back on).
I’m currently transferring from The Einstein Approach into the Slash Approach and I love it!
This year I switched from working full time to only 2 times at digital marketing agency so that I can still have a regular guaranteed income but more time to develop my personal brand and a business.
4. The Phoenix Approach
The Phoenix Approach is suited for sequential multipotentials who tend to work on something for several years and then shift for an entirely new field.
Each time you switch careers, you start over. And when you start over, you typically take a salary cut, too.
The remedy for this?
Transferable skills.
In other words, use the skills you learned in your previous jobs to help boost your resume in your new one.
When I switched from being a journalist to becoming a content marketer, I positioned myself as someone who could “tell a powerful story that will make customers act”.
After all, good marketing is good storytelling and I have the ability to make people stop and pay attention.
The bottom line is, rather than forgetting about my old job completely, I leveraged it to succeed in my new career, and as such, I didn’t start from the bottom.
Over to you…
Have you figured out which career path suits you? How do you currently work and are you happy?
Ask me anything in the comments below 👇🏼
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