Picture this: You find something to do that you really enjoy, so you dive in and completely, happily submerse yourself in learning all you can. You feel like you’ve found your “thing”.
But, after a while, you start to get restless. You wonder if this isn’t really your thing, after all, and your attention wanders.
All-of-a-sudden, you discover something else that ignites a spark in you! So, abandoning the first thing, you dive into this new thing and completely, happily submerse yourself in learning all you can.
But after a while, you once again start to feel restless…
Sound familiar?
I am here to reassure you that you are not actually “crazy” … or “flighty”… or “immature” … or “lazy”. You are, in fact, a multi-passionate!
MULTIPASSIONATE: “a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life.” (aka: Renaissance Soul | Generalist | Scanner | Multipotenialite)
When I first discovered the concept of multi-passionates, through reading “The Renaissance Soul” (Margaret Lobenstine), I was so relieved! Family had always told me I needed to “settle down” and “just pick something, already!” So, I was constantly at war within myself. It felt nearly impossible to choose one thing, and accept that this would be my fate. It scared me.
Yet, on learning that there were others who were just like me — that I wasn’t actually supposed to stay with one thing forever — I was overjoyed!
Back in the Renaissance days, studying in multiple fields was actually encouraged. It was a good thing to be interested in music, and art, and mathematics, and scientific inquiries.
And, check this out: It’s a very sought-after thing, these days, to be adaptable… to know a lot about many different topics is actually to your benefit! Employers love to see people who pick up new skills easily. You’re already ahead of those who don’t care to learn more, preferring to think they “know enough” already.
Here are just a few ways you can use this aspect of your personality to your advantage:
- Highlight your adaptability and flexibility when applying for jobs.
- Become a resource — share your knowledge wherever you see a need.
- Combine several of your loves to form a new path of employment for yourself!
- Appreciate the variety in your life — that you’re never stuck in one place, forever.
- Think about the many new people you’re getting to meet, in all of these different areas — this makes you a master networker!
So, be encouraged. Own the fact that you love a lot of things! Accept that you’ll always feel bored once you’ve “mastered” knowledge of a certain topic, and see it as a good thing that you’re ready to learn something new!