What If You Have Many Different Interests and Cannot Commit to Any of Them? (Blog)

[impaul99]

"Jack of all trades" = Master of Being "Jack of All Trades"



Awesome post. I totally agree.

[Trezker]

Like Steve said, the boss of any group is the one who knows a little of everything. On a ship, the captain has at least basic know how in every part of the ship.

So do you want to be Scotty, a genius engineer, or do you want to be James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise?
Personally I actually think I'm more on the Scotty side. I don't have many interests.

[radeldudel]

Steve, there is one thing that bugs me about this.

It is, you (and other growth-specialists like James Ray) recommend to have a life purpose.

A single life purpose, like yours for personal development.

What do you do if you can't decide on a purpose?

I ask because I do a lot of stuff, most of it generating income (owning a programming business, teaching how to dance, blogging, fotografie, I even translated an angel channeler), but I kind of lack a greater goal to pull this all together, and sometimes I just wonder what I want to achieve with my life.

cheers,
Sam

[Paul C]

Thank you a lot for this article Steve!

This very issue is something I've been having trouble with for as long as I can remember just about. And the pressure to choose just one thing is something that I encounter sometimes, at least when it comes to income generation.

It's good to know there is a approach to go by that works for my integrity as a human being as well as creating a source of income for myself.

[PVince81]

I can somehow identify to what Steve says in this article.

As a software developer (and computer enthusiast), I also have many different interests in the computer field itself. In the past, as I was looking for an university to study, I often heard that I need to specialize in one field, either do something with computer graphics, or something about only algorithms, or something industrial, or ... But until now I never liked to specialize myself in any field, because I like knowing a little bit of everything. Maybe I am just like a kid who likes to taste a bit of everything. Each field I taste is only until I feel that I got enough, even if I can't say that I master it. For example, I liked to learn computer programming languages by myself.

About the "outsider" part of Steve's blog entry. I really like his writings just because he is from the same field as I, computer science, and I like the way how he compares life with video games or computer logic. I personally used to think like that before, what my friends found a bit crazy.

I also like to have universal solutions to problems, like just the best computer algorithm could be.

[makessense]

how many is "many"? Surely everyone I know has more than 3 or 4 things going on in their lives. What is being "committed"? Sacrifice? How much time is spent "doing" instead of "thinking"? How much time learning to be the Jack of all Trades in that one interest? Hmm, I guess this is one reason why I don't just come to Steve's website for personal development. I check out others and their ideas.

I find many people kid themselves into thinking they have too many interests, but they're not even close to being any good at them. I use to think I was good at dancing, until I joined a dancing battle. My level of commitment was surely not as high as others. Yes, I was more skilled than my friends, but knowing there were hundreds of people more skilled than I was killed my confidence. Kidding myself into thinking I was good got me thinking about everything else I thought I was good at and ultimately leading to personal development. Well, that was 3 or 4 years ago during my young days. It's all about knowing where you stand and knowing where you want to stand.

[MattFYF]

How Do You Decide On What Skills to Master? | Face Your Fork

Steve, no fair! You totally beat me to writing the post! Are you... psychic?!

I find many people kid themselves into thinking they have too many interests, but they're not even close to being any good at them.

I think your confusing interests with skills to absolutely master. For example, I'm well on my way towards "totally" mastering piano performance. While I'll never get 100% there - nobody ever will master anything super-completely - I know I'm going to get damn near close. However, the interests that I have don't come near the skill that I chose to "max out". My creativity bar might be a 9, but my logic bar is only a 5. I enjoy logical thinking, and things like crossword puzzles and Sudoku on occasion, but it's not something I want to make love dollars or a living off of.

Does that make sense? I get the feeling that other people in this post are having the same kind of dilemma in their line of thinking. "This is a skill I'm interested in and can definitely make love dollars from" vs. "This is a skill I'm such a badass at!" are two totally different things.

You might have 12 interests that, individually, you rank each of them at about 5/10. You may be able to put them together and create a stream of love dollar income that might rank as a 10/10 collectively. You don't have to master absolutely anything that you fully enjoy to make money off of it. It can help, but it's not necessary. The most important thing is that you consciously choose what interests you want, how many you have, how fully developed you want to turn those interests, and if so, how you can make a living off of what you truly love.

[PVince81]

Originally Posted by makessense

I find many people kid themselves into thinking they have too many interests, but they're not even close to being any good at them. I use to think I was good at dancing, until I joined a dancing battle. My level of commitment was surely not as high as others.

I agree with MattFYF. I also think you don't especially need to master some field to enjoy it, to the point of being better than other people. If your dancing skills are good enough to make you (and your dance partner) enjoy it, you don't need to worry about becoming better. The most important is that it can make yourself happy.

[Ari Koinuma]

Originally Posted by radeldudel

Steve, there is one thing that bugs me about this.

It is, you (and other growth-specialists like James Ray) recommend to have a life purpose.

A single life purpose, like yours for personal development.

What do you do if you can't decide on a purpose?

I ask because I do a lot of stuff, most of it generating income (owning a programming business, teaching how to dance, blogging, fotografie, I even translated an angel channeler), but I kind of lack a greater goal to pull this all together, and sometimes I just wonder what I want to achieve with my life.

cheers,
Sam

Hey Sam,

What you're describing is an entirely different challenge. What we're talking about is more of skill development and career choices. What you're wrestling with is finding a meaning in your life. That is different from mastering something.

What you need is a mission statement. A single set of principles that permeate everything you do. I'd like to think about it in four different areas: identity, value, vision, and method.

Identity is about who you are. Who are you? Are you courageous? Reliable? Honest? A Lutheran with strong Scandinavian heritage? Sometimes what you do becomes a part of your identity. Which activity do you associate as "you?" Programming? Blogging? Philisophizing?

Next, think of what you value -- peaceful and quiet life, or an adventurous and thrilling life? What's the ideal ratio between pursuing your personal interest vs. helping others meet their needs?

Third is vision. Knowing who you are and what you value, what do you see yourself doing? Think of both destinations (objectives, goals, things you want to accomplish before you die) and paths (things you enjoy doing, where the act itself, not the benefits they produce, bring you satisfaction).

Out of the three come the methods -- they inform what specifically you want to do in your life.

I admit, this is a blog post brewing in my head for a long time and I haven't been able to articulate it really well. But I think you'll find that there are a lot of common grounds between these four areas -- you're thinking of four different things, but your list will end up looking somewhat similar. Distill those and create a mission statement. That'll guide and inform what you do and how you go about it in your life.

Then you won't feel like all your varied activities aren't adding up to anything -- well, if they aren't, then you'll know what to discard and what to keep. Have fun!

ari

[Savage]

Originally Posted by radeldudel

What do you do if you can't decide on a purpose?

Your purpose is something that unfolds over time. As you continue learning and growing, your awareness of your purpose will increase. If you don't know your purpose, then your purpose is to discover your purpose. That suggests experimentation and exploration.

Your purpose is about your message, not your medium. Since my purpose is essentially to grow and to help others grow, I can express that through lots of different activities -- even by posting in these forums.

At a deep level, I believe we all share essentially the same purpose, which is to grow into greater alignment with truth, love, and power. We all express that differently, but the underlying principles don't change.

You can start working on your purpose more consciously by bringing more truth into your life, by reaching out and connecting more, and by building your inner strength.

You may also find this exercise helpful to create your initial definition of purpose:
How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes

[Brendon Colby]

The computer analogies make complete sense to me because I work "in computers." Even Louise Hay gets computers. She makes a few analogies in "You Can Heal Your Life" and I have to laugh at that. If you can relate an idea to computers, heavy metal music, Star Trek, etc. you take fast track to gaining my understanding. That is probably why her book is one of my absolute favorites.

[August]

Brilliant article, yet again. Thanks.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by radeldudel

Steve, there is one thing that bugs me about this.

It is, you (and other growth-specialists like James Ray) recommend to have a life purpose.

A single life purpose, like yours for personal development.

What do you do if you can't decide on a purpose?

I ask because I do a lot of stuff, most of it generating income (owning a programming business, teaching how to dance, blogging, fotografie, I even translated an angel channeler), but I kind of lack a greater goal to pull this all together, and sometimes I just wonder what I want to achieve with my life.

cheers,
Sam

If you click on the link in my sig, you'll go to my Blog. On the top middle of it you'll find a Free eBook called "The Passion Project". Get it and read it, I think it will answer you question. In it I talk about the process of finding your "Passion Projects" instead of some fictitious "Ultimate Purpose" which we'll never know until perhaps the last second of our lives or after.

I'll give you hint. Instead of trying to figure out where you are now, and what your "Ultimate Purpose" is as some kind of destination in time/space, kind of like going from point A to point B, all you need to figure out is the DIRECTION that point B is in and head there, not necessarily where B is.

It's kind of like following a compass instead of a map. You look at the terrain as it is today, you look at your compass and see which way is North and you realize "Ok I need to go that way...but this big boulder is right in front of me here, so I'll go around it here and then keep going North" etc. I guess what I'm saying is that it's not a simple as figuring out some point B and then plotting a straight line towards it.

If you're interested, check out my eBook...I explain it way better in there. THere are also exercises to help you figure out what your purpose is.

[newmark]

Why not Jack of all trades and Master of One?

[truthcurve]

I've also struggled with this. I seem to have a new interest every week and it makes me cringe when I look back on my life to think about all the "interests" that diverted me without adding up to anything. I really do feel like I've spread myself thin and have never seen anything (well, except for a couple of things) through to completion. This is the downside of being a generalist. How do you see things through to completion before losing interest so that you have something to show for all your efforts?

I did (and do) enjoy my unique collection of experiences and knowledge but there's no "product" that I've produced that I can leave as a legacy.

It would be great, Steve, if you could address this in a future post. Thanks.

Julie

[Ron Stoppable]

Originally Posted by cylon

Steve if you're reading this, I'm sure you know the phrase "jack of all trades master of none".

You must mean the complete quote:
Jack of all trades, master of none, but ofttimes better than master of one.

Googleable variations include:
Jack of all trades, master of none, but count on Jack to get the job done.
Jack of all trades, master of none - but what a jack!

Which global public entity do you know of that regularly trims quotes to convey different meanings (/deceive)?
Daily mass media!
Now is it love or fear that they aim to whip up with misquotes? Interesting...

[maverickstruth]

Ah, so many scanners in this thread!

If you're not familiar with the idea of a "scanner', it's a term used to describe the types of people Steve described in his article (myself included!) as coined by Barbara Sher.

As another resource for those who saw themselves in the article, I'd highly recommend checking out "Refuse to Choose" by the above-mentioned Sher (ISBN-10: 1594863032; ISBN-13: 978-1594863035). Reading this book was like a revelation for me -- one of the few books that I've checked out from the library and then had to go purchase so that I would have it close at hand.

It investigates not only what it is to be a "scanner", but also talks about the different types, and gives some ideas for ways that you can take your generalist-tendencies and turn them into positives, be it for careers, hobbies, projects (you know -- the ones that never seem to get done ), etc. Anyway, I'd highly recommended the book -- reading is was like a revelation for me -- and it has so many practical ideas to boot!

[cylon]

Hey I didn't know that phrase had more to it. Sort of changes the meaning.

[Lanya]

Hmm...

Originally Posted by Lanya

Just an idea, but:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Then go into it as deeply as possible. Doesn't matter if it doesn't seem to appeal to you the most, or it's not the most convenient, just do it for the sake of doing it. Maybe after a year of doing it, you'll have a better idea of what you really want to do.

Oopsies! I gave bad advice! Hurray! *is a drone*

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Keith

From the title, I was hoping for a post addressing the "getting distracted by the next shiny before getting anything done" problem.

Would it be possible to have a lower-level follow-up post on how to have multiple interests and still achieve stuff? Or is that just a matter of cultivating your intuition?

I'd still be interested in an answer to this, please.

[frntk]

Hi everyone!

I'd like to recommend this post from Tim Ferriss:

The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

Great post, Steve.

[maverickstruth]

Originally Posted by Keith

I'd still be interested in an answer to this, please.

Keith, one thing to consider is -- what is the definition of "achieving stuff"? Is it the same for you as it is for others?

Think of it this way -- a bee flies from flower to flower, stopping momentarily here and there, but never lingering too long at any once place. Why doesn't he stay? Because once he has got what he came from, he has no reason to stay. Someone may say to that bee "well, you haven't achieved a proper botanical investigation of the plant beyond its nectar!". But just because the bee didn't achieve what that other person thought they should achieve doesn't mean the bee was a failure!

In many ways, that's what it's like to have many interests and not be able to commit -- you may stop momentarily here and there, but never linger at any one place long enough for people to say "you've achieved something!" In fact, I'll bet that you achieve quite a lot -- it may not be what others expect you to achieve, but that doesn't mean you haven't achieved anything. What you get out of doing something -- your reward (or your "achievement") -- may just be different than what others think it "should" be.

Now think of the projects or that you've started and maybe not finished, or things that you've tried but not "achieved" (according to other people's definitions of achieved). At what point did you lose interest, or just want to move onto the next thing? I'll bet that if you look at those things, you may find a pattern developing. That pattern may be what "achievement" is to you -- it's the reward that you look for when you take things on.

As an example -- I get bored with things really quickly. I used to think -- like you -- that I wasn't really ever achieving anything, because people didn't recognize my half-finished projects as accomplishments. However, when I looked at *when* I stopped or lost interest in things when I did -- I realized that it was always at the point where I was able to make a connection; to understand something, or to connect to unconnected ideas, or something like that. In other words, I stopped exactly when I was meant to -- I had "accomplished" my goal to make a connection, and even if that may not be what others thought I should achieve. Even if I didn't know at the time what I was looking for in my projects, I always felt like saying "okay, I'm done" when I had reached that point of making the connection. When I started to look at things that way, I started to see that I actually had achieved a lot of connection-making, and that I really was getting out of things what I had wanted in the first place (even if I didn't know it at the time).

There's a Zen koan which talks about knowing when you've got what you came from (as opposed to when others think you're done!):

"Q: How long should you stay at something"
A: However long it takes to get what you came for.
Q: How do you decide what you came for?
A: You don't; you discover it.
Q: How do you discover it?
A: you notice what isn't there anymore when you feel like leaving" (Refuse to Choose, 30).

When you feel like moving on to the next thing, is it possible that you have already achieved what you came for, even if it doesn't match up with other people's ideas of success?

"As with the bee, you can tell what a Scanner's Reward is by why he's drawn to something and when he stops. When you lose interest in something, you must always consider the possibility that you've gotten what you came for; you have completed your mission." (RtC, 31).

Hopefully that at least gives you a different way of thinking about things -- it may or may not help answer your question, but I know it sure helped me!

[cylon]

When I said "jack of all trades master of none" I had no idea the great insight and links that would come from that. Some really eye-opening stuff. My belief that you need to specialize in one thing and master it to the exclusion of all else is fading.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by impaul99

"Jack of all trades" = Master of Being "Jack of All Trades"

What a nice way to see it Paul I'm gonna specialize in being a master sampler!

I second maverickstruth about Refuse to Choose! by Barbara Sher. It's an excellent book and very, very helpful.

If some of you wonder how concretely to pursue your many interests once Steve convinced you to do so, read it.

Originally Posted by Barbara Sher in Refuse to Choose! page 10

Having the freedom to go after all your interests is wonderful, but how on earth can you actually do it? The revelation that you're a Scanner doesn't automatically propel you full speed ahead on all those things you love: you have to know how to manage a life that's full of different talents.

Originally Posted by maverickstruth

In other words, I stopped exactly when I was meant to -- I had "accomplished" my goal to make a connection, and even if that may not be what others thought I should achieve.

I can relate to this very well! I'm usually extremely enthusiastic about some new thing, almost obsessing over it, reading five books about it and trying it out. And as soon as I've figured out how it works, how it's done or what the principles behind it are, I lose interest, get intolerably bored and cannot bring myself to finish it.

Other people cry "what a pity" when I quit although all it would take to succeed is time and effort. But in my eyes I have already succeeded: I understand it, and I know how it feels to do it! I guess the point for me is just to try everything once, then I classify it and I'm done with it. I's like I'm having a giant database in my brain about all kinds of knowledge or activities one can have, and I'm busy with filling it.

When you feel like moving on to the next thing, is it possible that you have already achieved what you came for, even if it doesn't match up with other people's ideas of success?

Yes absolutely that's the point.

[francstoic]

Steve,

Your implicit criticism of people who have only a few interests in life actually makes me wonder how then should one develop other interests?

Now, many might say that interests cannot be "developed" (they need to be in you already, even if latent). But I tend to disagree. But I don't know how to develop interests.

This question actually points to a much broader, relevant and therefore important question: how can I get rid of ignorance/darkness and laziness/inertia? Also, how can I help another person get out of it? Often it is the case that I would like to love topics like history or economics but I simply don't find them all interesting.

How can I develop curiosity and wake out of ignorance and inertia?

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

When Erin sees me getting into something new, she'll often say, "Oh no... he's on the jazz again." She knows I love getting into stuff by diving headfirst into it, and a few months later, I'll drop it completely.

Yeah, you're like me on that one. Except for me it's generally a matter of a few days or weeks more than months.

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Think of all the cool skills and experiences you could pick up if you did that sort of thing deliberately.

Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg

If you were to ask me "has all you've been doing--including the things you've just dabbled in--helped you in some way?" I'd answer, "you bet!"

No need to say that to me, you guys. I'm a self-confessed scanner and I'm very happy for all the experiences and skills I've gathered along the way (even though I don't intend to do any of this again). I wouldn't want to be a specialist.

I was feeling a bit sad when I wrote that I don't see the point in going for something knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't last. There are projects that require a high level in mastery even to "do it just once" (which is my goal). For instance I'm having a very precise vision about how I would love to dance tango. I don't want to make tango my career, I'd just love to dance like this vision once. But reaching the necessary technical level to dance this way would take years of training, and I just know I won't do it. It makes me sad.

For other projects you need to be very committed and work for years on building a reputation and gaining experience in this field, and these too are projects I'll never be able to realize. For instance in order to stage-manage an original theater adaption of a novel by Dostoievsky, I mean a big one that requires lots of money, actors, extras and special effects and that would take place outside on a big parcel of land, you need to become a damn good stage director first. That's not something I could do once just for fun. What a bummer

Also, I'm emotionally very attached to each project and it hurts like hell when I leave it unfinished. It's like repeatedly falling in love, thinking this is the love of my life, and then suddenly realizing that I'm not interested anymore. I guess I still need to develop more detachment, more acceptance for my scanner nature, and more consciousness about why I do what I do.

I'm re-reading Refuse to Choose! now. It helps. I've decided that I would only start projects that can be finished in about two weeks from now on. This way maybe I'd finish them? And when I'm done, it's really over and I have no regrets.

[seeker5]

Loved the blog post! I have often time wondered how I could deal with two seemingly very different significant interest of mine. One is that I love to head an organization, and be involved in the thick and thin of things - to be involved in something that moves fast, that's in the middle of action.

The other is that I love to just have all the time in the world to sit and analyze and strategize and think while writing, to go on a very deep discovery process, and be very reflexive. Without being rushed or having others wait on me.

I thought if I'm heading an organization as a career, I won't have this deeply reflexive time to think because I'll have these people depending on me to be there for them...and that I'll be so used to being in the middle of things that pulling out for a while may be hard for the organization and myself.

Now I see that was wrong. That since I do love to do these two things (and other things as well), I'll set it up so I do have the freedom to move from one focus to another. Won't think they are mutually exclusive. It's exciting really now that I think of it - of setting up a life so you can do many different things that you love instead of just sticking to one!

Even though I'm not a scanner, I love the idea of being able to switch focus and explore other things in life instead of sticking to just one. It feels much more free! Before I'd think well, I have this one big thing for 40 hours a week, and everything else I have to stick it in the time around that - I'm glad to see that may not be the way it has to be!

[songwriter]

This post is very "me", so I feel I had to post after a long time.

I use to say "I'm an accountant when I account, a writer when I'm writing, a singer when I sing, etc" that's it.

For instance, in music is easier to learn to play any instrument if you had learnt to play any other before.
And playing that new instrument will give your skills and ideas to play the ones you already played.

Sometimes learning to play elec guitar teachs you to sing, etc.
Even at work they say I'm "multifaceted". or "you're a bit of a philosopher" and I said "all the musicians are a bit philosopher... I mean one things help the other.

And in these days you've got to know about a lot of things if you want to sail in any project.

If you want to be a pro musician you've got to learn to be a bit(at last) of a:

-Music composer
-Lyricist/Poet
-Singer
-Instrument Player
-Recording producer
-Arranger
-Promoter/Manager
-Web Designer
-Model
-Blogger
-Public Relationships man
etc.

at least before being a pro, these days it's like that. And if you look at music legends they didn't know how to do that in the past but now they do, so they blog, are producer, manager, desing their web, etc.

[Keith]

Someone (whose post has now been deleted for some reason) helpfully pointed me at:
What’s Your Motivation Threshold? and
Overcoming Procrastination by Steve Pavlina

I'd forgotten about that post, and I'd forgotten about this particular bit of genius:

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

We often get blindsided by failure because we compare the success threshold to our level of motivation when we’re at our best.

Of course you're going to constantly feel like you suck if you compare every aspect of your life to your highest-ever points. <slaps head>

So thank you very much for that, anonymous stranger...

P.S. Gotta love discussing motivation as a bonus to your success roll - how wonderfully geeky.

[Ari Koinuma]

Originally Posted by francstoic

Steve,

Your implicit criticism of people who have only a few interests in life actually makes me wonder how then should one develop other interests?

Now, many might say that interests cannot be "developed" (they need to be in you already, even if latent). But I tend to disagree. But I don't know how to develop interests.

This question actually points to a much broader, relevant and therefore important question: how can I get rid of ignorance/darkness and laziness/inertia? Also, how can I help another person get out of it? Often it is the case that I would like to love topics like history or economics but I simply don't find them all interesting.

How can I develop curiosity and wake out of ignorance and inertia?

I'm not Steve, but I hope you don't mind me responding.

First of all, I don't think there's anything remotely wrong with pursuing just a few interests, especially with the intention to master them. Mastering any field takes dedication, focus and discipline. All very good stuff.

As for developing interests, I do see where you're coming from. As a person who, for a long, long time, didn't have any outside interests except my music -- I did have to admit that I was being narrow-minded and consumed. Missing out on life and imbalanced.

To develop interest in other fields, I think it helps to understand the underlying theme of what engages us. All of us naturally enjoy learning, growing, being creative -- unless you've conditioned yourself to hate challenging yourself in any way. I consider myself a non-stop creative, so when I saw that there was a lot of creativity involved in other areas besides music -- like business and marketing, for example -- I was very intrigued. Now I consider entrepreneurship a fascinating challenge and an integral part of the portfolio that is my lifework.

Also, keep in mind that schools often do terrible jobs of communicating the essence of some fields. For example, history was never my favorite subject. I hated memorizing dates and names. But history involves a lot of exploring, speculating, solving mysteries. I've really grown to enjoy visiting historical sites, and wonder what it was like to live back then and experience what they went through. I'm always interested in learning "what it's like" from people, so when I discovered that angle I got more drawn in.

So you can see, there are universal currents in many different disciplines. Figure out what ticks for you, and look for that element in new and unfamiliar fields.

Enjoy the exploration! It's a lot of fun.

ari