Am I crazy? Is there something wrong with me?
These were the questions I asked myself when I realized I changed careers three times in a row when I was 23.
There was this one moment when I was wide awake at 2 am, thinking about why I badly wanted to leave my current job when everything was pretty comfortable.
I was earning a good income.
I can work anytime, anywhere.
I always received positive feedback from my clients.
And most of all, my mother was very proud of me.
Well, let me tell you. I wasn’t always like this.
In elementary, I knew deep in my heart that I wanted to become a teacher.
So, I got a Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English in college, passed the board exam, and taught in a private school for over a year.
I thought everything was set for me to become a public school teacher, have that stable income and enjoy the career of my dreams for the rest of my life.
But to my surprise, everything turned 180 degrees, and I never settled on one job.
Aside from being a teacher, I was once a VA, social media marketer, financial advisor, online business manager, real estate agent, recruitment specialist, forex trader, and copywriter.
When most of my friends and previous classmates settled on one career path for years, I became obsessed with exploring what interested me in a specific period of my life.
At first, I thought I was crazy. I labelled myself unfocused, undisciplined, and inconsistent.
Of course, these labels I gave myself hurt more than what people thought I was.
But things changed when I discovered that I am a “multipotentialite” – a term that sounded like music to my ears when I first listened to Emilie Wapnick’s TED Talk, “Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling.””
For the first time in forever, I felt comforted, understood, and validated.
According to Emilie Wapnick, multipotentialite is a person with many interests and creative pursuits.
Some common terms for the kind of person we’re talking about are:
- Polymath: someone who knows a lot about many different things or is a person of encyclopedic learning.
- Renaissance Person: a person interested in and knows a lot about many things.
- Jack-of-All-Trades: a person who can do passable work at various tasks; a handy, versatile person
- Generalist: one whose skills, interests, or habits are varied or unspecialized
- Scanner: Someone with intense curiosity about numerous unrelated subjects (coined by Barbara Sher in her book “Refuse to Choose”)
- Puttylike (adj.): able to embody different identities and perform a variety of tasks gracefully
Now, if you can relate to my story or are curious that you might be a multipotentialite, here are seven clear signs that you are one!
1. You have a wide variety of interests.
If you find yourself diving deep into different areas of curiosity through books, YouTube videos, courses, or internet content, you might be a multipotentialite.
When you look at my bookshelves, search histories, and content consumption habits, you’ll notice I was never interested in one thing.
Professionally and personally, I’m interested in learning about psychology, human behaviour, cooking, money management, marketing writing, metacognition, big-picture thinking, etc.
Multipotentialites generally love to learn and explore new ideas, so if you love geeking out on the things you’re interested in, welcome to the family!
2. You easily get bored.
Was there a point in your life where you called yourself unfocused or thought you had ADHD?
Chances are, you might be a multipotentialite.
Well, I can’t tell if you have ADHD or not because it’s something that you need to consult with a professional.
But if you’ve been struggling to focus your attention on something for quite a while, you might need to do some self-introspection.
As I mentioned in the first point, multipotentialites love to explore new ideas because we might have tendencies in what we previously thought was interesting.
I believe there’s nothing wrong with this as long as we don’t succumb to modern distractions like Netflix and mindless social media scrolling.
If what you’re learning genuinely fascinates you and improves some areas of your life, you’re free to not be bored.
3. You struggle to decide on one career.
Multipotentialites not only love to explore ideas, but we also love learning new skills.
And because we can be pretty good at a lot of things quickly, we also have multiple career options to choose from.
If you relate to this scenario, you might be a multipotentialite.
While having many skills can be fantastic, it also sometimes presents you with a problem: difficulty choosing a job.
When I reached a certain level of proficiency in marketing, financial advising, sales, and writing, I became more confused than ever about which specific career I should pursue full-time.
As I learned more about myself and my multipotentiality, I realized I don’t have to choose one thing, and you don’t have to either.
Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter, because I will talk more about it in my future articles.
4. You have excellent communication skills.
After studying multipotentialites I found online, I discovered one common theme about them.
And that is, they’re very articulate.
Some are naturally extroverts, and some are introverts. But it doesn’t matter.
All of them have this ability to express their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives in an interesting way.
If you love to learn different things and make unique connections between them, you might be a multipotentialite.
Your fascination with your interests and curiosities often inspires you to share what you know.
This can develop your excellent social skills, whether in one-on-one conversations with a person or on paper.
5. You have a versatile work history
If you think there’s something wrong with you because you can’t stick to a single career path until you’re 65, don’t worry.
Most multipotentialites also think or have thought the same way.
If you remember, in the introduction of this post, I mentioned that I’ve been
- a teacher
- a virtual assistant
- a social media marketer
- a financial advisor
- an online business manager
- a real estate agent
- a recruitment specialist
- a forex trader
- and a copywriter
At first, I thought I was crazy.
However, I realized that I would become a better person in my next job because I brought the best lessons and qualifications I had gained from my previous jobs.
I’m not suggesting that you should job-hop or change careers every three months.
What I’m saying is, if it’s not your thing to stick to one endeavour for the rest of your life, then you might be a multipotentialite.
I know having multiple jobs might not appeal to some potential employers.
But if you know how to communicate your value to them strategically, you can stand out among other candidates or even bag that position.
6. You have strong risk-taking tendencies.
If you identify as a multipotentialite, just reading the heading title above suggests that you might be one.
Let me tell you a quick story.
When I became a breadwinner at 19 years old because my father died of a stroke, a lot of people recommended that I should choose the safe path.
And you know what that safe path is? Become a public school teacher.
Because when you’re a government employee, you have a stable career, a stable income, and a stable day-to-day life.
For most people, this is their ideal way of living, and to be honest, I am happy for them.
But for me, I crave something different.
I want different challenges.
I want to explore different perspectives.
And I definitely want a different way of living.
Now, this doesn’t mean that I am right and others are wrong, or that I am wrong and others are right.
It’s just that if you get excited about diving into new challenges, you shouldn’t suppress it.
Prioritize knowing what kind of life you want, then make it your compass as you go out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons.
7. You have a passion for personal growth.
If you like the idea of maximizing every area of your life and crave becoming the best version of yourself, then you might be a multipotentialite.
Multipotentialites are always committed to learning, expanding their horizons, and developing new skills.
As far as I can remember, I’m not the type of person who’s into nice clothes and other fancy material possessions.
While I see the merits of having them, I prefer to spend my money on buying books and courses.
I’m interested in anything that can help me improve my mindset and skillset simply because I like to grow and progress in the areas of my life that are important to me.
When you find the meaning and fulfilment in developing yourself, continue doing it.
Nothing is as beautiful as witnessing how you become the person you always want to be.
Final words
The seven signs we just discussed are based on my own research and experience.
Some might relate to you, and some may not, but it’s okay.
You’re still amazing because you took the time to get to know yourself better.
If you really feel you’re a multipotentialite, let’s be friends! You can connect with me on (X or Instagram) or say hello via email at [email protected].
For now, please remember that there’s nothing wrong with you.
Yes, having multiple interests and creative pursuits might come with a few challenges.
But bravely navigating those challenges while embracing your unique identity is what makes you human.
In an increasingly AI-dominated world, more and more people crave the connection, uniqueness, and authenticity you can only give.
