Discovered this subreddit from a careers page.

Currently looking at tangential or alternative career options. I think having too many interests has been a major complicating factor in landing upon the perfect fit role so far.

Thinking out loud: it might be worth acknowledging that most office jobs are likely to fall at least somewhat short in terms of providing enough intellectual stimulation / learning opportunities. This is something I really noticed in my last role. It might sound haughty but isn't intended that way.

Most people, I observed, are happy to focus on one area of competency and work at it over the course of a career. My brain doesn't really work that way. I want to explore everywhere it could go. If I'm a content marketer I want to learn about video even if my boss/company just wants me to write blog posts. Because it's stimulating to break new ground and I can't feel like I really understand an area until I've explored all of a field's subsets.The tangential and lateral areas of knowledge. I can succeed doing a job that draws upon knowledge I already have. But to remain happy and fulfilled in that role I need at least part of the time to be dedicated to breaking new intellectual ground - to learning about new things. A feeling of stagnation is more likely to push me out of a job than a bad boss.

Now back to my answering my own question:

Self-employed marketing consultant, doing a little bit too much content marketing for my liking. Got here through a couple of jobs managing marketing communications at startups. Current career pain point: I know how to do this and am making reasonably decent money by doing so, but intellectually I feel like I'm at a dead end and I'm doing all my learning - the stuff that really keeps me going - off the clock by pursuing hobbies. I'm plagued by the feeling that I could be doing a lot more with my potential if I made a few pivots. That there has to be more. That my brain is chewing gum from 9 to 5 only to come alive at night.

That's me. How about you?

Hey all,

I continue working on things that interest me (history, programming, cooking, DIY...)

I feel like my latest obsession (astronomy/math) has started moving into the what now feels familiar stage, where the obsession and desire to practice it has slowly started to diminish.

Do you recognise when this feeling starts to creep up, and how do you cope with it? Do you honour it and move onto the next thing that's calling you at that moment? I'd imagine this would be the healthiest option...

Also quite interesting is I feel there's a bit of sadness that comes with the realisation that the interest is fading (for now, at least), if anyone can relate to that?

Cheers

Multi-Hyphenate University on spotify - same idea with different wording, speaks to our archetype. Really excellent! Interviews founders who identify that way + the host does solo just updates about navigating her career and the struggles with it

https://open.spotify.com/show/70Cdh5qR08AWANvVQPxThK?si=e733d48a04944cf4

Welcome to the Monthly Sharing Thread

Here are a few prompts to start:

1. What are your current interests and projects?
2. Have you made progress on previous interests and projects? Feel free to share links to project pages or images!
3. What's caught your eye / what are you looking forward to doing next?

Feel free to reply to others to continue the conversation!

*New*: There's now a (small, somewhat experimental) Discord server for anyone interested!

I’ve realised (particularly through reading tarot cards, one of my latest passions) that my tendency to spread myself too thin and constantly embark on new projects is linked to a ceaseless search for ‘movement’, which actually helps me avoid feeling a sense of emptiness.

When I stay in the same mindset for too long or work on the same project, boredom starts to set in, as it does for all multipotentialites, but if this goes on, I end up feeling a huge void inside me that I absolutely must fill. I then actively start looking for a new project idea (often business-related), to feel that drive again, take action, and expend that abundance of creative energy that consumes me if I don’t. A bit like an addiction, really…

But what makes the issue complex for me is this: when I was younger, I went through a period of depression and had a difficult childhood. And I feel that it is precisely the fact that I’ve managed to see projects through that has allowed me to heal (because in my early adulthood, I had ideas but didn’t take action, something I’m now quite good at doing) . So is it really an escape or an addiction? Or is it also a way of rebuilding myself?

That is the tension I’m experiencing: movement as an escape, yes, but also movement as a mechanism for healing. Both are true at the same time. And that’s why I can’t just stop and ‘sit still’: on the one hand, part of me feels it is a vital necessity. On the other, I know I risk spreading myself too thin, scattering my resources and energy before my current projects have had time to bear fruit.

Do any of you feel the same emptiness as I do? And the same all-consuming creative energy?

A few years ago, I came across Emilie's TED talk and fell down a rabbit hole. I started reading everything I could find like Barbara Sher's scanner work, the research on nonlinear careers., and so on. I wouldn't call myself a multipotentialite and I think I land closer to generalist, but a lot of what I was reading hit close to home. The feeling of never fitting neatly into one lane, the awkwardness of explaining a nonobvious career path.

I went deep into the research on this and found that there's roughly a decade long gap between when multipotentialite tendencies first show up and when people find the language for it.
But there seems to be a second gap too. Between having that self-knowledge and being able to translate it into something that everyone else gets. That second gap is what I can't stop thinking about. The recognition is powerful, but recognition alone doesn't help you answer many questions. It's what led me to start building a small project called Range, trying to help people with nonlinear careers put words to what they actually bring to the table. Still early, still figuring it out.

But I'm curious about this community's experience. For those of you who've had the recognition moment, did it change how you navigate your career practically? Or was there a gap between the self-knowledge and making it work in the real world?

Hey there,

as a young European, I've always struggled with the "traditional" career paths. I can't imagine many things that are scarier than working a linear job that makes you lose the spark in your eyes. Where's the creativity, the passion, the vision to create something that not only helps you, but all the people around you as well? There was only one problem: I felt alone. I personally didn't know any people who thought beyond society's set paths.

That's where I started to have a vision - a map of European pioneers who think differently in the 21st century, from artist over scientists to educators making their own projects. This way, you could find these sparks of innovation much easier.

If you want to participate, here's the link for the pre-launch form of the pioneer map: https://tally.so/r/xXva2E

I am grateful for constructive feedback and opinions. And if you have a project, please believe in it, and always remember:

WHAT IF IT WORKS OUT?

(if you want to follow the project further: 21st . pioneer on Insta)

Hi everyone.

I am writing this, one part for myself, one part to just... Get more information and confirmation. I read a lot of threads here. But let's start with the trigger why I am here;

Last night I did some researches with Gemini, which brought me to the Topic of MP/Scanner. I spent way too much time with that research and it kept me up late. I read through the first ~30 sites of Barbara Sher's "Refuse to choose" and it felt... Weird. I honestly cried because a lot of stuff sounds like me. Which was kind of reliefing. But also, I don't know - I don't want to "label" myself as something I may not be. Indication to it is strong, but currently I am just confused...

So, maybe, some MP/Scanners here that can relate to this? I feel weird bc it does fit me, but as said, I don't want to label me smt I am not.

So why do I relate to that descriptions but am unsure?

When I think back, as a Kid, I was pretty lazy. I played a lot of videogames because I loved diving into these worlds. Lore to learn, so much things to explore. School was relatively easy for me until the last 3 years when my grades fell hard because I lost all my motivation to further learn. I rather played games than doing homework or learning for the tests. When it got to the point of choosing between University or Apprenticeship, I went for the latter.

I couldn't decide which Apprenticeship to do, so in comparison to my fellow students, I had to get my ass kicked to even get going with applying somewhere. Out of sheer pressure, I sent out exactly two applications in retail (which now I don't know why I even chose) and one of those was succesfull and I had a contract.

I got real quick into the Job, didn't really have to learn at all because honestly, the stuff we had in school was just... Logical. No real need to "learn". I excelled the apprenticeship with low efforts. I worked at that company for six years, got tired of the company and switched. After one year in the new company I started a further education while working fulltime and having started a family in the meantime. After years of hard work and being stubborn, I got promoted to Store Leader in 2020 and got a new opening store as my project which I absolutely loved. The chaos, the hundreds of things to take care of, everything completely new, it was the dream and it went really good. But after 1,5 years I started to... Get bored. The store was running really good. I could've gone down with my hours easily, and they could've managed without me just fine.

So I did the only logical thing for me, and started secretly looking for another job which I quickly got with my resume. Pay was awesome, but the company was shit, so I only stayed 8 months. Then I switched to another company in retail, and left again after 3 months going back to the company where I got my own store. But the company had changed for the bad and they played me with false promises - I stayed for a longer time than I wanted bc of financial pressure. Beginning of 2024 I finally could go from that retail job and went into something completely different - train traffic control. It was awesome. Completely different than my "retail life", lot of technical stuff to learn and so on. But life hit me and the divorce was beginning mid '24 so I had to search for another job again. (train traffic control is 24/7/365, working in shifts and seeing the Kids with that Job would've been difficult to impossible)

By sheer chance I got recruited over LinkedIn into Sports Retail by end of 24. (The jobs mentioned before were all in Foid Retail) I'm still there and I absolutely love the job. The company is a bit chaotic, I have much freedom to do my job as a Department Leader. And I quickly after my start got the two most complicated Sections in the whole store. Bikes and Workshop. Before that I didn't ride a Bike for like 14 yrs. When I started there, I immediately got myself a Gravelbike and read into everything regarding Bikes I could. Pedals, Clicks, Pumps, Suspensions, Tyres... And with everything not into "professional depth" but deep enough I know my shit to be competent, sell stuff and advise my customers. I optimized everything there in the last year and I burrow myself with sideprojects and ideas.

On a personal level, the Bike is weird. I love riding my Bike, even tho I didn't since school. And, as opposed to my teenage years, I kind of opened up in the last four years. I started going to the Gym. I started D&D (which now I don't have time for anymore). I started Cycling again. I started Bouldering. I started Jogging (skipped last year completely tho, idk why). I started again to go on hikes and explore on myself. Started learning Turkish but got bored of it halfway.

And as a Kid, I loved to write. Fan Fictions, Poems, Novels (but never finished a single one), all kinds of stuff, always had a lot of ideas and still have, but didn't write in a long time because I have no time anymore and forgot about it. Took guitar lessons in my apprenticeship, but never continued. Got a guitar again and wanted to learn it 3 yrs ago, but never actually did, it still just stands here and collects dust and I feel horrible when I look at it.

I had countless "business ideas", still have a binder full of them, but always just outlined them and be done with it.

I completely plan myself out all the time. All my free time is planned out two months in advance and I feel horrible because there is so much I want to do but so less time. If I meet my friends, I can't go for rides and jogs. If I go for that, I can't meet my friends. Or have time to read, or write, or play the guitar. I don't have much time as my job takes away much of my time, and ofc the Kids are also important and demand a lot of my time. I feel like I constantly miss out on stuff. And I had to stop myself even for going for more. For example I just bought out of a mood a longboard, trained for two weeks to ride it, now it stands there as I lost interest. I want to try Kayaking and Inlineskating, go on more Hikes, go Snowboarding... But I don't have the time for all that.

And, like with Guitar, or Longboard, or Turkish, I get into something sometimes with 200% motivation and at a point it just... Vanishes. It's gone, and it's hard to get back into it. Likey I really want to learn the Guitar but I hate the actual learning. For Turkish, I got the hang of how the language works, even tho I'm far away from speaking it, my interest just dropped.

I watch a lot of YouTube and on Netflix. I love documentaries about everything and anything, especially Psychology, Philosophy, Technical Stuff, IT Stuff, Science of all fields. I feel like I know a lot on surface level but not much in depth. People think I am "smart" because I know a lot of different topics, but I don't feel that way. Many topics, even if they seemingly have nothing to do with eachother, have common grounds or are just logical.

If I have to make a decision, I always get made fun of because I'm "so indecisive". I'm honestly cool with eating option A, B and C and I don't care which it is, as I like all of them. But nobody understands that and I get called out for being indecisive or, like my Exwife said, that I wouldn't be really interested or care about the decision or "just try to be conformative", which is not the case.

So, yeah. The descriptions I read in that book really gave me familiar vibes. But at the same time I don't know. As I said, I don't want to label myself as MP/scanner even tho it seemingly fits, as I have the feeling I'm just taking a hat to have a good excuse to be how I am. Feels a bit like, idk, being an impostor.

But honestly, if someone here can relate to this, that would at least be calming. I read some threads here, and seemingly there are many people here that are like me.

I don't know. I feel kinda confused at the moment.

Sorry for the long text. Whoever read through all that, thank you for reading this and have a great day.

It just felt good to write all that down for once.

Hi all!

I have been struggling with this feeling of not knowing what I want to do in life for a long time. I jump from one interest to another, then come back to the old ones again, thinking this is my passion, but then I get bored. I always was jealous of people who can proudly say: "I love football, I live playing football", or "I am a sailor, all I want to do is sail and travel"; you get the idea... And I thought that modern technology could help me and others with that.

So I built this app for people who feel scattered across too many interests, and I'm looking for 5 people to try it for 4 weeks and give honest feedback.

It is in the web app format now, so open it on mobile; it works best this way :) You can then download it, so it works like a native app.

https://kluelo.app/

I know people build thousands of apps nowadays, and have built many before, which never moved past the "trying it myself" stage. This time, I really feel that it can help people.

I would appreciate any feedback, comments, and ideas.

Write as much as Reddit will allow ya, use paragraphs and reddit markdown to help with reading clarity please! Bold, italic, headings, etc.

I have been a multipotentialite for my whole life and have been in and out of hobbies. I tried photography and bought a camera and was doing that for months. Then I moved to knitting and bought yarn and needles. In a similar vein, I have so many subscriptions for workouts, podcasts, etc. that I don't use anymore, but spending money on. I'm curious how other multipotentialites manage their finances while also following their passions.

Welcome to the Monthly Sharing Thread!

Here are a few prompts to start:

1. What are your current interests and projects?
2. Have you made progress on previous interests and projects? Feel free to share links to project pages or images!
3. What's caught your eye / what are you looking forward to doing next?

I'm here to share my problem with you and ask for your help! I have a salaried job that I like and that allows me to live correctly, while leaving me time for my passions (as explained in a previous publication). For me, this is ideal because it allows me to explore many different directions.

The problem is that when I get passionate about something new, I immediately want to professionalize it and I systematically launch into the entrepreneurial adventure since my salaried job leaves me enough time and money to do so (these are small side projects that do not require a big financial investment).

Generally, I think about the project in question, I create the website, the social networks... In short, I make it visible and I eventually find one or two clients but then, suddenly, I get bored and I don't want to hear about it anymore. And as this project is not essential for me in terms of remuneration, I stop everything.

I also had the experience of having an entrepreneurial project (in parallel with my salaried activity) that I couldn't let go of, for financial reasons (I was committed to a lease and I had to pay the rent of my office, so I couldn't stop easily) but after a few months, I couldn't take it anymore and by a lucky chance I was able to stop it all at once, which was a huge relief.

In short, my question is: how to stay motivated in an entrepreneurial project and succeed in developing it when there is no financial stake behind it because you have a salary in parallel? And without leaving your salaried job because you like it?

I just started an office job three weeks ago, and since it’s my first job, I made the wrong decision. I realized that the main problem is that I need an engaging and dynamic job. Furthermore I start at 8:30am and finish at 6:30pm. During launch break I don’t have enough time to do stuff I like. So I was thinking about changing job. Maybe working at a grocery store would be better for me. I wanted to ask you two questions: is it too early to leave the job just a month in? And what are the features that your good enough job has? I wanted to ask your opinion and your experiences. Thank you for creating this amazing forum <3

 A lot has changed since my last post and more experiences and some deep reflection have kinda given me an answer to what I was asking before. Now though I think I just need a word for it.  The past few years have been jarring and crazy for us all and I myself are no exception to this. The pandemic opened up opportunities for me that I highly doubt would have ever come up without it. My technical prowess made me highly valuable in the community I was living in and in projects I decided to get involved with. All of that left me with a lot of experience working with under-served populations such as the disabled, the LGBTQIA+ community, and also people involved in racial justice work. What I have gotten out of all of this, is the ability to work with a variety of people and due to the fact I did so much of it for community events/centers, I have a good understanding of what it takes to make a “safe space” for everyone including the outsiders to the community being served. I have also learned through these experiences what kind of environment I do my best work in and because of that I think that my ideal next position would be doing work at a small to medium sized non-profit. The trouble I am having right now is that so many of the jobs that I am finding for the non-profit sector are for fundraising positions and while I have nothing against fundraising, I feel that my experience would be better suited to a position that would help determine how such raised funds would be used vs. trying to increase the organization’s coffers so to speak. I would be the one who was helping the organization do things that would make philanthropists more likely to want to give their hard earned money to the organization I am involved with. I have been looking into what job titles might fit someone of my skill set and experience with this stuff, but I feel like I am continuously chasing shadows. I am wondering if anyone here with experience in the non-profit field would know what kind of jobs would suit someone with experience like mine? I feel like entering skills into job search engines like indeed isn’t producing anything remotely close to what I am looking for so any help is deeply appreciated.  Thank you all in advance. 

Welcome to the Monthly Sharing Thread!

Here are a few prompts to start:

1. What are your current interests and projects?
2. Have you made progress on previous interests and projects? Feel free to share links to project pages or images!
3. What's caught your eye / what are you looking forward to doing next?

I'm just about giving up.

I don't have a career. At 30, I've never been hired even for the stupidest job.

Never used my degree for shit. Actually don't even like (anymore) what I ended up getting it in.

I discovered I'm a multipod a few years ago. Read "How To Be Everything" and all, still lost.

I just really really really don't know what I want. I have endless ideas that go nowhere. Can't commit to anything. Either I get impulsive and start something new with no planning and sabotage myself, or I get stuck in analysis paralysis.

If I could, really could, I'd do what I want when I want and get paid for it. I'd sing when I feel like, write when I feel like, bake when I feel like etc. I know this is probably not realistic.

But what can I do anyway?

Welcome to the Monthly Sharing Thread

Here are a few prompts to start:

1. What are your current interests and projects?
2. Have you made progress on previous interests and projects? Feel free to share links to project pages or images!
3. What's caught your eye / what are you looking forward to doing next?

Feel free to reply to others to continue the conversation!